Thomas Castellanos on Florida State loss to Virginia: 'I think we needed it'

No. 8 Florida State suffered its first loss of the season Friday night on the road at Virginia. The Seminoles forced overtime thanks to a game-tying touchdown with 36 seconds remaining in regulation, but fell 46-38 in double overtime.

Coming off its worst season in program history (2-10), Florida State opened the season with a statement 31-17 win over then-No. 8 Alabama in Tallahassee. It then rolled East Texas A&M and Kent State to improve to 3-0, but suffered a bit of a reality check Friday night in Charlottesville.

Seminole quarterback Thomas Castellanos completed 18/32 passes for 254 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the loss. Postgame, Castellanos revealed that he thinks the loss could actually be a positive for the team going forward.

“I think we needed it,” Castellanos said. “I think guys were riding high and were kinda feeling ourselves. Little adversity. We’ll respond and bounce back from here. We have to really quick, but I think we needed it. It will be good for us moving forward. I think this will push us and make us work harder.”

Loss to Virginia marked FSU’s first of season

Many expected Florida State to roll Virginia heading into next week’s marquee matchup against No. 2 Miami, but things got off to a rough start for the ‘Noles. Virginia quickly jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to a passing and rushing score from quarterback Chandler Morris, but then allowed 21 unanswered points to FSU. It then scored on a J’Mari Taylor 26-yard run right before halftime, making it a 21-21 game at the break.

The teams then traded scores throughout the rest of regulation, sending the game to overtime. They once again traded scores (field goals), sending the game to another overtime. Virginia put the pressure on FSU with another Chandler Morris rushing score (and a successful two-point conversion) and cemented the win with a game-ending interception from defensive back Ja’Son Prevard.

“Hey, to be a champion, you got to go beat a champion, right?” Virginia head coach Tony Elliott said postgame. “And two years ago that was a champion of our league, right? And they were in the College Football Playoff, and it wasn’t for an injury, they probably had a shot to go win it all. So, man, you can’t coach scared.”

“You can’t play scared when you’re playing against that bunch over there. You got to be aggressive. And we knew that with their offense, we weren’t going to be chasing three points. We’re going to be chasing touchdowns. So we knew we knew we were going to have to be, have to be aggressive, especially as the game, you know, went on.”

The Seminoles mustn’t let this loss linger, as they have a date against rival No. 2 Miami at home next weekend.