The Labor Day clash between Florida State and No. 19 SMU descended into chaos on Monday after a blown transformer plunged Doak Campbell Stadium into darkness.
The ACC showdown was scheduled for a 7.30pm kickoff in Tallahassee, but just moments after both teams took the field, the venue suffered a massive power failure.
Officials initially kept squads on their respective sidelines before ordering both teams back into the locker rooms as the delay stretched out.
Before the decision was made to play, approximately 30 people – including ACC commissioner Jim Phillips and both schools’ athletic directors and presidents – gathered in a room at 8:15 p.m. to explore every option to restore power.
Administrators treated the situation as a ‘Hail Mary’ and were on their ‘last option,’ with discussions even exploring whether the matchup would need to be postponed to Tuesday.
Officials and school leaders ultimately reached an agreement to kick off under partial stadium lighting rather than push the contest back.
The Labor Day clash between Florida State and No. 19 SMU descended into chaos on Monday after a blown transformer plunged Doak Campbell Stadium into darkness
Thousands of fans were left waiting nearly two hours for Monday’s game to get underway
However, the blackout forced both teams into an old-school throwback, stripping away essential modern sideline technology.
The contest officially got underway at 9:15 p.m. ET following a nearly two-hour delay, with the official game clock kept on the field.
According to the game’s ESPN broadcast, the matchup was authorized to begin with no scoreboard, no public address announcer, and no sideline iPads.
Coach-to-player helmet communication was also completely offline, though booth-to-sideline communication remained operational.
The loss of helmet technology proved particularly jarring for SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee, who revealed to ESPN’s Taylor McGregor that his team had not practiced without coach-to-player communication in two years.
Players returned to the turf for an abbreviated warm-up around 9:00 p.m. before finally kicking off the ACC opener under limited electronic capabilities.
