No.19 SMU rallies through technical delay & turnovers to beat Florida State 27-24 on the road in season opener.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The No. 19 SMU Mustangs (1-0, 1-0 ACC) defeated the Florida State Seminoles (1-1, 0-1 ACC) 27-24 at Doak S. Campbell Stadium Monday night. Senior quarterback Kevin Jennings went 26/36, throwing for over 430 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in a career night in the Mustangs' season opener on the road. SMU totaled over 500 yards of offense, overcoming four turnovers to secure the program's eighth straight season-opening win.

SMU Head Football Coach Rhett Lashlee expressed his happiness with his team's result despite the multiple different circumstances his side faced until triple zeros were on the game clock.

“Really happy to win, it's hard to win, it's hard to win, it's hard to win on the road, and extra hard to win when you lose the turnover battle 4-0 and do a lot of things to not make yourself hard to beat,” said Lashlee. “Game ones are tough, that's not an excuse, but we were somehow able to get that out of the way and win on the road. We are really happy to be 1-0.”

The Mustangs waited the longest of any team in college football to open their 2026 season and had to wait a little longer to kick off their season opener against Florida State after kickoff was delayed an hour and 45 minutes, the most unique delay during the first week of college football.

Just six minutes before the initial kick to start the game, the stadium lost power to a portion of its floodlights after a surge and did not return. Both teams returned to the locker room, and both coaching staffs, athletic directors, and ACC officials came to a decision to play despite losing coach-to-player communication, iPad use on the sidelines, or replay review, among other technological items, for a majority of the opening half. Nonetheless, after the technical difficulties, SMU was the first to light up the scoreboard on the road.

After the Mustangs turned the football over on their first offensive drive due to a fumble by senior wide receiver Jalen Hale on just the sixth play of the game. The Mustang defense held strong, forcing a quick Seminoles punt and returning the football to its offense.

Where, in just the fifth play of the drive, Jennings connected with sophomore wide receiver Jalen Cooper on a 50-yard strike downfield to give the Mustangs the lead, 7-0, five and a half minutes into the first quarter on SMU’s second offensive drive.

Florida State quickly responded with its scoring drive, marching 75 yards down the field, just when the Mustangs thought the defense had held Florida State to yet another stall on offense. A facemask penalty reloaded a fresh set of downs for the Seminoles in the red zone. Florida State senior quarterback Ashton Daniels punched in his second rushing touchdown as a Seminole from eight yards out to tie the game 7-7 with a minute and change left in the first quarter. However, the Mustangs were able to regain momentum in the second quarter.

After a missed field goal from senior kicker Nick Reed capped off the Mustangs' first drive of the quarter. A fourth-down stop from its defense put SMU into FSU territory, where Jennings tossed his second touchdown of the game, connecting with former Florida State tight end Randy Pittman Jr. to open up the 6'2" senior's touchdown account with the Mustangs and double the lead 14-7 with five minutes left in the quarter.

Both teams would trade field goals within the remaining few minutes before the break. Reed’s 22-yard kick gave the Mustangs a seven-point lead up 17-10, heading into halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, the SMU defense once again forced the FSU offense off the field in its opening drive of the half. The Mustangs went on to drive 75 yards down the field, but SMU’s first offensive drive of the second half ended with an interception in the red zone when Jennings was picked off by Florida State junior cornerback Nehemiah Chandler in the end zone for the senior quarterback's first turnover of the game. The mistakes, however, continued to stack up for the Mustangs early in the third quarter.

The SMU defense forced yet another FSU punt following Jennings’ interception, and senior wide receiver Yamir Knight muffed a punt from Florida State senior punter Daniel Hughes, putting the Seminoles on the SMU doorstep.

The Mustangs would once again force another defensive stop, but SMU was called for offsides on a Florida State field goal attempt on fourth down. That gave the Seminoles a second chance to continue driving downfield. FSU Head Coach Mike Norvell’s team capped off the drive with a seven-yard rushing touchdown via sophomore running back Ousmane Kromah to tie the game at 17-17 heading into the final quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Jennings delivered this third touchdown strike, his longest of the game, connecting with junior wide receiver Yannick Smith for a 79-yard score to regain the lead for the Mustangs, up 24-17 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Smith spoke about how he recognized the defensive look at the line of scrimmage that told him he had to make a play.

“What I kind of saw was a cover 0, just everybody on the line of scrimmage,” said Smith. “So I just knew I was the man to man read and that it was my time to make a play.”

Smith finished his night with his fourth career 100+ receiving-yard game with 107 yards, his first north of 100 as a Mustang. Smith was also one of five new receivers to catch a pass from Jennings. The fifth-year quarterback praised his new receivers for traits he saw them display that continued his deep confidence in his pass catchers.

“It was amazing just putting the ball in their hands,” said Jennings. “Yannick came up to me and said give me the ball. I was like, alright bet. I got you threw him the slant, and he took it to the crib. So just seeing stuff like that gives me the utmost confidence in those guys and they are going to keep making plays this whole year.”

But just as quickly as Jennings tossed his third touchdown, Daniels tossed his first to tie the game at 24 apiece not long after.

Florida State drove down the field in its second-longest drive of the night. The Seminoles ended their second drive of the final quarter with Daniels launching a 39-yard strike to Samuel Singleton Jr. for the equalizer with eight minutes left in the fourth.

Nevertheless, a fourth turnover hit the stat sheet for the Mustangs after Jennings tossed his second interception of the night with a minute and change left in the fourth quarter. The SMU defense tallied its third sack of the night to force Florida State's fifth punt of the night. Allowing the Mustangs to drive down the field and wind down the clock. After a nine-play trip to the red zone on fourth down Reed knocked down his second 20-yard chip shot, this time a go-ahead shot to give the Mustangs a 27-24 lead with less than 30 seconds on the clock.

An SMU fumble recovery on a Florida State hook-and-ladder wrapped up the win for the Mustangs, which marked the program's first win of the 2026 season and fourth straight win in the program's season opener under Head Coach Rhett Lashlee.

SMU will host the U.C. Davis Aggies on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium at 3:00 PM CST.

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