Thirty years after goal-line heartbreak, there was heart-pounding drama — and double overtime.
Chandler Morris dove for the end zone and scored on a 4-yard run in the second overtime as Virginia defeated No. 8 Florida State 46-38 on Friday night.
Tommy Castellanos’ pass to Duce Robinson down the sideline was bobbled and initially called a touchdown, but the call was overturned by the ACC’s replay center on review. On fourth down, Castellanos was pressure and threw the ball up for grabs but the ball was intercepted in the end zone by Ja’son Prevard and Virginia fans moments later stormed the field.
The teams traded field goals in the first OT, with Jake Weinberg making a 36-yarder for FSU. Will Bettridge converted his 39-yard field-goal attempt.
From start to finish, it was a wild, drama-filled game.
FSU’s defense sparked a rally in the first half with a pair of turnovers.
But the Seminoles’ defense couldn’t hold up physically in the second half. Virginia marched down the field on a 12-play, 74-yard drive and a 16-play, 75-yard drive.
Morris passed for 229 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Morris was part of an effective run-pass mix in the second half that helped Virginia convert on third downs (7 of 13) and fourth downs (2 of 2) and pull off the upset.
FSU (3-1, 0-1 ACC) had allowed just 235 rushing yards in its first three games. But J’Mari Taylor had 99 of Virginia’s 211 yards.
The Seminoles overcame a sloppy and mistake-filled start to bounce back from a 14-0 first-half deficit. FSU scored 21 unanswered points in a red-hot second quarter.
Tommy Castellanos completed 18 of 32 passes for 254 yards, connecting early and often with Robinson (nine catches for 147 yards). Robinson also caught a jump-ball touchdown pass from Randy Pittman.
FSU had two chances late in the fourth quarter, missing on the first and scoring on the second.
On the first, FSU drove 53 yards but, on fourth down, Castellanos dropped back and was under pressure. He threw incomplete deep in Virginia’s end with 2:43 left.
On the second, Castellanos connected with Lawayne McCoy on a 34-yard pass to put FSU in the red zone. After setting up first-and-goal, Castellanos was sacked before throwing incomplete on second and third down. Under pressure, he rolled left and found a diving Pittman for an 11-yard touchdown.
Thirty years after Warrick Dunn was called short of the goal line in No. 2 FSU’s 33-28 loss at Virginia, the Cavaliers pulled off another upset of a top-10 FSU team.
Wild first half
In the first half alone: Morris tossed two interceptions, Castellanos had an interception and a fumble go out of bounds, and Gavin Sawchuk lost a fumble, too.
Sawchuk and Pittman had wildcat touchdown runs as FSU clawed back from a 14-point hole. Coach Mike Norvell preaches about how he wants to see response to adversity — he saw it early as the Seminoles rallied in their first road game and first ACC contest.
They did so courtesy of interceptions by safety Edwin Joseph (helped by a good pressure from Justin Cryer) and linebacker Elijah Herring. Both interceptions set up touchdowns, the first Pittman 2-yard run and the second a Castellanos 4-yard run.
The teams were tied 21-21 at the half.
Offense
FSU had three first-half rushing touchdowns, giving them 20 on the season.
Squirrel White also had a pair of catches after missing the Kent State game due to injury.
Sawchuk ran 17 times for 74 yards. Ousmane Kromah ran 12 times for 63 yards.
Defense
FSU added its fourth, fifth and sixth interceptions on the 2025 season. It was the first of the year for Joseph, Herring and Ja’Bril Rawls.
Earl Little Jr. had 13 tackles but also a costly first-half penalty that contributed to a Virginia scoring drive.
Rawls had 11 tackles, including a tackle for loss. He had eight tackles in two games this season, missing the East Texas A&M game due to injury.
Ashlynd Barker had two sacks. Barker didn’t have a sack or TFL previously this season. Virginia converted on 5 of its first 7 third downs.
Special teams
Weinberg pushed a field goal wide right from 44 yards in the second half.
White had a 23-yard punt return in the first half in his first game back from injury.
Noteworthy
Antonio Clary, a Jacksonville native who played at Sandalwood High, was ejected for targeting at 2:43 left in the second quarter when he delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on Robinson.
Up next
FSU will play host to Miami on Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. (ABC).
