As the shotgun snap flew past a stunned Matt Schaub midway through the fourth quarter, Virginia's hopes of staying in the hunt for an ACC title and BCS bowl bid went with it.
With the Cavaliers marching down field trailing by five points Saturday night, facing a third and three at their own 42 yard line, a botched snap caused Virginia to lose 17 yards on the play and punt the ball.The No. 7 Seminoles (6-1, 5-0 ACC) would run out the remaining 6:19 on the clock to hold off a second-half Virginia comeback and defeat the Cavaliers (4-3, 3-2) for the eighth straight season, this time by a score of 19-14.
"There was a misunderstanding on the part of the center on the snap count," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "It was an unfortunate play there. We never really had another shot of winning the game after that."
Virginia mounted a fairly successful one-dimensional offensive attack against the Seminoles. On the ground the Cavaliers struggled, officially in the red at -5 yards thanks to a 12-yard loss on a sack and the misplay on the snap that cost the Cavaliers 17 yards. But Virginia found success in the passing game, putting the ball in the air for 53 of their 63 offensive plays and gaining 326 passing yards against a Florida State defensive unit that is ranked No. 1 in the country.
It was Virginia's defense, however, that kept the Cavaliers in contention for most of the game. After letting up an early first quarter score, the Cavaliers held the Seminoles to four field goals for the rest of the game.
The Seminole offense still managed to do enough to win, controlling the clock effectively throughout the contest. Florida State kept its last 11 snaps on the ground and killed the final six minutes of the game, leaving the Virginia offense helplessly waiting on the sidelines, watching time slowly wind down before they would get a chance to return to the field.
"For the last six minutes my stomach was churning on the sideline," junior running back Alvin Pearman said. "We wanted to get back into the game; we felt at that point that we could move the ball on them. But when a team can milk the last six minutes on the clock, they deserve to win."
Pearman set a school record for receptions in a game, catching 16 balls for 134 yards in addition to his 24 yards gained on the ground, filling in effectively for an injured Wali Lundy.
Pearman's 21-yard touchdown reception with 13 seconds remaining in the first half capped a 12-play 92-yard drive and put the Cavaliers on the board for the first time all game, after Florida State opened the contest with 13 points.
The Cavaliers narrowed the Florida State advantage to 16-14 after a pressured Schaub got the ball to sophomore tight end Heath Miller for an eight-yard touchdown reception. Florida State countered on the very next drive, with a 39-yard Xavier Beitia field goal to increase the Seminole lead to 19-14.
The Cavaliers made their way into Seminole territory twice more in the contest. With just over a minute left in the third quarter, Virginia faced a fourth-and-two from the Florida State 39 and elected to punt. On their next drive, the Cavaliers got to the Seminole 39-yard-line again, this time facing a fourth-and-five and again decided against going for it.
Virginia punter Tom Hagan struggled throughout the contest, averaging a measly 28.5 yards per kick.
"Obviously, we need to look at something there," Groh said of the punting situation. "It's pretty apparent that that's not working the way we need it to. We lost an awful lot of field position against a team which favorable field position is certainly to your advantage. It made the defense work that much harder and that maybe eventually took a little bit out of them."
Florida State wasted little time getting on the board, as junior wideout Craphonso Thorpe caught a short pass toward the near sideline, made a quick stop and change of direction, leaving Virginia senior cornerback Almondo Curry in the dust and sprinting the length of the field for a 79-yard touchdown.
The long score less than four minutes into the game put the momentum in Florida State's favor early on, something the Virginia coaches wanted to keep from happening.
"There are certain things that Florida State has historically done against opponents to blow apart the game early," Groh said. "We tried to set the plan up to avoid those things from happening. Unfortunately, we let a few of those things occur."
The victory moved Florida State coach Bobby Bowden into a tie with Joe Paterno for most career Division I-A wins with 338. His Seminoles are the only team still undefeated in conference play and are in good position to defend their ACC title. The Cavaliers dropped to third place in conference play with the loss.
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