A power surge hit Doak Campbell Stadium at 7:29 p.m., six minutes before kickoff, blowing a transformer as it was being reset and knocking out stadium lights, the scoreboard, replay and coach-to-player communication.

ESPN's Taylor McGregor reported multiple meetings between both coaching staffs and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips before a fix restored enough power to start the game at 9:15 p.m., a delay of one hour and 40 minutes.

The game kicked off with officials keeping time on the field rather than the broken scoreboard clock, and FSU had to burn a timeout on special teams for not having 11 players on the field, the second straight week that's happened.

Power and the scoreboard gradually returned during the first half, though the ESPN broadcast crew of Dave Pasch and Dusty Dvoracek never regained access to their monitors for the rest of the night.

Kevin Jennings shook off two interceptions to complete 26 of 36 passes for 430 yards and three touchdowns, including a 50-yard strike to Jalen Cooper and a 10-yard score to former Seminole Randy Pittman, as SMU piled up 585 yards of total offense.

Ashton Daniels was efficient but limited, going 12 of 23 for 125 yards with a 39-yard touchdown to Samuel Singleton Jr. and an 8-yard rushing score, while Ousmane Kromah posted his second straight 100-yard game with 116 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

Nick Reed's 20-yard field goal with 21 seconds left sealed it for SMU after Ashlynd Barker and Nehemiah Chandler each intercepted Jennings in the second half and FSU forced a muffed punt that set up a third-quarter touchdown.

FSU converted just 2 of its first 10 third-down attempts and finished 2 of 15 on the night, the same issue that plagued the defense against New Mexico State showing up again on a far bigger stage.

FSU shuffled its offensive line in the third quarter, sliding Nate Pabst from right guard to right tackle and inserting Paul Bowling at guard after Chimdia Nwaiwu started the game at right tackle.

Fans surrounding the ACC Huddle pregame set chanted "We Want Jimbo" and held signs reading "Bring Back Jimbo" as former FSU coach Jimbo Fisher worked the broadcast as an ACC Network analyst.

Fisher, who hasn't coached since being fired at Texas A&M in 2023, said the moment brought back real emotion. "The fun of the game, when that chant starts going and that music starts cranking, it brings back why you coached," he said. "Wonderful place."

ChopChat's Josh Yourish pushed back hard on the nostalgia, arguing that Fisher's stubborn, self-reliant style of play-calling and roster building, the same traits that eventually sank him at Texas A&M, would be an awkward fit for a sport now built around portal management and general managers.

He pointed to Clemson's Dabo Swinney as a cautionary tale of a title-winning coach who never adapted to the transfer portal era, arguing FSU "can't afford to go back" no matter how badly the fanbase wants a return to 2013.

ChopChat's Josh Yourish noted the irony of the outage coming barely a year after Doak Campbell's roughly $265 million renovation, which cut seating capacity to add more suites, calling it hard to reconcile with a stadium that couldn't stay lit for its own primetime opener.

He traced the broader arc from FSU's 2023 ACC title and CFP snub through the Georgia Orange Bowl blowout, the ACC lawsuit, and back-to-back losing seasons, arguing the outage fit a pattern rather than standing alone as bad luck.

The piece also revisited Norvell's contract extension after the 2023 season, which now carries a buyout hovering around $50 million, framing the financial reality as the biggest obstacle to any near-term coaching change regardless of how Monday night played out.

Miami's football social media account posted a video of Hard Rock Stadium's lights working fine, captioned "The lights are ON at our house," while promoting Thursday's home opener.

FSU fans immediately pointed out that Hard Rock Stadium isn't actually on Miami's campus, with one popular reply summing up the mood: "This is like bragging about your crib but you live with your parents."

FSU averaged nearly 66,000 fans per home game in 2025 against a stadium capacity of roughly 67,000, filling Doak Campbell more consistently than Miami filled Hard Rock despite FSU's down season.

FSU's season opener also set a viewership record for The CW Network, a reminder that the program's national draw hasn't disappeared even as results have slipped.

Tomahawk Nation's Curt Weiler argued FSU was never actually in this game because of anything it did well. SMU turned the ball over four times to FSU's zero, yet the Seminoles never led in the fourth quarter and still lost, a sign the underlying performance didn't deserve a different outcome.

He noted third-down defense broke down "time and time again" for a second straight week, Daniels was "not remotely a passing threat," and FSU still needed a timeout for having too few players on the field on special teams, the same issue from Week 0.

Boos rang out throughout Monday's game, and Weiler argued a win wouldn't have quieted a fanbase that was chanting "Fire Norvell" on the way out of the stadium, unlike the genuine optimism that followed last year's Alabama upset.

His conclusion: an unconvincing win might have only delayed what already "feels more and more inevitable" regarding Norvell's future, making the loss more clarifying than a lucky escape would have been.

247Sports' No. 1 overall 2028 prospect, edge rusher Kameron McGee, headlined the list, while top 2027 commits Ta'Shawn Poole and Sam LeJeune both returned, along with quarterback pledge Logan Flaherty and edge commit Jaxon Holly, making his second straight trip.

Top247 defensive lineman Prince Che, who plays 45 minutes from Tallahassee, was back for a second consecutive week, a strong signal given how far some of FSU's other targets are traveling just once.

Armwood teammates Errol Demontagnac (Nebraska) and Theo Wilson (North Carolina) both attended, along with Florida CB commit Kamarion Johnson and Alabama CB commit Darrius White, giving FSU another shot at four prospects committed elsewhere.

The 2028 board alone included quarterback Chandler Dyson, three different offensive tackle targets, and more than a dozen other names, one of the largest single-game visitor groups FSU has hosted all year.

In his FSU debut, Shawn Coultoff shot 4-under 67 to climb into third place, highlighted by three straight birdies on holes 13 through 15.

Freshman Nils-Levi Bock opened his career with a 1-over 72 and three birdies, sitting tied for 28th, while Carson Brewer and Wilmer Edero shot 75 and 78 respectively.

Preseason All-American Sophia Fullbrook anchored an even-par 288 team round with a 2-under 70, good for a tie for fourth individually, as FSU sits tied for second with Texas A&M, four shots behind leader Kansas.

Freshman Louise Landgraf posted a 1-over 73 in her collegiate debut, while sophomore Haruhi Nakatani closed with back-to-back birdies to also shoot even par.

FSU (3-2) hosts Auburn Tuesday as part of the ACC-SEC Showdown at the Net, owning an 18-5 all-time record against the Tigers, before welcoming Louisiana Wednesday for just the second meeting between the programs.

Senior Kyleene Filimaua leads the team with 91 points and 75 kills through five matches, coming off a season-high 23-kill performance in last week's five-set win over then-No. 16 Kansas.