TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A stadium power outage marred Florida State University’s football contest on Monday, causing a two-hour delay in a televised game against SMU.
The power went out on the west side of Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee with 4 minutes before kickoff, ESPN reported.
The only message that appeared on the videoboard was “Game Delayed -- Power Outage,” according to the cable sports network.
The game, originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, finally started at 9:15 p.m. after there was enough lighting to play, The Athletic reported.
When the game began, not all of the stadium lights were working. There was no public address system, coach-to-player helmet communication or replay reviews, the sports website reported.
Time was kept by officials on the field.
Florida State coach Mike Norvell and SMU coach Rhett Lashlee agreed they could do without the modern technology, ESPN reported.
“We’re just going to play old-school football,” SMU athletic director Damon Evans added.
“I told our guys, ‘We’re the last team in the country to get to play a game. What’s another hour and a half?’” Lashlee told reporters after the game.
No. 19 SMU vs. Florida State will kick off at 9:15 PM ET 🚨
— ESPN (@espn) September 8, 2026
Due to the power outage, there will be:
▪️No coach-to-player communication
▪️No iPads
▪️No PA announcer
▪️No scoreboard pic.twitter.com/jCRtLKZRpT
“Once it was determined the game could proceed safely — and with the full support of the presidents, athletic directors and head coaches from both schools — we agreed to move forward despite not having the usual technology available at the start of the game,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips told The Athletic.
The Florida State athletic department said in a statement that the power outage was caused by an electrical short in the stadium’s main transformer, WCTV reported.
Most of the electrical technology was restored by halftime, according to The Athletic.
It was deja vu for Lashlee, who was involved in a similar situation in Junction City, Alabama, according to ESPN.
“Last time I had one of these was my sophomore year in high school when the lights went out,” Lashlee told reporters after the game. “It ended up being national game of the year, 70-64.
“We played the whole game after an hour-and-a-half delay with no scoreboard, just lights, no clock, and then 134 points were scored.”
The power failure was a bad omen for the Seminoles (1-1, 0-1). FSU, once the prominent power in the Atlantic Coast Conference, lost 27-24 to No. 19 SMU when Nick Reed kicked a 20-yard field goal with 21 seconds to play, ESPN reported.
The Mustangs (1-0, 1-0 ACC) outgained the Seminoles in yards by a 585-324 margin and threw for 430 yards, according to The Tallahassee Democrat.
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