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For many schools, Saturday's game served as the season opener. However, Mother Nature decided to crash the tailgate party.

From uncomfortably hot and humid conditions to agonizingly long lightning delays, weather certainly was a factor for numerous teams and their fanbases.

Wofford at Georgia Tech

Compared to other schools, fans attending the Wofford College versus Georgia Tech game at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, were treated to a relatively drama-free game. With that said, it came with a toasty cost.

A Wunderground weather station located near the stadium recorded a 12:30 p.m. ET kickoff temperature of 85 degrees, but the dew point was a muggy 70 degrees. This made the heat index, or the "feels like" temperature, a steamy 90 degrees. By halftime, temperatures rose to 88 degrees, but with a dew point of 70 degrees, the "feels like" temperature rose to 93. Compounding the heat index in the 90s with plenty of direct sunshine, as well as sunlight reflecting off of the aluminum stands onto the fans, it's not surprising that many fans complained of "sweating buckets" during the game.

Arkansas at Auburn

Saturday was not a good day for Alabama weather in general. Southwesterly winds channeled warm, moist air into much of the state, providing the fuel for thunderstorms that developed throughout the afternoon.

A number of thunderstorms developed near Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, where the Auburn Tigers were hosting the Arkansas Razorbacks. Fans in the stands were first treated to sizzling temperatures before a torrential downpour.

"We sit in the upper deck in the same spot every year," Keri Schutz Hallford, an Auburn supporter, told weather.com.

"I have never seen such weather extremes in one game! It started off so hot and sticky, then it started to flash lightning, the wind really kicked up, and finally ended with a downpour."

At one point, the game was delayed due to lightning, which struck very close to the stadium. After an 88-minute lightning delay, the players pushed through the rain and finished the game with the Tigers victoriously on top, 45-21.

Lightning Delays Impact Two Different Florida Matchups

Florida was not immune to lightning delays, either. In fact, two games were impacted, and one was postponed to a potentially different date.

In Gainesville, University of Florida and Idaho officials decided to cancel the season opener due to protracted lightning strikes in the area spanning more than three hours, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

"It's unfortunate that the weather didn't cooperate for tonight's season opener," Gators coach Will Muschamp said in a statement. "After long discussions with the head referee, it was determined that the field conditions were too dangerous for the student-athletes."

The game was initially scheduled to start at 7:02 p.m., but it was delayed repeatedly because of nearby lightning. It eventually started after a delay of 2 hours, 48 minutes.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that play was finally set to get under way at about 9:50 p.m., but the teams only made it through 10 seconds of game action before lightning in the area forced officials to lead players off the field.

Fans were instructed that they could go to the nearby basketball arena to wait out the storm, states the Orlando Sentinel. Many fans left campus, but a number of spectators lingered in the rain despite the ongoing danger of lightning strikes in the area. 

The latest lightning strike within 8 miles of the stadium sent players back to the locker room. The game was called about 50 minutes later.

Lightning impacted the University of South Florida game against Western Carolina in Tampa, Florida as well.

The start of the Western Carolina-South Florida college football opener was delayed for more than an hour by lightning. Players were removed from the field and fans were asked to clear the stadium during the delay.

The game finally kicked off at about 8:15 p.m. ET and was able to continue after the requisite lightning delay.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.