Long flight delay leaves fans sweating

CLEARWATER (FOX 13) - A couple of dozen fans nearly missed this evening's national championship game. They were flying into the Bay Area from Greenville, South Carolina -- not far from Clemson.

However, their flight on Allegiant Airlines was delayed nearly four hours.

The airline told us the plane they were originally on had a mechanical problem before it left Greenville.  The passengers were taken off the plane and had to wait for another aircraft to be brought in.

"I had no idea the flight was going to be delayed so I was actually at Clemson this morning and I left class at 11 o'clock, sped to Greenville, went straight to the airport," Cristina Wangart said.  "I saw a lady with a Clemson paw on her jacket and said, 'Sweetie, do you know where our gate is?' and she said our flight has been delayed until 5 o'clock.  I was left in shock."

Many of the fans on the flight had tickets to the game.  The plane landed just one hour before kickoff, so you can bet there were a lot of stressed out fans.