A power outage at Doak Campbell Stadium delayed SMU-FSU nearly two hours and forced both teams to play without normal sideline technology.
The SMU Mustgangs vs. Florida State Seminoles game already carried major ACC implications Monday night. Then Doak Campbell Stadium lost power, the technology disappeared and as Outkick.com wrote, the matchup suddenly looked more like football from another era.
A power disruption struck just before the scheduled kickoff, sending both teams back to their locker rooms and delaying the game for roughly one hour and 45 minutes.
Stadium officials later identified an electrical short in the main transformer as the source of the problem.
When the game finally kicked off at 9:15 p.m. ET, conditions were anything but normal.
Not all stadium lights were operating. The scoreboard and public-address system were unavailable.
Coaches initially had no coach-to-player helmet communication, teams couldn’t use sideline iPads and officials kept the game clock on the field.
For SMU coach Rhett Lashlee and Florida State coach Mike Norvell, that meant adapting on the fly in a game neither team could afford to treat casually.
The biggest adjustment came on offense. Modern college football relies heavily on immediate communication between coaches and quarterbacks, particularly before the play clock reaches 15 seconds and helmet communication shuts off.
Without that advantage early in the game, both staffs had to rely more heavily on hand signals, substitutions and old-fashioned sideline communication.
Some systems eventually returned. Coach-to-player communication was restored with roughly six minutes remaining in the second quarter, and portions of the scoreboard functionality also came back during the game.
By then, however, one of the strangest games of the opening college football weekend was already underway.
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings handled the chaos better than anyone. Jennings completed 26 of 36 passes for a career-high 430 yards and three touchdowns, helping the No. 19 Mustangs generate 585 total yards.
SMU still committed four turnovers, including two Jennings interceptions, giving Florida State repeated chances to steal the game.
The Seminoles couldn't capitalize.
Jennings eventually led the decisive late drive, and Nick Reed drilled a 20-yard field goal with 21 seconds remaining to give SMU a 27-24 victory.
Florida State forced four turnovers but was outgained 585-324, including a massive 430-125 disadvantage through the air.
The final result will matter far longer than the electrical problems.
But for one night in Tallahassee, college football stripped away much of its modern technology and forced two ACC programs to improvise.
SMU handled it just well enough to leave town with a win.
