No. 19 SMU survives outage, four turnovers to edge Florida State 27-24

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Kevin Jennings threw for 430 yards and three touchdowns and Nick Reed converted a 20-yard field goal with 21 seconds to play as No. 19 SMU overcame four turnovers to beat Florida State 27-24 on Monday night in a season opener delayed roughly 100 minutes by a power outage at Doak Campbell Stadium.

The lights went out shortly before the scheduled 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff, sending both teams to their locker rooms. The outage was traced to an electrical issue involving the stadium's main transformer, and fans lit portions of the stadium with their phones during the wait. After lighting was partially restored, the teams agreed to begin play at about 9:15 p.m. without instant replay, coach-to-player helmet communication, sideline technology, a functioning scoreboard or a public address announcer, with officials keeping the game clock on the field. Player communications and the clock system were restored during the game, which ended after 12:30 a.m.

Jennings completed 26 of 36 passes with two interceptions and rushed for 33 yards on five carries. The fifth-year senior connected with nine different receivers as SMU piled up 585 yards to Florida State's 324 and averaged 8.7 yards per play. He opened the scoring with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Cooper and added a 10-yard scoring throw to Randy Pittman Jr., a Florida State transfer, for a 17-10 halftime lead.

SMU's mistakes kept the Seminoles within reach. The Mustangs fumbled on their opening drive, missed a field goal, muffed a punt that Gemari Sands recovered at the SMU 29 and threw an interception in the end zone to Nehemiah Chandler. An offsides penalty on a Florida State field goal attempt in the third quarter gave the Seminoles new life, and Ousmane Kromah scored from 6 yards out to tie it at 17.

Fourth-quarter swings

Facing third-and-6 from his own 21 with the score tied, Jennings lofted a pass over the middle to Yannick Smith, who broke a tackle for a 79-yard touchdown with 12:37 remaining. Jennings performed Florida State's tomahawk chop after the score. Ashton Daniels answered with a 75-yard drive capped by a 39-yard catch and run by Samuel Singleton Jr. to tie the game at 24 with 8:17 left. Safety Ashlynd Barker then intercepted Jennings with 6:33 to go, but Florida State lost seven yards on three plays and punted. A 29-yard completion to Dramekco Green on third down set up Reed's winner.

You're going to make mistakes, I mean, it's the first game of the year! So, you're going to make mistakes. You just have to learn from them and keep going.

— Kevin Jennings, SMU quarterback

Kromah ran for 116 yards on 22 carries and Daniels added 71 rushing yards, but Florida State finished 2-for-14 on third down and did not convert until the fourth quarter. Daniels completed 12 of 23 passes for 123 yards, and Mike Norvell changed his right guard and right tackle in the second half. SMU, now 15-2 against ACC opponents since joining the league, hosts UC Davis on Saturday. Florida State, 1-1, has 12 days before visiting No. 13 Alabama.