Stadium Outage Pushes FSU-SMU Kickoff to Late Evening
The ACC opener between Florida State and No. 19 SMU was delayed by a power outage at the stadium. A transformer failure on the west side knocked out lights and press box power, pushing the kickoff from 7:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. ET.
The scheduled Atlantic Coast Conference opener between Florida State and the 19th-ranked SMU Mustangs was disrupted by a technical failure. A transformer malfunction on the west side of the venue cut power to both the field lights and the press box, resulting in a postponement of the original 7:30 p.m. ET start time to 9:15 p.m. ET.
A delayed kickoff could disrupt the schedules of traveling fans, local businesses, and broadcast partners. Players may face altered pre-game routines and later recovery times, potentially affecting performance. The outage may also prompt athletic departments to reassess stadium infrastructure maintenance, as aging power systems could pose recurring risks. For the wider college sports community, such interruptions highlight the logistical fragility of large-scale events, where even a single transformer failure can ripple through television schedules and audience engagement.