There seemed a conspiracy afoot to dilute anything resembling Florida International momentum on a surreal Saturday night that stretched into Sunday morning.
The Panthers had just scored on a James Morgan-to-Tony Gaiter pass covering 11 yards with only 14 seconds to play in the first half, exactly the sort of thing a coach wants to take into a locker room.
But he doesn’t want to stay there almost two hours pondering it.
As Old Dominion and FIU players filed off the field at halftime, lightning flashed overhead and about 15,000 spectators made for safer, dryer places.