Florida State is hosting SMU in its 2026 ACC opener at Doak Campbell Stadium on Monday night, but the 7:35 p.m. ET kickoff has been delayed “at least five minutes,” according to the ESPN broadcast, by an unexpected power outage.
The broadcast initially indicated that the game would kick off as expected, but that the officiating crew would potentially be without replay during the power outage and for however long it persisted into the night. However, they updated that with news of a brief delay.
There have been recent power outages on Florida State’s campus in Tallahassee this week as a result of recent storms in the area. The power outage has affected the stadium lights, and the sun set shortly after the scheduled kickoff in Tallahassee. The outage was caused by a power surge in the stadium.
Latest kickoff time update for FSU vs. SMU in Week 1
Update 8:42 p.m. ET: Kickoff is set for 9:15 p.m., players will return to the field at 9:00 p.m. Light is restored, but the game will be played without everything back on. According to McGregor's report, 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 and defensive coordinator to the head coach will be on, but there will be no public address announcer and no scoreboard.
Update 7:59 p.m. ET: The lights on the stadiums side of the field have returned by the press box side has not returned. ACC commisioner Jim Philips informed Taylor McGregor that an updated is expected at 8:20 p.m. ET.
An official kickoff time has not yet been set.
Update 8:25 p.m. ET: McGregor reported on the meeting at 8:20 p.m. ET and described the final option that Florida State has for this game as a "hail mary" to see if they can turn the lights on. If the hail mary works, the lights would be on by about 9:00 p.m. ET and the players would have about 15 minutes to warm up before kicking off the game. If the option does not work, the current plan seems to be for the game to be played tomorrow.
The lights are being restored in stages, but there is no certainty that they will all be restored tonight. There is also little clarity about whether this game could be played tomorrow, considering the logistical difficulties and SMU hosting UC Davis on Saturday in Week 2. FSU has a bye in Week 2.
Taylor McGregor of ESPN reported that the game cannot be started until the stadium lights come back on. The outage is affecting the stadium lights as well as the eighth and ninth floors of Doak Campbell Stadium. It appears that the game will be kicked off once the lights come back on. McGregor later added that Florida State attempted to reset the transformer, and then the transformer blew.
The lights originally went out at 7:29 p.m. ET, just about six minutes before kickoff.
Also according to McGregor on the ESPN broadcast, both head coaches, Mike Norvell and Rhett Lashlee, are discussing how long to stay on the field during the delay and if it extends about 10 minutes beyond about the 7:52 p.m. ET mark, they plan to retreat back to their locker rooms.
Doak Campbell recently underwent a $250 million renovation that was completed before the 2025 season and, notably, reduced the seating capacity to around 67,000 seats. Along with athletic director Michael Alford, FSU made a signficant investment in its facilities in recent years, also constructing a football-only training facility, which opened this offseason.
Florida State came into Week 1 at 1-0 after a 34-17 win at Doak Campbell in Week 0. The Seminoles and head coach Mike Norvell carry significant pressure into the eight-game ACC slate this season as back-to-back losing seasons.
The Mustangs are looking to get back to the College Football Playoff after making the first expanded 12-team CFP in 2024. That season, the two programs clashed in Dallas and the Mustangs rolled to a 42-16 win.
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