Virginia upsets No. 8 Florida State 46-38 in double overtime

Virginia got the biggest win of coach Tony Elliott’s tenure with a 46-38 upset win over No. 8 Florida State in double overtime on Friday night.

After the teams traded field goals in the first overtime, Virginia started the second overtime with a TD run by QB Chandler Morris before the Cavaliers converted their mandatory 2-point conversion.

The run was Morris’ third rushing TD and his fifth TD of the night.

Florida State appeared to have a chance to send the game to a third overtime after a juggling third-down TD catch by Duce Robinson, but Robinson didn’t have control of the ball before he was out of bounds.

The play was called a TD on the field but overturned after a replay review.

On the next play, FSU QB Thomas Castellanos’ heave to the end zone was intercepted and a mass of Virginia fans and students immediately flooded the field.

Florida State sent the game to overtime with 36 seconds to go on a fourth-down TD pass from Castellanos to tight end Randy Pittman Jr. as Pittman made a diving catch in the end zone with a defender draped all over him.

The Seminoles needed to get the game into overtime after Virginia took the lead midway through the fourth quarter on a 16-play drive that went 75 yards. It was the third drive of the game for the Cavaliers that took at least 12 plays. Virginia scored a TD on a 15-play drive in the first half and broke a 21-21 halftime tie in the third quarter on a 12-play TD drive.

The Cavaliers led 14-0 early but the Seminoles tied the game on TD drives set up by Morris interceptions.

Morris finished the game 26-of-35 passing for 229 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. He also rushed eight times for 37 yards and those three scores. He could have easily had a fourth rushing TD, but a run was called back on the go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter a play before he found Xavier Brown for a TD.

Castellanos was 18-of-32 for 254 yards and a TD and two interceptions. Half of his completions went to Robinson, who finished the game with nine catches for 147 yards and a TD as Florida State rushed the ball 48 times for 256 yards.

Miami is now the clear favorite in the ACC

Florida State’s loss comes a week before the Seminoles host No. 2 Miami and makes the Hurricanes the clear favorite in the conference as the calendar turns toward October.

FSU started the season unranked but immediately jumped into the AP Top 25 with a Week 1 win over Alabama. Now, the Seminoles are 0-1 in the conference as Clemson sits at 0-2.

As Week 5 gets underway, just three ACC teams — Miami, No. 16 Georgia Tech and Louisville — are still undefeated overall. SMU, last season’s regular season champion, is 2-2 with losses to Baylor and TCU, and Virginia Tech even made a coaching change after an 0-3 start.

The league is wide open. And Virginia (4-1) has as good a case as any at the moment to be considered a contender.

The Cavaliers haven’t had a chance to say that in recent years. Since making the Orange Bowl at the end of the 2019 season, Virginia hasn’t even been back to the postseason. Heck, Elliott’s teams haven’t even posted a winning season.

Now, Virginia is just two wins away from bowl eligibility and doesn’t have a ranked team remaining on its schedule the rest of the season.

Virginia upsets No. 8 Florida State 46-38 in double overtime

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