![\"Florida](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m1z517ze9d1fz2mkez.jpg\" "\\"Florida")
<\/p>\nThe 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 \u2014 namely, waiting for the lights and scoreboard to turn back on. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
SMU-Florida State start time after power outage delay<\/p>\n
Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
While no official start time has been announced in Tallahassee, we’re projecting an 8:45 p.m. ET start time for the SMU-Florida State game. This comes after SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee was interviewed by the ESPN College Football crew with both teams going back to the locker room. The lights were starting to flicker on, but both coaches agreed to go back to the locker rooms during the delay. <\/p>\n
Lashlee also said that the two teams agreed that each would get a 10-minute warmup upon re-emerging from the locker room. The lights had started to come on, but the ACC and ESPN promised a more official update at around 8:20 p.m. ET. As such, that means that we’re projecting about 25 minutes for both teams to get warmed back up and then for kickoff to happen. <\/p>\n
We will, of course, keep you updated with any information about a potential start time, officially, for this game. <\/p>\n
The optics of this aren’t great for Florida State![\"Florida](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m1z5cb631pdrn5bas2.jpg\" "\\"Florida")
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Florida State head coach Mike Norvell | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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