The SMU Mustangs and Florida State Seminoles were supposed to get the final game of Week 1 underway on Labor Day night at around 7:30 p.m. ET, but the Monday kickoff didn't go to plan. Instead, as Rhett Lashlee and Mike Norvell took the field early before the game, the power went out at Doak Campbell Stadium and the game started in a delay as they waited for the night game in Tallahassee to be able to get underway — namely, waiting for the lights and scoreboard to turn back on.
In what was a strange Week 1 for college football, this only felt fitting. However, fans were quite eager to watch this game get underway. That then left them wondering when the SMU-Florida State start time was pushed back to after the power outage delay.
SMU-Florida State start time after power outage delay
SMU-Florida State is set to finally kick off around 9:15 p.m. ET according to the latest updates. After some concerns that they might have to postpone the game, there are enough lights in the stadium to play the game. However, it will be anything but a normal college football game as issues stemming from the power surge persist.
According to reports, the electronics in the stadium are not all up and running. That means there will be no PA announcers, no scoreboard (the clock will be kept on the field, which feels ironic given the events of Week 1, specifically in Ann Arbor), no sideline iPads or videos and no coach-to-player helmet communication. That should make things wildly interesting.
Frankly, it seems like maybe that this game should've been postponed. However, with the two sides both agreeing to move forward — warmups are scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET — it's going to be one of the strangest college football games of the season.
The optics of this aren't great for Florida State
Not to make something out of nothing, but you have to recognize that this just isn't a good look for Florida State. After all, the Seminoles are a program with a potential lame-duck head coach in Mike Norvell — or at least a coach who is one of the hottest seats in the country. They've been in a steady and tumultuous decline since their College Football Playoff snub. They looked middling at best in a crucial season for Norvell and Co. in Week 0 against New Mexico State.
And now we get a power outage for a primetime, spotlighted home game in Tallahassee. Obviously, there's a good chance that all of this is entirely out of Florida State's control. After all, the ESPN broadcast mentioned that the stadium team was quickly able to identify the issue, but was working hard to try and remedy it in a full capacity. Specifically, that would mean getting all of the stadium lights back on the field.
Even still, for a program that hasn't done much on the football field to keep itself from being the butt of the joke, for the Seminoles to host this spotlight game on Labor Day with every college football fan tuning in to watch and for that game to then get put into a delay is one of those bits that seems almost too fitting to be true.
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