No. 25 UVA Hosts Florida State on Saturday Night in Key ACC Contest

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Virginia hosts Florida State Saturday Night
• The Virginia Cavaliers host the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday night at Scott Stadium. It is only the third time since 2005 that FSU has visited Charlottesville.

Virginia vs. Florida State
•  Virginia and Florida State are meeting for the 19th time in the programs’ history, with FSU holding a 15-3 advantage in the series including a 6-2 mark in Charlottesville.
•  UVA’s first two wins in the series came 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. Those wins represent the two highest-ranked foes UVA has ever defeated.
• Virginia’s win over then-No. 23 Florida State in the 2011 meeting proved to be historic for the Cavaliers as UVA became the first program in college football history to record road victories at Florida State and Miami in the same season. Those two programs have brought eight combined National Championships to the Sunshine State. UVA also defeated the Miami Hurricanes, 28-21, at then-Sun Life Stadium earlier during the 2011 season on ESPN’s Thursday Night Football.
• UVA was the only team in college football history to accomplish the feat until North Carolina did so in 2016. 

Five Top Storylines
• Virginia is playing its third night game of 2019. It marks only the second season (1983) in program history in which UVA opened a season with three-straight night games. The Cavaliers are 61-47-1 all-time in night games, including 37-18-1 at Scott Stadium. Under Bronco Mendenhall, UVA is 5-4 in night contests. All three of UVA’s wins against Florida State came in night games, two of which (1995, 2005) took place at Scott Stadium. 
• A win against FSU would give UVA a 2-0 start in ACC play for the second time in three seasons (2017) and for the fifth time since the 2007 season (started 4-0).
• Saturday marks only the third time in 19 meetings that FSU isn’t ranked when they faced UVA and the first time the Cavaliers have been ranked and the Seminoles have not.
• Against William & Mary the Cavaliers scored touchdowns in all three phases of the game (offense, defense, special teams) for the first time since 2002 against Akron. The Cavaliers scored five offensive touchdowns, as well as scores on a 100-yard kick return by Joe Reed and an 85-yard interception return by Nick Grant.
• Last time out Bryce Perkins became the fastest (15 games) Cavalier quarterback to reach both 1,000 career rushing yards and 3,000 career passing yards. The previous record was 31 career games by Shawn Moore (1987-90).

It’s Been Great Seeing You
• Because of the ACC’s unbalanced schedule, UVA has not hosted Florida State since 2010.
• In 2013 the ACC announced a 12-year schedule for its rotating division crossover opponents through the 2024 season. Between 2013 and 2024 UVA and Florida State were only scheduled to meet this season and 2014.
• Virginia and Florida State played every season from 1993-2006, but have only played three times since (2010, 2011 and 2014).
• In 2024 when the already announced ACC rotating crossover conference schedule is complete, UVA and Florida State will have met just four times in 19 seasons between 2006-2024.

1995 FSU-UVA Game featured 62 future NFL Players
• The Cavaliers handed FSU its first-ever loss in the ACC and snapped FSU’s 29-game conference winning streak when UVA’s Anthony Poindexter and Adrian Burnim were both in on the goal-line tackle of Warrick Dunn as time expired in the 1995 win over then-No. 2 Florida State.
• In all, a total of 62 players on the FSU and UVA rosters (30 from UVA) went on to play in the NFL, including 45 players who participated in the game (22 from UVA). No other ACC game has had more future NFL participants.

“We Couldn’t Stop that Dadgum No. 18” 
•  The 2005 meeting between UVA and Florida State served as the Cavaliers’ last home win in the series, as the Cavaliers outlasted FSU 26-21.
• Current UVA wide receivers coach Marques Hagans was a thorn in Florida State’s side during the 2005 meeting, prompting then-head coach Bobby Bowden to respond postgame: “I’ve never seen a quarterback make as many one-man plays as he made tonight. We couldn’t stop that dadgum No. 18.”
• Hagans threw for a then-career-best 306 yards and two touchdowns and Connor Hughes kicked four field goals for the Cavaliers.
• Like UVA’s victory in 1995, which ended with Warrick Dunn stopped inches from the goal line on the final play to preserve a 33-28 victory, this one went to the wire, too, sealed by Tony Franklin’s interception of Drew Weatherford with 50 seconds left.

Virginia – Florida State Connections
• UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall faced Florida State twice as the head coach of BYU, losing at home in 2009 and in Tallahassee in 2010. With Saturday’s game against FSU, Mendenhall will have coached against each of the last three FSU head coaches (Bobby Bowden, Jimbo Fisher and Willie Taggart), which have covered the program since 1976.

Virginia Ranked Again by the Associated Press
• Virginia comes in this week at No. 25 in the Associated Press poll. It is the second time under Bronco Mendenhall the Cavaliers have been ranked by the AP. Last year UVA came in at No. 23 during week No. 10 of the season.
• It is the first time since 2005 that UVA has been ranked by the Associated Press in the month of September.

Hollins Shines in Offensive Debut
• True freshman running back Mike Hollins scored a touchdown on his first career rush against William & Mary. The nine-yard scoring jaunt made Hollins the first Cavalier since Jordan Ellis (2015) to score a touchdown on his first collegiate rush. Ellis also did so against William & Mary.
• Hollins led UVA off the bench with 78 yards on 11 carries (7.1 average) and two rushing touchdowns.
• Hollins made his collegiate debut in the opener at Pitt on special teams.

Cavaliers Score 50 against William & Mary
• Virginia scored 52 points against William & Mary. It was the first time the Cavaliers scored 50 yards in a game since tallying 51 against Akron in 2004. It is the most points UVA has scored in a game since reaching 56 against North Carolina, also in 2004.

Reed Taking it to the House
• WR Joe Reed recorded the fourth 100-yard kick return for a touchdown in program history with his lone return against William & Mary.
• Reed joins Tavon Mason (2001) and Marquis Weeks (2002 & 2004) as the only Cavaliers to record a 100-yard kick return in program history.
• Reed is one of two players in the nation this season to notch a 100-yard kick return, joining USC’s Velus Jones who did so in the season opener against Fresno State.
• Reed has returned four kicks in his career for a touchdown, which is a UVA record. No other player has returned more than two. No other player has returned kicks in three seprate seasons as Reed returned two in 2017, one in 2018 and one in 2019.