Take a break: Oklahoma public address announcer Jim Miller made the first plea at 7:50 p.m. The storm brewing south of Norman was heading north and the stadium needed to be cleared.

He continued to repeat the information for the next hour. All told, Saturday night’s game was delayed 1 hour and 12 minutes.

Most ignored the first, second, even the third announcement.

Then a lightning strike at 7:55 p.m. caused all the videoboards in the stadium and about half the bulbs on the light poles to go out.

It grabbed the attention of just about all of the 84,715 in attendance. The deluge of rain that hit about 5 minutes later took care of the stragglers.

Miller continued to make the pleas throughout the delay. Every time a bolt of lightning flashed he made another.

There was a small pocket of about a dozen students that never left the front rows of the student section and another group lined the wall in the top row of east side’s lower level.

Williams in limbo: Defensive end John Williams wasn’t in uniform Saturday night and wasn’t on the OU sidelines. The sixth-year senior’s status is currently in limbo. A source close to programs told The Transcript Saturday night, Williams was still a member of the team and wasn’t serving a suspension.

However, his absence was odd considering he applied for and received an extra-year of eligibility in the offseason. Williams was coming off an Achilles injury that ended his season after three games last season. It was the third time he had a season cut short due to an injury.

Suspensions: Wide receiver Ryan Broyles and offensive tackle Phil Loadholt were not in uniform or on OU’s sideline Saturday night.

Earlier in the week, OU coach Bob Stoops said a couple players would be serving suspensions due to disciplinary issues.

Loadholt was arrested for driving under the influence over the summer.

Obviously, Loadholt’s absence wasn’t coordinated with the staff running the videoboard or the public address announcer. He wasintroduced as a starter.