After the Tiger Walk and before the eagle flew, the sky grew dark and grey over Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday before Auburn football took on West Virginia.
During the pre-game warm ups, the sky over the student section was dark and threatening, while the sky over the Haley Center remained a much brighter grey.
The ominous clouds rolled in and it started to heavily rain over the stadium and the game was delayed because of the severe weather.
With lightning strikes and flood-threatening rain, the announcer warned all patrons to leave their seats until the severe weather had passed.
The students didn't budge. Most of the 15,000 students remained in their seats while Pat-Dye Field filled up like a swimming pool.
The stadium was blaring Credence Clearwater's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" and the students rocked out.
"Singing 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain?' soaking wet with thousands of students and alumni will be one of my favorite memories of Auburn football," said senior Caroline Kelly.
Thunder continued to crack, lightning to strike and more warnings from the announcer came to vacate the stadium, but the students only sang louder.
The stadium's DJ continued to play songs about rain, only further encouraging the students to stick it out.
The weather calmed and the 7:45 p.m. game finally got under way at 8:50 p.m.
"You know our student section stood up for us and our fans stood up for us," said junior running back Mario Fannin. "They were loud and they gave us the edge over West Virginia."
Head coach Gene Chizik talked earlier that week about the importance of the fans. After the game he spoke of how proud he was of his team and of the Auburn fans.
"First of all, I would like to say that I wish I had 87,000 game balls because our fans were a huge reason we won that game, and I want them to know that," Chizik said.
Chizik said thousands of students (15,000) stayed in the stadium through that whole thing. Everybody came early and nobody left because of the weather. He said that was one of the huge reasons they won the game, and momentum swings happen because of the fans.
The 41-30 win over the Mountaineers earned the 2009 Tigers an identity, and the fans have earned their place in all the action.
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