CHAPEL HILL — A UNC spokesman said a failed breaker was responsible for the outage in the northeast bank of lights over Kenan Stadium on Saturday. The breaker has been replaced.
The darkness caused a 22-minute delay in the third quarter during the Tar Heels' 38-12 victory over UConn. The school also turned off the northwest bank of lights during the delay because it thought it would be faster to power both up at the same time.
The breakers are tested before each season, spokesman Steve Kirschner said.
Saturday's delay was just the latest mishap that has plagued the stadium during night games this year. During the season-opener against McNeese State, weather delayed the game for more than an hour, a lightning strike caused a small fire to the P.A. system, an elevator to the press box broke down, a small piece of concrete fell into one of the sections, and the game ball was inadvertantly delivered via parachutists to Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium instead of Kenan.
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at