An electric extended Labor Day weekend of college football was set to wrap up with an electric night matchup with Florida State and SMU.
Instead, an extended power outage meant the Seminoles and the fans had to endure a delay of nearly two hours.
Florida State’s offense looked lethargic as a result of the delayed start, while the defense allowed nearly 600 offensive yards.
Kevin Jennings shook off a pair of interceptions to lead No. 19 SMU’s game-winning scoring drive, capped by Nick Reed’s 20-yard field-goal attempt with 21 seconds left to wrap up a wild 27-24 win on Monday.
“We got to go make plays in the passing game when opportunities present themselves,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “Didn’t do a good job protecting with that throughout, some inconsistencies there that we got to clean up. We got to get that corrected.”
SMU had 585 offensive yards, while FSU had just 324 yards.
Jennings completed 26 of 36 passes for a career-high 430 yards and three touchdowns as SMU (1-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) outlasted Florida State in a game that was delayed nearly two hours due to a power outage.
The Mustangs launched a preseason Heisman Trophy campaign for Jennings and it was far from a perfect performance. But coming off a pair of 3,000-yard seasons, Jennings had a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Cooper and a 10-yard touchdown to Randy Pittman, a Florida State transfer, to help the Mustangs rack up 585 offensive yards as they won their ACC opener.
Ousmane Kromah had 22 carries for 116 yards, including a 54-yarder and a 7-yard touchdown. Kromah has back-to-back 100-yard games to begin his sophomore season.
Ashton Daniels completed 12 of 23 passes for 125 yards and a 39-yard touchdown pass to Samuel Singleton Jr. Daniels also had an 8-yard touchdown run to help Florida State (1-1, 0-1) wrap up a 14-play, 75-yard drive in the first quarter.
Ashlynd Barker and Nehemiah Chandler had second-half interceptions for Florida State. The Seminoles also forced a muffed punt, which led to a third-quarter touchdown.
“We had our opportunities,” Norvell said. “It’s a shame to come up a field goal short.”
SMU and FSU were set to kick off at 7:35 p.m. but were instead pushed back to 9:15 p.m. due to a power outage inside Doak Campbell Stadium. The game began with referees keeping the time on the field.
“We asked them to be calm in the chaos,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “Couldn’t be more chaotic than the first hour and a half.”
Noteworthy
FSU did not convert on its first 10 third-down attempts, finishing 2 of 15. The Seminoles were also 2 of 4 on fourth-down attempts, including the game’s final play.
In the third quarter, FSU made a move at right tackle and shifted Nate Pabst over from right guard. Paul Bowling played right guard. Chimdia Nwaiwu started the game.
Daniel Hughes had six punts for a 44.8-yard average, including a 59-yarder.
Coming up
Following a bye week, FSU will travel to No. 13 Alabama on Sept. 19 at 3:30 p.m.
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Ashton Daniels had an 8-yard touchdown run to help Florida State wrap up a 14-play, 75-yard drive in the first quarter.
Ousmane Kromah had eight carries for 69 yards, including a 54-yarder.
Kromah enjoyed his first career 100-yard game in the opener, accumulating 115 yards on 14 carries.
Up next
Florida State has a bye and will play at No. 13 Alabama on Sept. 19.
Thanks for reading the Osceola. Subscribe now for 40 percent off to enjoy a full year of coverage of FSU athletics. You’ll also earn a $20 gift card at Alumni Hall.
