The scoreboard at Doak Campbell Stadium went dark for most of Monday night. Unfortunately for Florida State, the final score didn’t do much to clear things up once the lights came back on.

SMU beat the Seminoles 27-24, a score that makes the game look like a classic one-possession battle. Maybe one more stop. One better drive. One bounce in Florida State’s favor.

But that’s not really what happened.

Florida State never led, got outgained 585-324, and needed four SMU turnovers just to stay within striking distance. The Seminoles had every chance to take control, but they turned those extra opportunities into just seven points.

So, no, this wasn’t simply an unlucky three-point loss. The final score made the game look much closer than it actually was.

Florida State’s Four Free Chances Still Weren’t Enough

Look past the late-game drama for a minute and focus on what Florida State did after those four takeaways.

SMU fumbled on their opening drive, and FSU responded with three plays where they actually lost two yards and a punt. Then Kevin Jennings threw an interception in the end zone. The Seminoles took over at their own 3, picked up 18 yards on five plays, and then punted again. The field position wasn’t great, but that was still a free possession that went nowhere.

The muffed punt finally turned into a touchdown, though even that 29-yard drive needed a little help. SMU jumped offside on fourth-and-3, and FSU later converted another fourth down before Ousmane Kromah punched it in from two yards out.

The biggest missed opportunity came later. Edwin Joseph intercepted Jennings at the FSU 23 with 6:33 left and the game tied. That’s the kind of moment when a veteran offense should take over at home. Instead, the Seminoles went backward eight yards in three plays and punted it right back.

Put all four possessions together, and FSU’s offense managed 37 yards on 19 plays. That’s 1.9 yards per play.

The Takeaways Hid How Poorly FSU Played

The four takeaways also make it tempting to convince yourself that Florida State’s defense played better than they really did. Creating turnovers is important, and FSU deserves credit for making those plays. But forcing turnovers isn’t the same as getting stops consistently. SMU had just one normal punt all night. They also missed a 38-yard field goal and threw an interception in the end zone, so 27 points really undersells how well the Mustangs moved the ball.

SMU didn’t need to play a perfect game. They didn’t need to finish every promising drive. The Mustangs handed Florida State four extra possessions and still won on the road.

That’s not a game Florida State barely let slip away. It’s a game SMU kept giving the Seminoles chances to steal, and FSU still couldn’t take them.

The Offense Stalled While The Defense Gave Up Explosives

Ashton Daniels is going to take most of the heat, and that’s fair when the quarterback finishes 12-of-23 for 125 yards. The Seminoles’ wide receivers combined for seven catches and 67 yards. Daniels was sacked three times and averaged just 5.4 yards per attempt.

He wasn’t good enough. But the passing game wasn’t all on him.

Norvell admitted afterward that FSU never really found a rhythm throwing the ball:

There's a couple of really good throws that we got to finish on. There's a couple of reads that we can be better at. There's some protections that we need to give more time on. There's a combination of things that showed up tonight that was not good enough for what it needs to be in our passing game... It takes more than just one player to be able to execute at a high level in the passing game.

That’s probably the fairest way to look at it. Daniels missed some throws. The offensive line gave up pressure when SMU knew a pass was coming. The receivers didn’t do much to make life easier, either. Norvell, who took back play-calling duties for this season, couldn’t find a reliable answer once SMU tightened up against the run and forced FSU to throw.

The result was an offense that started 0-for-10 on third down and couldn’t stay on the field, even with SMU handing them extra chances. Daniels summed it up pretty well afterward:

You’re not going to score points if you can’t string first downs together.

He was right.

Kromah was the bright spot again. He ran for 116 yards and a touchdown after opening the season with 115 against New Mexico State. He looks like the kind of back Florida State can build around. But 54 of those yards against SMU came on one run. On his other 21 carries, he had 62 yards. FSU’s official total of 199 rushing yards was also helped by 34 yards on Daniels’ final scramble, a play that started with four seconds left and ended with a lateral and fumble after the clock had already expired.

So, yeah, the rushing total looks better on paper than the offense actually felt. Florida State had a few good stretches on the ground, but they couldn’t run the ball consistently enough to keep Daniels out of third-and-long or make SMU change the way they defended.

SMU’s Passing Game Exposed The Bigger Defensive Problem

The defensive numbers are even harder to explain away.

Jennings threw for 430 yards and three touchdowns on 36 attempts. He averaged 11.9 yards every time he dropped back and wasn’t sacked once. Four SMU receivers finished with at least 70 yards.

That’s not just one bad bounce or a receiver making a great play. Big plays like that usually mean something went wrong somewhere. Maybe it’s a coverage bust. Maybe it’s a missed tackle. Maybe the quarterback has way too much time to wait for the route to open up. Against SMU, Florida State had all three problems show up.

The 79-yard touchdown to Yannick Smith hurt the most. It came on third-and-6 with the game tied at 17, which gave FSU a chance to get off the field and keep SMU from building momentum. Instead, Smith got behind the defense, and the Mustangs had the longest play of the night.

The final drive told the same story, just in a less dramatic way. After FSU’s offense went backward following Edwin Joseph’s interception, SMU took over at their own 26 with 4:56 left. Then, on third-and-10, Jennings found Jalen Cooper for 29 yards. That was the play that kept the drive alive. SMU drained the clock, moved down to the FSU 3, and kicked the winning field goal with 21 seconds left.

That’s what control looked like in this game. When SMU needed a third-down conversion, they got one. When Florida State had the ball with a chance to take their first lead, they lost yards and punted.

It’d be easy to blame the nearly two-hour stadium power delay and move on. The outage knocked out the scoreboard, public-address system, sideline tablets, and helmet communication, but it affected both teams. And more importantly, these issues didn’t start Monday night.

New Mexico State threw for 272 yards and converted 10 of 17 third downs in FSU’s 34-17 win. Through two games, the Seminoles have allowed 702 passing yards, and opponents are 18-for-31 on third down. That’s a 58 percent conversion rate against a Conference USA team and an ACC contender.

The competition got a lot tougher in Week 2. Florida State’s trouble getting off the field didn’t.

A Three-Point Loss Can Still Be A Warning Sign

Florida State can’t just file this away as a respectable three-point loss to a ranked team.

The program went from 13-1 in 2023 to 2-10 in 2024, then followed that with a 5-7 season in 2025. FSU kept Norvell, with university leadership publicly calling for “fundamental changes” and acknowledging that the results had fallen well short of the program’s standard. Since the beginning of 2024, the Seminoles are 8-18 overall and 3-14 in ACC play. Monday was their third straight loss in a conference opener.

That history matters. It changes how you have to look at a game like this. If Florida State had spent the last two seasons looking steady and competitive, there’d be more room to focus on the fight they showed by tying the game three different times. Instead, too much of Monday looked like the same old team: an offense that couldn’t find a reliable passing game, a defense giving up big plays, and a team wasting the few chances they got against a good opponent.

SMU is a legitimate ACC contender. The Mustangs are now 15-2 in conference games since joining the league, and Jennings is good enough to make a defense pay when he gets a clean pocket. Losing to that team by three points isn’t embarrassing on its own.

Needing four turnovers just to make it a three-point game is the embarrassing part.

Now Florida State gets a bye before traveling to Alabama on Sept. 19. The same Alabama program that FSU stunned 31-17 in last year’s opener won’t have much reason to overlook the Seminoles in Tuscaloosa. Florida State will have time to clean things up, but this isn’t about fixing one busted coverage or asking Daniels to hit one more throw.

The passing game needs an identity. The offensive line has to hold up when defenses know a pass is coming. The receivers need to make more plays. The defense has to create pressure without needing a turnover to end every drive, and they have to stop letting third down turn into a never-ending possession.

That’s a lot to fix for a team two games into a season that was supposed to show the program had finally made the necessary changes.

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