As Lubbock continues to experience scattered rainstorms, fans reflect on this weekend’s damp start to the football game.

On Saturday, Sept. 16, Lubbock buzzed with excitement as the Texas Tech Red Raiders prepared to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils at Jones AT&T Stadium. While Tech fans lined up at the stadium gates, storm clouds began to darken the sky.

Despite the threat of rain, crowds dressed in white continued to move toward the stadium. However, only shortly after the gates opened, the sky did, too. Rain poured down on the stadium, drenching the bleachers and dousing the field.

Fans were told they needed to take shelter on the concourse level, where they waited for nearly an hour until the rain finally cleared and play began.

Paul Tabia, a stadium employee, said the plan was to wait out the storm and then, hopefully, they would be able to start the game.

“We’ve just been told it was going to be at least an hour, right now,” Tabia said. “And if (the rain) doesn’t lighten up, then (the game is) probably going to be cancelled.”

Even with the chance of the game being canceled, swarms of both Tech and Arizona State fans hunkered down on the concourse to wait for the storm to pass.

Clayton Kothmann, a sophomore finance major from Midland, said he was told to take shelter about an hour and 15 minutes before the original kick off time of 7 p.m.

“They first told us to evacuate, and then they said we didn’t have to leave, and then the cops came in and said, ‘You need to leave now,’” Kothmann said.

Having driven hours to watch the game, some fans said they would wait as long as needed to see the Red Raiders and Sun Devils go head to head.

Ron Covington, a Red Raider fan from Arlington, said he usually drives to Lubbock for at least one game every year.

“Weather happens, but I’m glad to be here,” Covington said. “(The storm) is no big deal for me. We’re not going anywhere. If the stadium’s full of water, we’re still going to stay.”

Not only did Tech alumni come to Lubbock for the game, but many Arizona State fans also made the journey from Arizona to Lubbock.

Brady Payne, an Arizona State fan from Morenci, Arizona, said he drove 12 hours with his in-laws to come to the game.

“We drove to El Paso last night and then drove from El Paso (to Lubbock) today,” Payne said.

Having travelled for two days to see the game, Payne said he and his in-laws planned on sticking it out until the rain cleared.

Bill Tatman, an Arizona State alumnus from Tempe, Arizona, took a flight to Lubbock to explore the town and watch the game with long-time friends.

“We come for, more than the game, the friendships,” Tatman said. “We’re college friends, and all these years later, we still like being together. So, we usually do one road game (a year). None of us had ever been to Lubbock, so, here we are.”

Like Tatman and his crowd, many of the game’s attendees were not expecting rain or were hoping the storm clouds would pass over.

One fan, Matthew Gregoire, a nursing student at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center from Jamestown, Rhode Island, said he decided to take a nap while waiting for the rain to clear.

“We pulled up the Weather Channel app and saw the Doppler and were hopeful,” Gregoire said. “So, I took a nap (on the concourse), and then, when I woke up, there was a rainbow right over Panda Express, so we came (into the stands) and sat down.”