TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Virtually all of the football history between Florida State and Virginia favored the Seminoles. And it remained that way with Florida State's (5-1, 3-1 ACC) 36-3 thrashing of the Cavaliers (5-1, 2-1) Saturday in front of 84,155 at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Despite improvements in Virginia's athleticism and talent from the team's 40-19 defeat in Tallahassee two years ago, the Seminoles still remain noticeably ahead of their Cavalier counterparts. Florida State looked like the team that has won 11 of 12 ACC championships and is 50-1 in home games versus ACC opponents. The Seminoles were faster, more poised and clearly the more superior all-around team as they outgained the Cavaliers 470 to 281 overall and 192 to 20 in rushing yards. The accomplished Virginia trio of running backs, which had been averaging an ACC-best 275 yards per game, was only able to gain five yards rushing in the first half. The Cavalier offensive line, which had yielded two sacks, gave up five to the Seminole defense.
"We're not going to go hide in our closet," Virginia tailback Alvin Pearman said. "We're going to look at this game as an incredible amount of mistakes made and we're going to go from it and move forward and get better."
Meanwhile, Florida State's talented duo of Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker ran through huge holes all day long, especially off the tackles and tight end. Booker had 123 yards on 15 carries for an 8.2 yards per carry average and added two scores. Washington had an additional 72 yards on 16 carries and also had a rushing touchdown.
Seminole starting quarterback, Wyatt Sexton, who struggled in Florida State's victory over Syracuse last weekend, was 20 of 26 for 275 yards with a touchdown. He found wide-open receivers all evening and of his six incomplete passes, five were dropped balls.
The only bright spot for the Virginia offense was tight end Heath Miller, who had been criticized by Seminole linebacker Ernie Sims earlier in the week. Miller snagged nine balls and racked up 110 yards.
Virginia's punting game, which had not performed well in limited testing in the season's first five games, finally came back to bite the Cavaliers. Florida State easily blocked Sean Johnson's first punt from the Virginia 17-yard line early in the first quarter. Luckily for the Cavaliers, the ball rolled out of end zone for a safety and only a 2-0 FSU advantage.
On the last play of the first quarter, Florida State took advantage of another punting situation, this time its own. On fourth and five from the Virginia 42, the Seminoles executed a fake punt pass to senior Kamerion Wimbley. Cavalier Isaiah Ekejiuba tackled Wimbley for a loss of one, but was called for a five-yard face mask that allowed the Seminoles to replay the down. Fullback James Coleman was able to get the first down on fourth and one and later in the drive the Seminoles added a field goal to make it 5-0.
After two first downs on their first drive, the Cavaliers went three and out on four straight possessions. In between, Florida State added two scores on a Booker touchdown run and a 24-yard touchdown reception by Chauncey Stovall with 2:33 left in the half.
Virginia was finally able to move the ball on the Seminole defense late in the first half. With 2:00 left and the Cavaliers already down 19-0, Virginia drove 79 yards down to the Seminole five-yard line and had a first and goal there with 13 seconds to go. The Cavaliers had two timeouts, but rather than using one after the ball was set, three to four seconds ran off the clock before the snap and Hagans threw incomplete on a quick fade to Deyon Williams. With five seconds remaining, Virginia settled for a 23-yard field goal to make it 19-3 before the half.
That would be all the ACC's No. 1 offense could muster. The Seminoles went up 29-3 after another field goal and an 89-yard drive, capped by a five-yard touchdown run by Washington just after the fourth quarter began. Christian Olsen replaced Marques Hagans on the ensuing possession after Hagans received what Coach Groh described as a "blow to the hip." Hagans was 20 of 30 for 214 yards with an interception and Groh said he did not want to risk putting the junior in jeopardy. Offensive guard Elton Brown also left the game in the second half with what looked like a knee injury.
"The heart was there, but we played terrible," Virginia defensive end Brennan Schmidt said.
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