09/07/26 08:28:00
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09/07 20:27 CDT No. 19 SMU, Florida State kick off after nearly 2-hour delay
due to power outage
No. 19 SMU, Florida State kick off after nearly 2-hour delay due to power outage
By BOB FERRANTE
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) --- The game between No. 19 SMU and Florida State kicked
off after a delay of nearly two hours on Monday night due to a power outage at
the stadium.
Power went out at Doak Campbell Stadium just minutes before the scheduled
kickoff and the delay lasted about 1 hour, 45 minutes. The Seminoles (1-0) and
Mustangs (0-0) finally took the field at 9 p.m. EDT for warmups and the game
started at 9:15 p.m. under less than ideal conditions.
Not all the stadium lights were operating and the teams were forced to deal
with a number of other issues, including no coach-to-player communication, no
iPads on the sidelines, no public address announcer and no scoreboard.
A statement on the Jumbotron inside the stadium during the delay read:
"Technical staff are addressing a power disruption to the west side tower due
to an electrical short in the main transformer. Electricians are working to
restore the power service. The game remains suspended. Update to follow."
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips chatted with athletic directors from both
schools, SMU's Damon Evans and Florida State's Michael Alford, for a few
minutes on the field before administrators moved inside to further discuss
options.
The highly anticipated finale on Labor Day to the weekend's first full slate of
games was put on hold as a countdown clock inside the stadium stopped at 7:30
p.m. and the stadium lights went out.
Florida State and SMU had run out of their respective tunnels and onto their
sidelines just moments before the game officially entered a delay. The
Seminoles and Mustangs remained on their sidelines before eventually being sent
back to their locker rooms.
A few specialists from both teams returned to the field to warm up. Florida
State's punter encouraged the fans to stand up and cheer, and the school's band
played in one end zone. Fans did the wave and knocked around beach balls.
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