Cavaliers knock off No. 8 Seminoles in double OT, 46-38

By Scott Ratcliffe

When the dust settled after a grueling, double-overtime primetime affair Friday night at Scott Stadium, quarterback Chandler Morris told a national TV audience that this was why he decided to transfer to Virginia in the offseason.

Morris, surrounded by hundreds of UVA students who had just rushed the field, was referring to his heroic effort in a 46-38 thriller of an upset victory over No. 8 Florida State.

It marked just the seventh win — in 64 tries — against a top-10 opponent in program history, and the fourth time ever that the team had pulled off such a feat when not ranked.

As a result, the Cavaliers (4-1, 2-0 ACC) will sit in first place in the ACC almost halfway through the season, and the Wahoos should certainly catch the eye of top-25 voters.

The Seminoles (3-1, 0-1) suffered their first loss of the season after knocking off Alabama in their opener before a couple of cupcake, blowout wins.

Morris and the Cavaliers — sporting throwback uniforms from the 1995 team that ended top-five FSU’s 29-game ACC win streak — kept their foot on the gas from the opening kickoff until the final whistle, jumping out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

FSU battled back, thanks in part to a pair of takeaways that resulted in touchdowns on the other end of the field. The Hoos knotted the score at 21-apiece just before halftime, and the two teams went into the fourth quarter still tied up at 28-all.

That’s when Morris engineered the second of two crucial second-half scoring drives that took a large chunk of time off the clock, this time a 16-play, 75-yard march that put Virginia ahead, 35-28, with 7:20 left in regulation.

The Noles again had an answer, tying the score once again with just 36 ticks showing, and the game went to an extra session.

With the tension and excitement building with every snap in overtime, the teams traded field goals to send it to a second OT, tied at 38-all.

UVA got the ball first to begin the second overtime, and Morris put the Hoos ahead to stay with a 4-yard touchdown trot, and added a two-point pass to Trell Harris in the back of the end zone to make it 46-38, putting all the pressure on Thomas Castellanos and the Seminoles to keep it alive.

On a third-and-7 from the 22-yard line, Castellanos delivered a strike to Duce Robinson in the end zone for what was initially ruled a touchdown, but replay review determined that Robinson was still bobbling the ball as he went out of the back of the end zone, and the call was reversed. The UVA defense stood tall with the game on the line on fourth-and-12 from the 27 after an FSU false start, as Castellanos was pressured and lofted one into the end zone. The pass was picked off in the end zone, and the student body poured onto the field, just like it had 30 years ago.

Morris was responsible for five touchdowns on the night (two passing, three rushing), finishing with 229 yards through the air (three interceptions) and 37 more yards on the ground, on eight carries.

J’Mari Taylor rushed for a game-high 99 yards on 27 attempts, scoring a touchdown of his own on a 26-yard run late in the first half after bouncing out of a would-be tackler’s grasp.

The Cavaliers posted 440 total yards, “holding” the top-rated Seminoles’ offense to 514, well below their season average.

UP NEXT

UVA will hit the road for next Saturday’s important ACC tilt at Louisville (3:30 p.m., TV TBD).

Scoring Summary

Florida State 0-21-7-7-3-0 — 38
Virginia 7-14-7-7-3-8 — 46

First Quarter
UVA (5:05) — Ennis 6-yd pass from Morris (Bettridge kick). UVA 7, FSU 0.

Second Quarter
UVA (9:43) — Morris 11-yd run (Bettridge kick). UVA 14, FSU 0.
FSU (6:52) — Sawchuk 2-yd run (Weinberg kick). UVA 14, FSU 7.
FSU (5:29) — Pittman Jr. 2-yd run (Weinberg kick). UVA 14, FSU 14.
FSU (2:32) — Castellanos 4-yd run (Weinberg kick). FSU 21, UVA 14.
UVA (0:48) — Taylor 26-yd run (Bettridge kick). UVA 21, FSU 21.

Third Quarter
UVA (3:45) — Morris 7-yd run (Bettridge kick). UVA 28, FSU 21.
FSU (0:18) — Robinson 4-yd pass from Pittman Jr. (Weinberg kick). UVA 28, FSU 28.

Fourth Quarter
UVA (4:26) — Brown 15-yd pass from Morris (Bettridge kick). UVA 35, FSU 28.
FSU (0:36) — Pittman Jr. 11-yd pass from Castellanos (Weinberg kick). UVA 35, FSU 35.

First Overtime
FSU — Weinberg 36-yd field goal. FSU 38, UVA 35.
UVA — Bettridge 39-yd field goal. UVA 38, FSU 38.

Second Overtime
UVA — Morris 4-yd run (Harris pass from Morris). UVA 46, FSU 38.

Player Stats

Rushing

FSU — Thomas Castellanos 14-78; Gavin Sawchuk 17-74; Ousmane Kromah 12-63; Caziah Holmes 2-32; Jaylin Lucas 1-9; Randy Pittman Jr. 1-2; Team 1-(minus-2). TOTAL — 48-256. UVA — J’Mari Taylor 27-99; Xavier Brown 9-60; Chandler Morris 8-37; Harrison Waylee 4-15. TOTAL — 48-211.

Receiving

FSU — Duce Robinson 9-147; Lawayne McCoy 2-44; Micahi Danzy 3-42; Randy Pittman Jr. 2-16; Squirrel White 2-5; Gavin Sawchuk 1-4. TOTAL — 19-258. UVA — Trell Harris 3-45; Jahmal Edrine 5-45; Cam Ross 5-34; Eli Wood 2-29; Dakota Twitty 5-29; J’Mari Taylor 3-16; Xavier Brown 1-15; Kameron Courtney 1-10; Sage Ennis 1-6. TOTAL — 26-229.

Passing

FSU — Thomas Castellanos 18-32-254-1-2; Randy Pittman Jr. 1-1-4-1-0. TOTAL — 19-33-258-2-2. UVA — Chandler Morris 26-35-229-2-3; Suderian Harrison 0-1-0-0-0. TOTAL — 26-36-229-2-3.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia knocked off a top-10 opponent at Scott Stadium for the first time since defeating then-No. 4 Florida State 26-21 in 2005. 
• The win was the third over a ranked opponent under head coach Tony Elliott (No. 8 FSU–2025, No. 23 Pitt–2024, No. 10 UNC–2023). 
• The FSU and UNC wins were also over top-10 foes, making Elliott one of two head coaches in program history with multiple top-10 wins (George Welsh – 4). 
• UVA’s last overtime game was against Miami in 2022. UVA snapped a three-game skid in overtime games, earning its first OT win since defeating Syracuse in triple overtime in 2015. UVA is 5-8 all-time in overtime games.  
• Friday was Virginia’s first win at home over a ranked opponent since defeating then-No. 15 North Carolina in 2020. 
• The 46 points were the most by Virginia against Florida State in 20 all-time meetings. The previous high was 33 in the 1995 upset win over then-No. 2. FSU. 
• Virginia improves to 4-1 to start the year for the second-straight season. The last time UVA posted back-to-back 4-1 starts was in 2003-04. 
• Announced attendance was 50,107, the largest crowd at Scott Stadium this season and the largest since 2023 against James Madison. 
• Virginia held Florida State, the nation’s top scoring offense, scoreless in the first quarter for the first time this season. It also marked the first time FSU hasn’t scored on an opening drive this year. 
• UVA is outscoring its opponents in the fourth quarter 26-9. FSU’s game-tying touchdown with 36 seconds remaining was the first touchdown scored by a UVA opponent in the fourth quarter this season. 
• The Cavaliers forced two turnovers (1 INT, 1 FUM) in the first quarter. The last time UVA forced two opposing turnovers was against Boston College in 2024, when current FSU quarterback Thomas Castellanos threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter while playing for BC. 
• Virginia improved to 4-0 at Scott Stadium, matching the most home wins since sine 2021 (4-3).  
• Friday’s win was the first at home by the Cavaliers on a weekday since 2019 (Virginia Tech). 
• UVA improves to 3-0 on the season when forcing a turnover. 
• UVA had held its opponents scoreless for 42:26 before Florida State scored its first touchdown in the second quarter. 
• Nine different Cavaliers caught a pass in the contest. Nine or more UVA receivers have caught a pass in all five games this season. 
• For the first time since 2004, Virginia has rushed for over 200 yards in four consecutive games (Clemson–239, Syracuse–225, Akron–326, North Carolina–299, Temple–286).

Player Notes

• For the second-straight game QB Chandler Morris matched his career-high of five touchdowns, including a career-high three rushing. Morris is the first UVA signal-caller to rush for three TDs in a game since Bryce Perkins also had three against Duke in 2019.  
• Tallahassee native Sage Ennis caught his third touchdown of the season, his fifth reception of the year and 12th of his career to open the Cavalier scoring in the first quarter. Ennis has one TD reception in each of his last three games. 
• Kevin Wigenton II started at right guard for UVA, his first start since the 2023 season finale while at Michigan State. Drake Metcalf slid over to center, his first start at center since playing for UCF in 2023. 
• J’Mari Taylor scored his seventh rushing TD of the season on a 26-yard scamper with 48 seconds left in the first half. Taylor entered Friday’s contest as one of 13 FBS players with at least six rushing TDs. 
• Ja’Son Prevard finished with a career-high two interceptions, including one on the final play of the game in double overtime. Prevard is the first Cavalier to record two INTs in a game since Brenton Nelson against Duke in 2020. 
• Devin Neal finished with a game-high 12 tackles, also his career high.  
• Mitchell Melton and Anthony Britton were credited with forced fumbles in the first half. 
• Will Bettridge (1-1 FG, 5-5 PAT) gained sole possession of No. 5 on UVA’s all-time scoring list and now has 248 career points. Bettridge entered the game tied for fifth with former UVA running back Thomas Jones. 
• Taylor finished with 27 carries for 99 yards and one touchdown. His 27 carries is a career high, and Taylor is the first UVA running back to rush for over 25 carries since Jordan Ellis vs. South Carolina in 2018.  
• Dakota Twitty finished with a career-high five receptions for 29 yards. 
• Anthony Britton recorded his first career forced fumble, which was recovered by Fisher Camac, on FSU’s second drive of the game. 
• Mitchell Melton finished with a career-high 7 tackles, including one for loss, and one forced fumble 
• Kam Robinson finished with 10 tackles, including one sack, which marks his fourth career double-digit tackle performance. The last time Robinson had at least 10 tackles was against Duke in 2023, when he had 11.