SMU football’s 6-word post goes viral amid brutal delay

SMU football summed up a frustrating start to its 2026 season with six words Monday night as a power outage forced the No. 19 Mustangs to wait roughly 90 minutes to begin their ACC opener at Florida State.

The program’s official account posted a simple message on X, formerly Twitter, at 8:12 p.m. ET as players, coaches, and fans waited inside a darkening Doak S. Campbell Stadium: WE JUST WANT TO PLAY FOOTBALL

The post quickly drew 147,800 views, 4,100 likes, and more than 300 reposts. The unusual delay began after a power surge knocked out the stadium lights shortly before the scheduled 7:30-7:35 p.m. ET kickoff. An attempt to reset a transformer caused it to blow, leaving the stadium with additional electrical and technology issues.

The problems affected more than just the lights. Scoreboards froze, and portions of the press box lost power. Both teams remained on the sidelines before returning to their locker rooms around 7:53 p.m., just as the sun set in Tallahassee.

Officials eventually set kickoff for 9:15 p.m. ET, ending a delay that stretched well beyond 90 minutes. Players returned to the field around 9 p.m. for a 15-minute warm-up.

The game eventually started after the roughly hour-and-a-half wait, ending an unusual opening to SMU’s season. Stadium limitations remained part of the situation, with no public-address announcer, no coach-to-player helmet communication, and the game clock kept on the field.

The Mustangs entered the 2026 season ranked No. 19 and opened their third season in the ACC vs. a Florida State team that had already played in Week 0. SMU became the last of 138 FBS teams to begin its season.

The matchup also marked SMU’s first visit to Doak Campbell Stadium after the Mustangs won the schools’ only previous meeting, 42-16, in Dallas in 2024.

After the lengthy electrical delay, SMU and Florida State are now underway in Tallahassee.

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