No. 19 SMU turns the ball over 4 times, but still escapes with 27-24 win over Florida State
· Yahoo Sports
SMU did everything it could to give Florida State a chance to win Monday night. Instead, the Mustangs got out of Tallahassee with a 27-24 win after a 20-yard field goal from Nick Reed with 21 seconds to go.
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Once the game finally started after a 100-minute delay because of a power outage at Doak Campbell Stadium, it was clear that SMU was the better team.
Yet the Mustangs were also the team that kept making more mistakes. SMU turned the ball over four times, missed a field goal and committed a penalty on an FSU field goal attempt that led to a game-tying touchdown in the third quarter. It was an incredibly sloppy effort from SMU, yet Florida State could not capitalize.
The Mustangs' fourth turnover came with 6:33 to go and the game tied at 24-24. Safety Ashlynd Barker read QB Kevin Jennings' eyes for an interception and gave Florida State a chance to take its first lead of the night.
Instead, the Seminoles' offense lost seven yards on three plays after Ashton Daniels was sacked on third down. That down was FSU's nemesis all night; it finished 2-for-14 on third downs. Florida State punted the ball back to SMU, and the Mustangs got into position for an easy field goal thanks to a 29-yard completion to Dramekco Green on third down with less than three minutes to go.
SMU had 585 yards
The Mustangs had more than 300 yards in the first half, yet led just 17-10 at halftime thanks to a fumble on their first drive and that missed field goal.
After Florida State played in Week Zero, SMU was the last team to start the 2026 college football season. And it had to wait a little longer than anticipated. Minutes before the game was about to start just after 7:30 p.m. ET, there was a power failure at the stadium. The teams waited around on the field hoping for a quick fix, but when it was apparent that wasn't going to happen, they both retreated to their locker rooms.
The hopes of a brief delay quickly subsided as the lights on the press box side of the stadium wouldn't come back on. After lighting was partially restored, the two teams agreed to start the game at 9:15 p.m. ET without instant replay review, the game clock being kept by officials on the field, no coach-to-player helmet communications and other modern amenities taken for granted in college football.
Player communications were restored during the game, and so were the clock issues.
The Mustangs outgained Florida State by over 250 yards and averaged 8.7 yards per play. If you post those offensive numbers, you're usually blowing out your opponent. Instead, SMU had to sweat because of all its self-inflicted mistakes.
Where's the optimism at Florida State?
It's hard to see how Mike Norvell's team will be much better in 2026 than it was a season ago. Norvell returned for a seventh season at FSU despite a 5-7 season in 2025. Those seven losses came over the Seminoles' final nine games of the season.
After a 17-point win over New Mexico State in Week Zero, Florida State looked like an extremely flawed team Monday night. The Seminoles didn't convert a third down until the fourth quarter and finished just 2-of-14 on third down all game. The passing game was nearly non-existent as QB Ashton Daniels was 12-of-23 for 123 yards and struggled to throw the ball downfield. And the offensive line was so bad that Norvell made changes at both right guard and right tackle in the second half.
And did we mention that the defense allowed nearly nine yards a play?
Simply getting to a bowl game may not be good enough to give Norvell an eighth year. And a team like Alabama may not be as forgiving as SMU was, either. Yes, the Seminoles beat the Crimson Tide in Week 1 a season ago, but there's a lot to fix in FSU's upcoming bye week for any hope of that upset to be replicated in Week 3 in Tuscaloosa.