No. 25 Virginia Wins Thriller Over Florida State, 31-24

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including two in the final six minutes, to win 31-24 over Florida State on Saturday night in front of a crowd of over 57,000 fans in Scott Stadium.
 
Quarterback Bryce Perkins (Queen Creek, Ariz.) was 17-for-19 in the second half, including 16 consectutive completions to lead the Cavaliers. Running back Wayne Taulapapa (Laie, Hawaii) rushed for a career-high three touchdowns and wide receiver Joe Reed (Charlotte Court House, Va.) had a receiving touchdown.
 
Virginia finished with 415 total yards and led in time of possession with 39:44 minutes. The defense had three sacks, nine tackles for loss and seven pass breakups.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia scored first when kicker Brian Delaney (Chantilly, Va.) converted a career-long 49-yard field goal. Florida State scored a touchdown to take its first lead of the game, but the Cavaliers responded with Taulapapa running it in from three yards out. The Seminoles scored just before the half to lead 14-10 at the break and added a field goal in the third to go ahead 17-10 with 5:48 remaining in the third.
 
UVA put together an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a 12-yard touchdown reception from Perkins to Reed to tie the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Florida State took the lead 24-17 with 11:42 to play. The Cavaliers had another 75-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown rush by Taulapapa but missed the extra point to trail 24-23 with 6:02 remaining. The defense came up with a three-and-out to give UVA the ball back. Reed opened the drive with a 22-yard rush then Perkins connected with wide receiver Hasise Dubois (Irvington, N.J.) for a career-high 35-yard reception. Taulapapa scored from two-yards out and then Perkins ran it in for the two-point conversion to give UVA a 31-24 lead as the defense held off Florida State in the final minutes of the game with a tackle on the four as time expired.
 
STAT LEADERS
QB Bryce Perkins
Passing: 30-40, 295 yards, 1 TD
Rushing: 46 yards
 
WR Joe Reed
8 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD
 
RB Wayne Taulapapa
18 carries, 53 yards, 3 TDs
 
LB Jordan Mack
13 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL
 
NOTES
• UVA is 3-15 all-time against Florida State.
• UVA is 2-6 all-time against FSU at Scott Stadium.
• UVA has started 2-0 in ACC play for the second time in three seasons and fifth time since the 2007 season (started 4-0).
• In the first quarter Brian Delaney booted a career-long 49-yard field goal. His previous long was 46 yards against Miami in 2018.
• Terrell Jana finished with a career-high seven receptions and a career-high 85 receiving yards.
• Bryce Perkins finished the game with 295 passing yards. It was the first time this season and eighth time in his career he has thrown for 200+ yards.
 
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
“I’d like to credit first Coach Taggart and Florida State. They played hard and they played a full and complete game right to the very last play and anyone that was in the stadium today witnessed an amazing football game with two teams trying as hard as they could try to win. I felt lucky to be part of it. I’m really proud of my players and staff. The work they put in and to have another tangible takeaway that progress is being made and then to have so many people come and support us was so gratifying to not only myself but to my staff and the players. I think they’ve worked really hard and have earned the chance to have that kind of support, so it was gratifying to see and feel it and to recognize it. It had an impact on the game. It helped us win. I’m appreciative of that.”
 
UP NEXT
Virginia will close out its home stand on Saturday, Sept. 21 when it hosts Old Dominion at 7 p.m. at Scott Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.