Old School
SMU-Florida State college football game played with limited power
Technology has increasingly impacted sports throughout their history, but since the advent of computers and digital communication platforms, its detractors have swelled in numbers as many sports purists lament the often invasive, time-consuming methods such as instant replay.
Those folks likely enjoyed the throwback experience during Florida State’s Week 1 college football matchup against No. 19 SMU at Doak Campbell Stadium, when play was delayed for nearly two hours due to a power outage that hit the stadium’s west side just minutes before kickoff. The outage caused loss of lights, sound systems, and other electrical systems, forcing officials to decide whether to proceed.
Officials later confirmed the outage was not due to the city’s power grid but to an electrical short in the stadium’s main transformer. The fault caused a main breaker to fail beyond repair, damaging associated electrical gear that required complete replacement.
Because power was not fully restored, the game was played with severely limited technology:
No in-game video replay
No coach-to-player helmet communication
No PA announcer
No videoboard or scoreboard
Reduced stadium lighting
Referee microphones and operating score clock were also unavailable.
Timekeeping was done by officials on the field, and play was signaled rather than displayed. Both coaches, Mike Norvell (FSU) and Rhett Lashlee (SMU), said they were fine with the “old-school” approach.
After setting up generators to restore most lights, the game kicked off at 9:15 p.m. ET instead of the original 7:30 PM. Most of the stadium’s lighting was restored by halftime, but some systems remained offline.
The SMU–FSU game became a rare example of a modern college football contest played without many of the conveniences fans expect, due to a stadium-specific electrical fault. The delay and limited power created a unique, throwback atmosphere for the matchup.
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