No. 19 SMU Visits Tallahassee as Mike Norvell's Florida State Opens ACC Play
A ranked SMU team brought its unbeaten record into Doak Campbell Stadium Monday night for Florida State's ACC opener — a game that carries real weight for a Seminoles coach who enters this season needing to show real progress.
Florida State opened its 2026 season with a comfortable 34-17 win over New Mexico State on August 29, but Monday night's matchup against No. 19 SMU is the first real measuring stick for coach Mike Norvell. Entering Year 7 in Tallahassee, Norvell still has six years and roughly $64 million left on his contract, but has been described as facing a genuine "hot seat" situation after Florida State's recent struggles, and this ACC opener at home against a ranked opponent is exactly the kind of game that shapes how that pressure plays out over the rest of the season.
Norvell reclaimed offensive play-calling duties this offseason following longtime coordinator Gus Malzahn's retirement, and handed the keys to Auburn transfer quarterback Ashton Daniels, throwing to receiver Duce Robinson. Early returns were encouraging Monday night: Daniels answered an SMU opening touchdown drive with an 8-yard rushing score of his own, tying the game at 7 in the first quarter after SMU's Kevin Jennings connected on a 50-yard strike to receiver Jordan Cooper. SMU, ranked in the AP Top 25 to open the season and playing its first game as a full ACC member, came to Tallahassee looking to make an immediate statement in its new conference home.
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The game also carries an unusual subplot: former FSU coach Jimbo Fisher, who won a national championship in Tallahassee before his tenure ended, is now working as an ACC Network analyst. Fisher has publicly said he still believes in Norvell heading into this season, a notable vote of confidence from the last coach to deliver Florida State a title. Whether that support looks prescient or premature will depend a lot on how Norvell's team responds to adversity against a ranked non-conference-turned-conference opponent like SMU, which finished last season strong enough to be ranked in the preseason poll despite being new to the ACC.
Vegas had Florida State as a slight underdog at kickoff, with the total set in the mid-50s — a number that reflects two offenses expected to move the ball. For Norvell, a signature home win over a ranked opponent in his first real conference test of the year would go a long way toward changing the tone of a season that started under real scrutiny.
What to watch Monday night
SMU struck first on a 50-yard Kevin Jennings-to-Jordan Cooper touchdown pass, but Ashton Daniels answered right back with an 8-yard rushing score to tie it at 7.
Watch whether Norvell's offense, now under his own play-calling, can sustain drives against a ranked SMU defense — and whether FSU's own defense can slow down Jennings.
A signature win here would be Norvell's biggest statement result since taking over the program, in a season where the margin for error is already being talked about publicly.
Whatever happens Monday night, it's the first real data point in a season where every result for Florida State is going to be read against the same question: has Norvell's program turned a corner, or is this another year of falling short of the standard the Seminoles set under coaches like Fisher.
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Sources: ESPN, SI, AP via Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Florida State Athletics