ESPN Found a Radiant New Star During Bizarre Florida State-SMU Power Outage

When the power went out minutes before Monday night's kickoff between Florida State and SMU, the spotlight shifted onto ESPN sideline reporter Taylor McGregor, who suddenly faced the tall task of explaining the bizarre outage to all the college football fans watching at home. To some reporters, the situation would have been an absolute nightmare. A sudden power outage at Doak Campbell Stadium left the game's officials, coaches and players in the dark-literally-about how to proceed given the undesirable circumstances. Following a lengthy delay, Florida State fired up four generators from the ninth floor of the stadium to get some of the lights back on, and both teams' coaches ultimately agreed it was enough lighting to play the game. Yet, for a few hours, the FSU-SMU game turned back the clock to football's dark ages pre-dating technology: no Wi-Fi, no sideline iPads, no PA announcer, no helmet-to-helmet or headset communication, no functioning game clocks, scoreboards or video replays. It was as old school as it gets. Under the flickering dim lights, McGregor, who was working the game as ESPN's sideline reporter, calmly and coolly navigated the broadcast through a wild and unprecedented debacle. "What is next right now for both of these teams as we try to kick this thing off Taylor?" ACC Network host Taylor Tannebaum asked McGregor. "Well, Taylor, they plan on playing this game, so how about that.," McGregor said, reporting from the field. "9:15 kick is what I'm being told, players will come out to warm out at 9. They believe they have enough light in order to play this game. But it is going to get tricky because not everything is back on. So the clock will come from the field, there will be no coach to player communication, no iPads..." McGregor briefly looked down at what appeared to be the notes she took from tracking down updates from the game's officials and coaches. "... this is going to look very different, but they feel they have enough on that they can play this game. So again, 9 p.m. is when players are expected to run out here, and 9:15 is when we're expected to kick off this game in unique fashion." What. A. Night. https://t.co/6MndjDinU6 Excellent work in a wild situation @Taylor_McGregor@TaylorTannebaumhttps://t.co/wAoYo6ObAp Here is an edited clip that includes all of McGregor's boots-on-the-ground reporting from the beginning of the power outage to when the game was finally set to kick off, a limbo period that spanned nearly two full hours. The seasoned media vet relayed real-time updates that she doggedly sought out herself, informing fans exactly what was happening at every phase as stadium electricians and college admin alike worked through the issue. Taylor McGregor did an AMAZING job reporting on the power outage pic.twitter.com/oJcvb9BZrq What a masterclass. McGregor grew up around sports-her late father, Keli, had a brief stint as an NFL tight end-and graduated with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Arkansas. She joined ESPN in September 2019 and has since been making a household name for herself as one of the most savvy sideline reporters in the business on CFB Saturdays. McGregor opened up about her chaotic reporting night the morning after on The Chuck & Bo Show: "If there was a takeaway, I'm thankful that this happened nine years into my broadcasting career because I felt comfortable and confident," McGregor said. "There were a couple times when people said, 'You can't come in here.' ... and I felt confident enough to be like, 'No, I need to be in here.' And then also, I think everything goes back to relationships. We know our boy [SMU coach] Rhett Lashlee is an Arkansas grad, I have a longstanding relationship with him. ... Luckily, it happened with him because he trusted me to give me that interview on the field in the middle of the game. "... I went up to him when I thought the coach-to-player communication was back on, because I wanted to confirm from him. I didn't trust anybody else, I wanted to make sure that information was 100% correct. And he talked to me in the middle of the game, he trusted me enough and I'm very grateful for that. I think some of it is just having relationships, and then also not being afraid when people tell you you can't be here." ESPN's Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) recaps her masterclass in sideline reporting during last night's power outage: "I'm thankful that this happened 9 years into my broadcasting career... The audience needs to know and we have to get this information to the viewers." pic.twitter.com/t8xaNIz7J3 To give credit where it's due, McGregor wasn't the only one who handled her job with the utmost professionalism and aplomb Monday night. ESPN commentators Dave Pasch and Dusty Dvoracek apparently had to call the game entirely based on what they saw on the field, since most of the monitors in the booth weren't working. But McGregor, serving as one of the more public-facing ESPN employees on Monday night's broadcast (she was on TV, after all), demonstrated the importance of top-notch, resourceful sideline reporting during unforeseen fiascos like this one. She stayed on her feet, hunted down answers from the game's decision-makers, diligently cross-checked her information and above all maintained her composure in the face of a very confusing and chaotic situation that was unfolding. ESPN may have gotten some flack for some of its personnel decisions in recent history, but the network nailed it with McGregor-hopefully we get to see her on our screens for many, many more Saturdays to come. This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Found a Radiant New Star During Bizarre Florida State-SMU Power Outage. Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved. This story was originally published September 8, 2026 at 9:52 AM.