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Virginia stuns No. 8 Florida State, pulls off upset victory after controversial review in OT

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz09/27/25NickSchultz_7
Florida State at Virginia
© Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

In a Friday night primetime showdown, Florida State headed to Charlottesville to take on Virginia. The Seminoles were fresh off a blowout win over Kent State out of their bye week while the Cavaliers got their first ACC win of the year last time out against Stanford.

UVA jumped out in front in the early part of the matchup before FSU tied things up. From there, though, the Cavaliers didn’t back down and eventually pulled off the stunner – but it wasn’t without a controversial review on what appeared to be a Duce Robinson touchdown catch in OT.

Virginia got some big-time plays in the second half to keep pace with Florida State, leaning heavily on the run game to do so. But Florida State got one more possession just before the two-minute timeout, and Thomas Castellanos made a huge play. He connected with Randy Pittman for the game-tying touchdown with 36 seconds left on a fourth-down scramble.

The fans were ready to storm the field at Scott Stadium as UVA got the ball back for one final chance, but had to settle in for free football. But Morris threw an interception with 12 seconds left, meaning the game headed to overtime.

Florida State got the ball first, but had to settle for a field goal. Virginia then took over needing a touchdown to win, but went a quick 3-and-out to also kick a field goal and brought things back to 38-38. UVA had first possession, which ended with Morris scrambling for a touchdown to go up 46-38 after the two-point conversion.

Needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to force a third overtime, Florida State came back out. Castellanos found Robinson for what appeared to be a touchdown. But Robinson bobbled it, and the call was overturned to an incomplete pass.

A false start then made it 4th and 12 from the 27-yard line, and Castellanos’ pass was intercepted in the end zone. That sealed UVA’s 46-38 win. At long last, the fans sprinted down from the seats when UVA got the game-winning score. They were finally able to celebrate a huge victory for Tony Elliott.

How it happened: Virginia takes down Florida State

Virginia and Florida State traded blows in the second half, and the Cavaliers eventually took a 35-28 lead on a pass from Chandler Morris to Xavier Brown, who ran a wheel route out of the backfield to find paydirt.

FSU then got another opportunity with 2:18 to go. Castellanos scrambled for 16 yards, getting Florida State to midfield at the final stoppage. He then connected with Lawayne McCoy for a big play, going 34 yards to the 17-yard line. Gavin Sawchuk then got the Seminoles to the 7-yard line, but Castellanos took a sack on the next play.

Then, facing fourth down, Castellanos made the biggest pass of the game. He found Pittman for the game-tying score, an 11-yard touchdown to make it 35-35 with 36 seconds left. After replay review, the officials upheld the call of a catch, but UVA got the ball again with all three timeouts.

After a Morris interception, the two teams headed to overtime, tied at 35-35 after regulation. Both teams settled for field goals, meaning they went to 2OT tied at 38-38. That’s when Morris ran in what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown to seal the huge victory.

Morris led the charge for Virginia, completing 26 of 35 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns to two interceptions in the air. He also had three rushing touchdowns. J’Mari Taylor led the Cavaliers in rushing. He took 27 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown as they totaled 211 rush yards as a unit.

On the FSU side, Castellanos went 18 of 32 for 254 yards and a touchdown. He also had a team-high 78 rush yards and a touchdown as the Seminoles totaled 256 yards on the ground. They had 514 total, using a balanced attack in the effort.