December weather at Perkins Stadium can be rather finicky

(In the adjacent photo – a look at the field covered with hot air blown under the tarp in an effort to keep the turf from freezing – Tom Pattison photo)

I’ll be the first to admit that the weather conditions at Perkins Stadium Saturday weren’t as severe as they were at the iconic “Ice Bowl” NFL Championship Game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers on the “frozen tundra of Lambeau Field,” but it was definitely really cold.

Saturday’s NCAA Division III playoff game at Perkins Stadium had game-time weather conditions of 19 degrees with winds out of the northwest at 22 mph with a wind chill recorded at -11 degrees. By the start of the second half the temperature had fallen to 18 degrees and a wind chill of -15.

Unofficially, it was the coldest game (wind chill wise) in Perkins Stadium history.

Prior to Saturday's game, the coldest game is believed to be the legendary “shoes game,” - the NCAA semifinal game between Wesley (DE) and the Warhawks at Perkins Stadium on December 10, 2005.
The game was played just two days after 8 inches of snow fell on Thursday night followed by frigid temperatures froze the then grass turf at the Perk.

The game time temperature on December 10, 2005 was 22 degrees with winds gusting to 25 mph.
Despite the intense, three day effort by dozens of workers to keep the field surface unfrozen, the Perk could have been called “the big ice cube” for Wesley and Whitewater with the winner to advance to the 2006 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.

The Warhawk players back in '05 relished the idea of playing in the challenging elements. Wesley was, shall we say, less than thrilled.

UWW wore cleatless shoes on the frozen turf, Wesley did not and still talk about UWW having an unfair advantage.

The Warhawks took the lead by way of a Wesley safety on the first play of the game and the rout was on. Whitewater rolled to a 58-6 win to advance to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl for the first of seven consecutive seasons.

Despite weather elements that included sub-zero wind chill temperatures and snow, a still UWW playoff record crowd of 5,480 were at Perkins Stadium that afternoon in what is believed to be the coldest day in Perkins Stadium history.