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Inside The Mustangs

Best Social Media Reactions to SMU's Big Road Win over Florida State

SMU was the only college football game on Labor Day and on primetime national television, and they didn't disappoint.
Ryan Kay|
The SMU Mustangs defeats the Florida State Seminoles
The SMU Mustangs defeats the Florida State Seminoles | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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Social media posts with many emotions, reactions, and compelling stats after No. 19 SMU’s 27-24 win over Florida State on Labor Day night.

A stadium-wide power outage at Doak Campbell Stadium delayed the start by nearly two hours before kickoff. Fans laughed endlessly about the “chaos” before the game even started, creating a viral, anxious environment.

The main and most important aspect of the game is that SMU went on the road to begin the season 1-0 on the season and in ACC play.

Even though there was a delay to the game and that SMU turned the ball over four times, the Mustangs found a way to pull off a three-point victory against Florida State.

Some media posts pointed out the unlikely probability of SMU winning this game due to their turnovers, penalties, lack of rushing yards, and a missed field goal over the past 30 years and is the only FBS or NFL team to win the game but overcome those obstacles.

Other social media posts showed the irony of SMU having the best ACC record of the past sixteen conference games and Florida State having the worst record.

Not only has SMU been a consistently strong football team since they joined the ACC, but they have also dominated conference opponents with a 15-2 record.

The graphic should say "strength of schedule" instead of "record," but it shows that the Mustangs are not taking any shortcuts in their quest to reach the college football playoffs this season.

The post discusses the lengths that Florida State went to in their attempt to prevent SMU from joining the ACC. The irony is that the Seminoles may have preferred them not to join because they knew they might go 0-2 against the Mustangs in football.

Branding is huge in college football with the NIL era, and social media helps schools like SMU reach larger audiences, and it has been pointed out that the Mustangs are changing the way they promote the SMU brand.

SMU Heisman hopeful quarterback Kevin Jennings threw for 430 yards and three touchdowns and did the tomahawk chop at the end of the game.

College football media personalities gave SMU their props for overcoming adversity and winning the game.

After an SMU football game, there is a ritual called "Break the Rock," in which the team breaks up a real stone in the locker room. It was head strength and conditioning coach Shawn Griswold who brought this after-game victory tradition to SMU. A different rock is made for each game on the schedule. Often, the team paints or adds the logo or colors of that week's opponent, in this case Florida State, to the rock. As they did after the Seminoles' win, the head coach or staff will pick someone and hit them with a sledgehammer in front of the whole team. This time, Coach Griswold used the hammer on the FSU-themed rock while his coworkers cheered him on.

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Ryan Kay
RYAN KAY

Ryan Kay is a journalist who graduated from Michigan State in 2003 and is passionate about covering college sports and enjoys writing features and articles covering various collegiate teams. He has worked as an editor at Go Joe Bruin and has been a contributor for Longhorns Wire and Busting Brackets. He is a contributor for SMU On SI.

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