Week one of the college football season is always an absolute blast, mainly because instead of a lone Saturday of action, your weekend of football watching gets stretched to three magical days over the holiday weekend.
One of the highlights of every week one is always the standalone game on Labor Day night, but unfortunately for Florida State fans, their Seminoles were the ones tasked with entertaining a football hungry public.
The game itself was somewhat entertaining and had plenty of drama, but we will discuss that here in a bit.
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A general view from above of the Florida State Seminoles with fireworks going off as they run on to the field before the game against the Boston College Eagles at Doak Campbell Stadium on Bobby Bowden Field on Sept. 24, 2022, in Tallahassee, Florida. (Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
By now, everyone is aware of the power outage that took place at Doak Campbell Stadium on Monday night.
If you were tuning in to watch Florida State take on SMU, you were likely greeted with a mostly dark stadium and a bunch of reporters sitting around a desk trying desperately to fill air time.
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The broadcast crew for ESPN did an admirable job with what they were given, but make no mistake about it, this was a national embarrassment for a program that has been full of them these past 24 months.
Unfortunately, the power failure wasn’t even the worst part of last night’s “Debacle at Doak.”
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Sure, it was fun for fans of every other team to sit back on their couches, pointing and laughing at FSU’s incompetence with regard to paying their electric bill, but once the game started, it was a lot closer than anyone was willing to predict in the lead up.
And a close game late into the fourth quarter is precisely what Noles fans DID NOT want to happen.
To be clear, SMU dominated this game.
Florida State lines up for an extra point against SMU during the first half at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on Bobby Bowden Field on Sept. 7, 2026, in Tallahassee, Fla. (Getty Images)
The Mustangs marched the ball up and down the field seemingly at will, racking up nearly 600 yards of total offense and going 8-for-14 on third down, but it almost seemed like they were trying to give this game away to the Seminoles.
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And FSU simply would not take it.
A game in which SMU outgained Florida State by 261 yards came down to the final possession, which presents a nightmare scenario for any Seminole supporter looking to offload head coach Mike Norvell’s albatross of a contract.
Head Coach Mike Norvell of the Florida State Seminoles stands on the field before a game against the SMU Mustangs at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on Bobby Bowden Field in Tallahassee, Fla., on Sept. 7, 2026. (Getty Images)
The Noles are 1-1 and have a “competitive” game against a top-25 opponent under their belts, so anyone hoping for an exit strategy with their beleaguered head coach might be in for a rude awakening.
It would have been better to get blown out on national television, especially with the pregame power outage.
A close loss that came down to the last few seconds gives Norvell a sliver of hope, which as we all know is poison.
Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of other embarrassing moments for the Noles that represented a microcosm of the Norvell era, like this joker who dribbled an imaginary basketball on third and ten right before his defense gave up a 30 yard completion.
Seminole fans are in football purgatory right now.
There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, and a close loss to a College Football Playoff hopeful was basically the equivalent to God adding another million tons of sand to their hourglass of suffering.
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The money will be raised to cut ties with Norvell eventually, but $51 million is a big chunk of change, and the powers that be will be looking for every reason not to pay it until that number comes down.
If you’re an FSU supporter, you should be praying that this season goes off the rails, because 7-5 with close losses to teams like SMU will only prolong the inevitable.
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It’s time to rip the Band-Aid off, but Norvell keeps supergluing it to Chief Osceola’s skin.
