Jimbo Fisher and his huddlemates were not fans of the decision to push through with Monday’s Florida State-SMU game amid a power outage at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.
The lights in the venue went out shortly before the game’s original kickoff time of 7:30 p.m. E.T. Power eventually returned, but only in a limited capacity. Some of the lights were still non-operational, and the teams would need to deal with several issues, most notably a lack of coach-to-player communication. There would also be no scoreboards, no iPads on the sidelines, and no P.A. system.
Power outage in Tallahassee 👀
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 7, 2026
No. 19 SMU vs. Florida State has been delayed. pic.twitter.com/yDOpe1KNwE
The game had been delayed for about an hour when league and team officials announced they would continue with the contest.
The “ACC Huddle” crew of Fisher, Eddie Royal, Eric Mac Lain, and Taylor Tannebaum was incredulous once the game was confirmed to be pushing through, calling the decision “insane” to begin play under the strange circumstances.
The 'ACC Huddle' crew couldn't believe the decision to play Florida State-SMU with significant limitations amid power outage.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 8, 2026
"This is insane." pic.twitter.com/tSMjWods0A
“What gets me is no helmet-to-helmet communication,” Fisher said. “Those guys haven’t been signaling. They haven’t been doing that, the communication between quarterback and playcaller.
“Ashton Daniels, the biggest game of his life. Mike Norvell’s fighting his tail off to make Florida State relevant again. That communication is so vital. That’s unbelievable.”
The panel pointed out that SMU has an advantage in such a scenario because head coach Rhett Lashlee and quarterback Kevin Jennings have already been together for three years, while Daniels and Norvell entered Monday with one game of previous experience.
Royal stated he would rather they cancel altogether to ensure the contest was a “fair fight” that wouldn’t result in any excuses or complaints after the game. Fisher emphasized the game’s stakes for every player and coach fighting with their “lives, careers, and jobs on the line.” To Fisher, playing the game while heavily impaired was unfair for everyone involved.
Despite the pleas from the “ACC Huddle” contingent, the game kicked off at 9:30 p.m. E.T.
