FSU Blows Golden Opportunity Against SMU as ACC Struggles Continue

There are losses where the opponent simply beats you, and then there are losses where you spend the trip home wondering how you didn't win - even if you are the home team. Florida State's 27-24 loss to No. 19 SMU falls firmly into the latter category, even with an apparent home field advantage that was riddled with many technological and electrical difficulties. The Seminoles were outplayed for much of Monday night. SMU rolled up 585 yards of offense, including 430 through the air, compared to just 324 total yards for Florida State. The Mustangs ran 67 offensive plays, averaged 8.7 yards per play and produced 23 first downs. Yet Florida State somehow had the game sitting there for the taking. The Seminoles forced four SMU turnovers. Kevin Jennings, who is being championed as the King of Dallas with an elaborate Heisman campaign, threw two interceptions, while the Mustangs also lost two fumbles. Florida State didn't record a sack and generated only four tackles for loss, but the takeaways repeatedly kept the Seminoles alive. FSU couldn't capitalize. That's what makes this one sting. Despite allowing nearly 600 yards, Florida State found itself tied 24-24 late in the fourth quarter after Ashton Daniels connected with Samuel Singleton Jr. for a 39-yard touchdown with 8:17 remaining. Then came an opportunity that couldn't have been scripted much better. Ashlynd Barker intercepted Jennings with 6:52 remaining, handing Florida State possession with a chance to take its first lead. The offense went nowhere. Florida State went three-and-out, gaining just one yard before punting the ball back to an offense it had struggled to contain all night. SMU didn't waste its second chance. The Mustangs moved 71 yards and drained nearly five minutes from the clock before Nick Reed connected on a 20-yard field goal with 21 seconds remaining. Even then, Florida State had one last opportunity. What followed was a frustrating conclusion. FSU's timeout management had already left the Seminoles with little flexibility, and the final possession hardly resembled a team operating with urgency to get into Gabe Panikowski's field-goal range. Daniels threw three consecutive incompletions before being sacked for an eight-yard loss on fourth down. Game over. The contrast between these programs is becoming impossible to ignore. Over their last 17 ACC games, SMU owns the conference's best record at 15-2. Florida State owns its worst at 3-14. That would have sounded almost unimaginable when Florida State objected to SMU joining the ACC, arguing in its 2023 lawsuit against the conference that the addition of SMU would diminish the ACC's football media profile and undermine its strength-of-schedule potential. Instead, SMU is now 2-0 against Florida State since joining the conference. Monday wasn't simply another loss for FSU, either. Florida State forced four turnovers in its own stadium, tied the game in the fourth quarter and was handed possession with fewer than seven minutes remaining and an opportunity to win. Those are games a program trying to climb out of the ACC basement has to finish. Florida State didn't. And the team it once questioned as worthy of ACC membership walked out of Doak Campbell Stadium with another win.