Cavaliers Emerge Victorious In Double Overtime Over No. 8 FSU, 46-38

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The tension grew and the anticipation built Friday night until finally, at the end of the second overtime, the home fans at Scott Stadium were able to let loose with a celebration for the ages.

On fourth-and-12 from the Virginia 27-yard line, Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos threw a pass to the end zone. UVA cornerback Ja’Son Prevard came down with his second interception of the game.

This one sealed the Cavaliers’ 46-38 victory over the No. 8 Seminoles, and Prevard had barely gotten his hands on the football when a tidal wave of fans began flooding the field.

The victory was the Wahoos’ first over a top-10 opponent at Scott Stadium since 2005, when they knocked off No. 4 Florida State 26-21. It came nearly 30 years after the Hoos handed No. 2 FSU its first conference loss as an ACC member, also at Scott Stadium.

“This is one I’ll remember forever,” said defensive tackle Jahmeer Carter, who’s in his sixth season as a Cavalier.

In front of an ESPN audience and a crowd of 50,107, the largest to see a game at Scott Stadium this season, UVA improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC. Florida State fell to 3-1, 0-1.

The Cavaliers nearly avoided overtime, but Florida State scored a touchdown on a fourth-down pass with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and Jake Weinberg’s extra point made it 35-35.

The Noles got the ball first in overtime and had to settle for Weinberg’s 36-yard field goal. Virginia’s possession stalled, but Will Bettridge extended the game with a 39-yard field goal.

In the second overtime, the Hoos had the ball first, and quarterback Chandler Morris ran 4 yards for his third rushing touchdown of the game. Under the rules of overtime, Virginia then had to attempt a 2-point conversion, and Morris passed to wide receiver Trell Harris in the back of the end zone to make it 46-38.

The Noles got no closer than the 22 on the possession that followed, and Prevard’s pick ended an exhilarating game.

“Man, how fun was that?” UVA head coach Tony Elliott said. “That’s what Scott Stadium is supposed to be like.”

There was no shortage of highlights Friday night. Each team came up with two takeaways in the first half, and the score was 21-21 at intermission.

To the delight of the home fans, UVA scored first, on a 6-yard TD pass from Morris to tight end Sage Ennis, a Tallahassee native, and then added a second TD on Morris’ 11-yard run.

That made it 14-0 with 9:43 to play in the second quarter, but the Seminoles were unfazed. They rallied for two touchdowns in a span of 83 seconds to tie the game. Then, after Morris threw his second interception, FSU took its first lead, covering 45 yards on a drive that ended with Castellanos’ 4-yard touchdown run.

This time it was UVA’s turn to show resilience. With the game in danger of slipping from the Hoos, they answered with a 75-yard drive that included a 20-yard completion from Morris to Harris and tailback J’Mari Taylor’s 26-yard touchdown run.

In the third quarter, Virginia regained the lead with a 12-play touchdown drive that covered 75 yards. Eleven of the plays were runs; Morris’ only pass on the drive going to Harris for 8 yards and a critical first down.

FSU responded with its fourth touchdown, and the score was 28-28 heading into the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers went ahead on Morris’ 15-yard touchdown pass to tailback Xavier Brown, only to see the Seminoles fight back once again.

Morris finished 26 of 35 passing for 229 yards and two touchdowns. Six players had at least two receptions apiece for the Cavaliers.

Led by Taylor, who carried 27 times for 99 yards and one TD, the Hoos rushed for 2011 yards.

Florida State, which opened the season with a win over Alabama, came in averaging 58.0 points and 628.7 yards per game. Virginia forced three turnovers and recorded five tackles for loss. Safety Devin Neal and linebacker Kam Robinson made 12 and 10 stops, respectively, for UVA.

“That’s the number one offense in the country,” Elliott said. “And so all we wanted to do was find a way to get enough stops to give our offense one or two more possessions than the other team.”

UP NEXT: The Cavaliers’ second road game of the season is Oct. 4 in Louisville, Ky. At 3:30 p.m., UVA (4-1, 2-0) will meet Louisville at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. The game will air on ESPN2 or ACC Network.

Virginia has dropped three straight games to Louisville, which leads the series 8-5. The Hoos’ most recent win over the Cardinals came in 2021 in Louisville. UVA erased a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to pull out a 34-33 victory.

In the ACC opener for both teams, Louisville (3-0) plays at Pittsburgh (2-1) on Saturday afternoon.

Virginia Team Notes 

• 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).
• The win also marked the second by an unranked FBS team over a top-10 team this season. The other was then-unranked FSU over then-No. 8 Alabama in week 1.
• 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.
• The Cavaliers’ 46 points are more than FSU’s first three opponents combined (Alabama–17, East Texas A&M–3, Kent State–10).
• Virginia’s 46 points are its most-ever against a top-10 opponent and the most by an unranked ACC team against a team ranked that high in the AP Poll since Florida State scored 54 at No. 7 BYU in September 2009 (via Stats Perform).
• The nationally-televised contest on ESPN peaked at 6.9 million viewers, the most-watched ESPN game on record (excluding Black Friday holiday games).
• 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 improves 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).

Virginia Individual 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 are a career high and he’s the first UVA running back to rush for over 25 carriers 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.

Offensive Starters: QB #4 Chandler Morris, RB #3 J’Mari Taylor, WR #6 Cam Ross, WR #7 Jahmal Edrine, WR #11 Trell Harris, TE #0 Sage Ennis, LT #52 McKale Boley, LG #77 Noah Josey, C #60 Drake Metcalf, RG #78 Kevin Wigenton II, RT #68 Jack Witmer.  

Defensive Starters: DE #14 Fisher Camac, NT #90 Jahmeer Carter, DT #91 Jason Hammond, DE #17 Mitchell Melton, LB #1 James Jackson, LB #5 Kam Robinson, CB #19 Emmanuel Karnley, CB #28 Donavon Platt, NB #10 Ja’Son Prevard, S #30 Ethan Minter, S #27 Devin Neal.  

Game Captains: #0 Antonio Clary, #0 Sage Ennis, #7 Jahmal Edrine, #17 Mitchell Melton,