TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The lights inside Doak Campbell Stadium went out at 6:29 p.m. CT on Monday, six minutes before the scheduled kickoff of an Atlantic Coast Conference opener. The Florida State Seminoles and the No. 19 SMU Mustangs started the game an hour and 40 minutes later, at 8:15 p.m. CT, with no scoreboard, no public address announcer, and no coach-to-player helmet communication.
Both teams were already out of their tunnels, and the captains had finished the coin toss. Officials sent everyone back to the locker rooms.
A power surge took the stadium lights, the sound system, and the press box. When crews went under the stadium to reset it, a transformer on the west side of the building blew. The outage was not weather related. Tallahassee’s outage map showed five customers without power. Sunset came at 6:52 p.m. CT, 23 minutes after the lights failed, and the stadium went dark fast.
ESPN sideline reporter Taylor McGregor said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, both athletic directors, both school presidents, and Florida State coach Mike Norvell were among the people inside a meeting that began around 7:15 p.m. CT.
“There are about 30 people in the room, and what we learned is they’re basically throwing a Hail Mary to try to get the power back on,” McGregor said on the ESPN broadcast. “They are on their last option now. If this option works, they’re predicting that the lights would come back on at around 9 p.m.”
What the Florida State Seminoles And SMU Mustangs Played Without
Officials worked without replay review and without referee microphones. The offensive and defensive coordinators kept their headsets to the head coach.
“They believe they have enough lights in order to play this game, but it is going to get tricky because not everything is back on,” McGregor said. “So the clock will come from the field, there will be no coach to player communication. There will be no iPads. The headsets from the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator to the head coach, those will be on. There will be no PAs, no scoreboards. So this is going to look very different. But they feel like they have enough on that they can play this game.”
Coach-to-player helmet communication and sideline tablets have been legal in college football only since 2024, when the NCAA approved both for Football Bowl Subdivision teams following the sign-stealing investigation into Michigan.
Doak Campbell Stadium reopened before the 2025 season after a $250 million renovation. Fans held phone flashlights over their heads through the blackout and kept the War Chant going.
SMU coach Rhett Lashlee and Norvell agreed both teams would come back out whenever the lights returned, with no time set.
“They were hoping that they could get things up in about 10, but they haven’t,” Lashlee told the ESPN broadcast. “As soon as they get it up, we’ll come out and give a quick 10 to warm up, and then we’ll play.”
Kevin Jennings And SMU’s Season Opener In Tallahassee
Florida State had already played once. The Seminoles opened Aug. 29 with a 34-17 win over New Mexico State. Monday was SMU’s first game.
Quarterback Kevin Jennings opened his fifth season at SMU without the helmet communication that has fed him play calls since the NCAA legalized it. Jennings grew up in Oak Cliff and played at South Oak Cliff High School. Last year he started all 13 games, was named a team captain, threw for 3,641 yards with 26 touchdowns, and completed 66.0% of his passes. Two seasons ago he led SMU to an 11-3 record, a perfect 8-0 mark in its first year in the ACC, and the program’s first College Football Playoff berth.
Three SMU running backs were unavailable in Tallahassee, and Jennings told reporters Thursday that the Mustangs still planned to establish the run early against Florida State.
SMU returns to Gerald J. Ford Stadium on Saturday against UC Davis. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CT. The Mustangs play at Louisville on Sept. 19.
