This was Marques Hagans' game. Sure, Connor Hughes kicked the lights out, and the Virginia defense smothered the powerful Seminoles, but No. 18 stole the show.
"Marques was fantastic tonight," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "The plays that he created on his own after the play broke down -- he just did a fantastic job. There probably haven't been a lot of games played by a Virginia quarterback too much better than that one."
Even Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who has coached for 30 years against some of the greatest players in football, had high praise for the slippery playmaker.
"I've never seen a quarterback beat us with a one-man show," Bowden said. "The last time that happened to us was Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl and J.C. Watts was playing. Watts did it in about 30 minutes. This guy did it the whole game."
Against the Seminoles, Hagans completed 27 of 39 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns, all while escaping the constant Florida State rush.
Those numbers (and the Cavaliers' fate) seemed to be in jeopardy, however, when Hagans went down holding his hamstring in the first half.
"I'm not really a doctor, I just knew it hurt a little bit, but there was no way I was coming out of the game," Hagans said. "My team depends on me just as much as I depend on them. I always say that if I can breathe or run, I'm going to play, so there was no way I was coming out."
Groh and the rest of the Virginia offense must have breathed a sigh of relief when Hagans jogged back onto the field to finish what he had started.
"This kid has a lot of tremendous attributes, but guts is high up on the list," Groh said. "He's got a tremendous heart, and he's got a great will to win for his team. This team is very important to him, and he takes it very personally. He deserves a lot of credit for both his leadership and his performance tonight."
To anyone who watched the Cavaliers' great upset, one thing is clear: It would have been a very different story without a certain 5-foot-10 quarterback under center.
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