No. 8 Florida State Seminoles come up short at Virginia, 46-38, in 2OT

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Thirty years ago, Florida State running back Warrick Dunn was ruled just short of the goal line on the decisive play in an upset loss at Virginia.

On Friday night, FSU receiver Duce Robinson was ruled out of the back of the end zone on a play that could have pushed the game to triple-overtime.

It was the final missed opportunity on a night filled with them as the No. 8 Florida State Seminoles fell to the host Cavaliers, 46-38, in double-overtime.

After the teams traded field goals in the initial overtime period, Virginia scored a touchdown to start the second overtime. Florida State’s best chance to tie the game came on a third-down pass from Tommy Castellanos to Robinson that appeared to be a touchdown; but the ACC replay officials overturned the call on review because they said he didn’t have firm control of the catch.

FSU’s final pass was off the mark and intercepted, and Virginia’s students quickly rushed the field.

With the loss, Florida State falls to 3-1 and 0-1 in the ACC. Virginia improves to 4-1 and 2-1.

The game was billed as a matchup of two of the best offenses in the country, and for the most part, that aspect lived up to the billing.

What did not was the Florida State defense, which looked so impressive in its season-opening win over Alabama and in a pair of blowouts against lesser opponents.

Other than a pair of interceptions in the first half, Tony White’s group had few answers against the Cavaliers and veteran quarterback transfer Chandler Morris. Virginia racked up 440 yards of offense and put together four touchdown drives of more than 70 yards.

Morris accounted for five touchdowns — two passing and three rushing — but he did throw three interceptions.

Florida State’s offense also was prolific, with 514 total yards, but mistakes cost the Seminoles in crucial situations.

The Cavaliers were the more physical team for much of the night, and they dominated the second half with a ground-and-pound attack that chewed up clock and kept the chains moving.

After a back-and-forth first three quarters, Morris gave the Cavs the 35-28 lead with a 15-yard pass to Xavier Brown midway through the fourth quarter. The Seminoles then saw their ensuing drive end on a fourth-and-1 pass from the Virginia 22-yard line. But Florida State got the ball back one last time, and Castellanos found Randy Pittman in the end zone for a game-tying score with 36 seconds remaining.

With the game tied at halftime, Florida State’s first drive of the second half ended with a 45-yard missed field goal by redshirt freshman kicker Jake Weinberg, and Virginia played “bully ball” on its next possession to reclaim the lead, 28-21.

The Cavaliers marched 74 yards on 12 plays, with only one pass thrown. Almost all of the damage was done on the 11 carries, including a 7-yard TD scamper from Morris.

But Florida State came right back with a 75-yard touchdown drive of its own to tie things at 28-28, and the Seminoles capped it off with a bit of trickeration. Tight end Randy Pittman lined up in the wildcat at the 5-yard line and looked like he was going to run it up the middle, but he jumped before he reached the line of scrimmage and lofted a pass to a wide-open Duce Robinson in the end zone.

The first quarter could not have gone much worse for Florida State.

Penalties and turnovers by the Seminoles helped Virginia sprint out to an early 14-0 lead. After punting on their first possession, the ‘Noles saw their next two drives end on turnovers — a fumble by running back Gavin Sawchuk and an interception thrown by Tommy Castellanos.

Virginia capitalized on both and turned them into touchdowns.

Seven plays after Sawchuk fumbled at the FSU 38-yard line, Morris connected with tight end Sage Ennis, a Tallahassee native, for a 5-yard score. Then after Florida State drove down to the Virginia 5 on its next possession, Castellanos faked a handoff and tried to throw a quick pass, but it was picked off by the Cavaliers’ Ja’son Prevard.

Morris capped off the ensuing 15-play, 81-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown scramble on third-and-goal to give the Cavs a 14-0 advantage.

Florida State quickly responded with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown strike, with the big play being a 47-yard pass from Castellanos to Robinson. The Seminoles then tied it up at 14-14 less than two minutes later when Edwin Joseph picked off a Morris pass, which led to a short TD run by Pittman.

The ‘Noles went ahead 21-14 after another interception — this one by linebacker Elijah Herring after Quindarius Jones broke up a Morris pass — and a short touchdown run by Castellanos.

But Virginia tied it up at halftime with a 7-play, 75-yard drive in the final three minutes.

Florida State now returns to Tallahassee for a prime-time showdown against No. 2 Miami.

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