Taylor McGregor 'never had to Google so much in my life' for FSU-SMU power outage reporting

A college football matchup between No. 19 SMU and Florida State resulted in a 27-24 victory for SMU on September 7, 2026. While the game outcome saw SMU escape with a win despite turning the ball over four times, the event was marked by a significant power outage. This technical failure left media members scrambling during their reporting duties. Taylor McGregor specifically noted the difficulty of the situation, stating that she had never had to Google so much in her life while attempting to report on the FSU-SMU contest under these conditions. Coverage of the incident and the game is widespread across several major sports and news outlets. Awful Announcing focused on the reporting challenges faced by McGregor, while the Dallas News provided a detailed look at how media members responded to the power outage.

On the athletic side, ESPN provided a full game recap of the 27-24 score. Yahoo Sports highlighted the irony of the result, noting that SMU secured the win even after committing four turnovers. Additionally, 247Sports and Tomahawk Nation focused on the internal reactions from the Florida State coaching staff following the loss. The context of the game involves high stakes for both programs, as SMU entered the contest ranked No. 19 (though 247Sports refers to them as No. 17). Florida State is currently analyzing their failures in execution, particularly regarding third-down plays. According to Tomahawk Nation, Florida State coordinators reviewed the third-down tape and concluded that the necessary opportunities were present on the field, but the team simply failed to execute.

This struggle on third down was a primary point of discussion in the post-game analysis provided by both 247Sports and Tomahawk Nation. Future attention will likely remain on how Florida State addresses these execution issues in their upcoming schedule. The coverage suggests that coordinators are focusing on the disparity between the available opportunities on tape and the actual results on the field. Additionally, the response of the media to the infrastructure failures during the SMU-Florida State game may serve as a point of reference for venue management. Observers will be watching to see if Florida State can improve their third-down conversion rates following the critiques from their own coordinators.