A night of miserable and dangerous weather put a damper on one of the most highly anticipated season openers in recent memory at Iowa State.

The game against South Dakota State was canceled on Saturday night after a 2 ½-hour delay caused by lightning.

The Cyclones made the announcement just before 10 p.m. local time after the teams were able to get less than five minutes of play in. Iowa State said there were no immediate plans to reschedule the game since the teams' bye weeks don't line up. The game will be counted as a "no contest" per NCAA rules, and all the accrued statistics will be voided.

"At the end of the day, player safety is of the utmost importance. After talking to coach (Matt) Campbell and to their head football coach, both coaches agreed that given what we saw on the radar, staying and prolonging probably the inevitable wasn't in the best interests of either team," Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said.

For five minutes, the Cyclones showed why their fan base is so fired up for this fall.

Deshaunte Jones worked his way through SDSU's defense to reel in a 55-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Kempt, giving Iowa State a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

But bad weather in the area — the Akron vs. Nebraska game in Lincoln, Nebraska, 225 miles away, was also called off by poor conditions — prompted a delay that never ended.

Iowa State's bye comes on the weekend of Oct. 20, and Pollard said that it's possible that the Cyclones will find a team to play at home that Saturday.

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