Monday night’s game between Florida State and SMU was one of the wackiest games I have ever seen. What a way to end Week 1 of the college football season.

A power outage knocked the game out for an hour and a half. SMU committed four turnovers. Florida State couldn’t pass the football. And yet it was still only a three-point game when it was all said and done.

That SMU-Florida State finish told you everything you need to know about where these two programs stand right now, and frankly, neither side should feel great about how they got there looking ahead now to Week 2.

SMU survived its own mess

I picked SMU to win this game because I believe they have the better quarterback, the more dynamic offense, and they were going to make enough plays to get it done. I thought it was going to be close. Maybe not for the reasons it ended up being close, but at the end of the day, SMU got the job done.

Here’s the crazy stat from this one: only one team last season was able to overcome a minus-four turnover differential, and SMU is now the first team to do it in the 2026 season. That is a wild feat to pull off. If SMU doesn’t gift-wrap those four turnovers, this game is a double-digit win. Outside of Florida State breaking contain and falling for the random play action that would pop up, the Mustangs had this thing in hand. Their own miscues are the only reason it stayed competitive.

SMU has an early schedule that is relatively difficult, so cleaning up those turnovers has to be the priority. You cannot hand the ball over four times and expect to keep winning in the ACC, but the fact they survived is a good thing to secure that early win.

Florida State absolutely reeks right now

Now let me say it plainly: this Florida State program reeks right now. Ashton Daniels is not good enough. The Seminoles ran the ball 40-plus times, and in the second half it was painfully obvious they were never going to throw the football.

The fans in Doak S. Campbell knew it. The SMU defense knew it. Everybody in the building knew it. And the home crowd booed their own team for running the ball too many times. That’s where this program is.

And you may say, Tegan, it was still a three-point game, so doesn’t that mean they were right there? No. This was right in Florida State’s wheelhouse. This was right in the bag to take by the horns, and they didn’t do it. When SMU is coughing the ball up four times and you still can’t capitalize, that’s not a competitive loss. That’s a program telling you exactly who it is.

It’s just time to move on. Florida State’s ceiling with this roster and this quarterback play is painfully low, and Week 1 confirmed what a lot of us already suspected heading into the season.

Week 2 is here, and things need to be addressed

The 2026 college football season is just getting started, and Week 1 delivered chaos from start to finish. SMU simply escaped Tallahassee with a win it almost threw away, and Florida State heads into Week 2 with more questions than answers at every level.

It’s clear that this Seminoles team is going to be one of the most frustrating watches in the entire country this season.