Chandler Morris ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more as Virginia came away with a wild 46-38 double-overtime win over No. 8 Florida State on Friday night in Charlottesville, Va.
Morris’ third rushing score, from 4 yards out, along with the ensuing two-point conversion pass served as the game-winner after the Virginia defense followed it up with a stop of the Seminoles.
The teams exchanged field goals in the first OT period.
Led by 99 rushing yards from J’Mari Taylor, 60 from Xavier Brown and 37 from Morris, Virginia (4-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) ran for 211 yards and four scores against a Florida State defense that had allowed 235 rushing yards and no rushing TDs all season.
This is Virginia’s seventh win all-time against an AP top-10 opponent and its second in the past three years.
Heroic individual efforts from Duce Robinson (nine catches for 147 yards and a touchdown) and Randy Pittman Jr. (third Florida State player to pass, rush and catch a touchdown in the same game) were not enough to keep the Seminoles (3-1, 0-1) unbeaten.
The Seminoles got an 11-yard diving catch from Pittman on fourth-and-goal with 36 seconds left to force overtime.
In its first road game of the season, Florida State got off to an incredibly inauspicious start, digging itself into an early 14-0 hole with 9:43 left in the first half. The Cavaliers capitalized on two Seminoles turnovers, one in the red zone, to score two touchdowns.
The Seminoles responded in tremendous fashion, though, roaring back with three touchdowns over a span of 4:20 to take a 21-14 lead late in the first half.
After Florida State’s Gavin Sawchuk ran for a 2-yard score to redeem an earlier fumble, the Seminoles turned two interceptions on the ensuing drives into two touchdowns.
The Cavaliers bounced back with a 75-yard drive, tying the game on a 26-yard touchdown by Taylor 48 seconds before halftime.
Virginia reclaimed the lead with a 12-play, 74-yard drive that lasted more than six minutes and was capped off by Morris’ second rushing touchdown. Eleven of the 12 plays on the drive were runs.
Florida State responded with a touchdown drive to tie the game. A handoff to Pittman turned into a jump pass to Robinson for a 4-yard touchdown to level the game again with 18 seconds left in the third quarter.
But Virginia once again pieced together an extended drive, taking nearly eight minutes off the clock and scoring on Brown’s 15-yard touchdown catch to reclaim the lead with 7:20 left.
Morris completed 26 of 35 passes for 229 yards with three interceptions. Nine different Virginia players caught passes, and none had more than 45 yards.
Florida State QB Tommy Castellanos finished 18 of 32 for 254 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown. He also ran for a team-high 78 yards and a TD on 14 carries. Sawchuk finished with 74 yards and a score on 17 carries.
–Field Level Media
