Cavaliers, Seminoles Square Off Saturday in 'White Out'

Story Links

Game Details
Venue: David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium
Capacity: 61,500
Playing Surface: Grass
Series vs. FSU: FSU leads, 13-2
In Charlottesville: FSU leads, 5-2
Last Meeting: 2006 (FSU 33-0)

Telecast: ACC Network (affiliates)
Radio: Virginia Sports Network (affiliates)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 213, XM 191

Live Stats: Click here for the link to the LiveStats page. Note: Link available 30 minutes before kickoff. Allow 1-2 minutes for it to load at the start.
Rosters: Virginia Florida State
Game Notes: Virginia Florida State
Statistics: Virginia Florida State

‘White Out’ Saturday
• Virginia’s home football game against Florida State on Saturday, Oct. 2 at noon has been dubbed a “white out” by the Virginia athletics department.
• White Virginia football t-shirts will be distributed for free to fans upon entry to Scott Stadium. All Cavalier fans are asked to wear the t-shirt in support of the 2010 Virginia football team.

Virginia and Florida State Square Off for First Time Since 2006
• Virginia and Florida State are meeting for the first time since 2006, thanks to the ACC’s unbalanced schedule.
• The series overall has been one-sided, with the Seminoles owning a 13-2 edge, including a 5-2 advantage in games played in Scott Stadium.
• Both of UVa’s wins in the series have come over top-five ranked FSU teams – a 33-28 win over then-No. 2 FSU in 1995 and a 26-21 victory over then-No. 4 FSU in 2005 (FSU’s last game in Charlottesville). Those wins represent the two highest-ranked foes UVa has ever defeated.
• The teams will play next year in Tallahassee, then will not play again until 2015 in Charlottesville.

Cavaliers Re-Acquaint Themselves with FSU
• No current Cavalier has seen game action against Florida State.
• Eight current Cavaliers redshirted the 2006 season – OG B.J. Cabbell, OG Isaac Cain, LB Darnell Carter, DT John-Kevin Dolce, CB Mike Parker, TE Joe Torchia, QB Marc Verica, S Trey Womack.
• UVa head coach Mike London was an assistant coach (defensive coordinator/defensive line) on the 2006 team that last played FSU. Current assistant Anthony Poindexter was the running backs coach on that squad.

Rare Meeting with Unranked FSU Team
• This is just the second time Virginia will play an unranked Florida State team.
• FSU also was not ranked when the teams played in 2006.
• The Seminoles were ranked in each of the teams’ first 14 meetings before 2006.

Virginia in Conference Openers
• Virginia is kicking off its 57th season in the Atlantic Coast Conference; UVa first competed in the ACC in 1954.
• Historically the Cavaliers have struggled in their ACC opener, but they have picked things up in recent years.
• Virginia is just 22-34 in the first ACC game of the season, but has won its opener nine of the last 12 years.
• Virginia first-year head coaches are 1-9 all-time in their initial ACC games – Al Groh, with a 26-24 win at Clemson in 2001, is the only UVa head coach to win his first game in ACC play.

Poindexter Key in 1995 Upset of Seminoles
• Current Virginia defensive backs/special teams coach Anthony Poindexter was a central figure in one of the top UVa wins of all time, the 33-28 upset of then-No. 2 Florida State in 1995.
• Poindexter was in on the goal-line tackle of Warrick Dunn as time expired in the 1995 win over then-No. 2 Florida State. He combined with Adrian Burnim to make the stop.
• The Cavaliers handed FSU its first-ever loss in the ACC and snapped FSU’s 29-game conference winning streak.

Five Cavaliers Hail from Sunshine State
• Five current members of the Virginia football team grew up in the state of Florida:
• CB Pablo Alvarez (Fr., Coral Gables, Fla./Belen Jesuit Prep)
• TE Paul Freedman (R-Fr., Belleair Beach, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic)
• CB Mike Parker (Jr., Orlando, Fla./Edgewater)
• PK Robert Randolph (Jr., Naples, Fla./Naples)
• QB Michael Strauss (Fr., Key Biscayne, Fla./Gulliver Prep)
• Freedman, Parker and Randolph all have seen playing time this year for Virginia.

Strength vs. Strength for UVa, FSU
• Virginia boasts the ACC’s top scoring defense, allowing just 12.3 points per game.
• Florida State’s offense is third in the conference in scoring (35.2/game) and ranks first in total offense (434.5 yards/game).
• Virginia has allowed 280.3 yards per game, which ranks second in the league to Miami.

Last Meeting: 2006 (FSU 33, UVa 0)
• Tony Carter returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown 74 seconds into the game, and Florida State rolled from there in a 33-0 victory over Virginia on Nov. 4, 2006, in Tallahassee.
• Florida State held Virginia to 12 first downs and 183 yards offense.
• The Seminoles had a 14-0 lead less than five minutes into the game. After Carter picked off Jameel Sewell’s pass and raced for a TD, freshman walk-on Eli Charles blocked a punt to set up Lorenzo Booker’s 1-yard TD run.
• Sewell was under duress all afternoon, throwing two interceptions and getting sacked six times. He completed 17 of 32 passes for 125 yards. Jason Snelling added 63 yards rushing.

Virginia Football to Honor Dudley
• The Virginia football team will honor former Cavalier great “Bullet” Bill Dudley this season by wearing helmet stickers with his number 35.
• Dudley, who played at UVa from 1939 to 1941, passed away in February.
• In 1941 Dudley was named an All-American and winner of the Maxwell Award as the nation’s top player. He was fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
• Dudley was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1956 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.

Noting the VMI Game
• Virginia’s 341 passing yards was the program’s 13th-best output in a game all-time and the most since tallying 358 yards through the air against Virginia Tech in 2003.
• Virginia threw for five touchdowns, marking the most in a game since UVa threw five against Akron in 2002.
• Three separate UVa quarterbacks threw touchdowns in the same game for the first time since World War II.
• Michael Rocco became the second true freshman quarterback to appear in a game since Dan Ellis in 1997 (Peter Lalich, 2007).
• Dontrelle Inman recorded his first career touchdown reception on a 25-yard pass from Marc Verica in the first quarter.
• Raynard Horne’s 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter was Virginia’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since Marquis Weeks’ score against North Carolina in 2004.
• Chase Minnifield recorded his second and third interceptions of the season against the Keydets, giving him seven career interceptions.
• Marc Verica passed for three touchdowns, a career high. Verica’s three passing touchdowns marks the most by a Virginia quarterback in a game since Jameel Sewell passed for three scores against Pittsburgh in 2007.
• Dontrelle Inman became the first Cavalier to have two touchdown catches in a game since Tom Santi recorded two against Duke in 2007.
• Perry Jones had his first career punt return against the Keydets, recording a 12-yard return on a 51-yard VMI punt in the second quarter.
• Jared Green recorded a career high for receiving yards, compiling 63 yards on four catches against the Keydets. Green also tied his career-high for receptions in a game with four, as well as scoring his first touchdown since 2008.
• Robert Randolph made his first field goal of the season, converting on a 33-yard attempt at the end of the second quarter.
• Cam Johnson set a career high with 2.5 sacks, passing his previous best of 2.0 sacks at Miami in 2009.
• Virginia’s 48 points tied its highest total since 2007, when the Cavaliers shut out Miami, 48-0 in the final game at the Orange Bowl.

For full game notes, click on the link near the top of the page