In what will be their biggest game of the season so far, the Virginia Cavaliers (3-1, 1-0 ACC) are set to face off against the No. 7 ranked Florida State Seminoles (3-0, 0-0) on Friday night under Scott Stadium’s bright lights.
The Cavaliers are coming off a decisive win against new conference opponent Stanford, in which they crushed the Cardinal 48-20. “You’ve got 59 minutes to enjoy this,” coach Tony Elliott told his celebratory team that night in the locker room. It was 11:01 p.m., and come Sunday, it would be time to begin preparing for their next contest.
Florida State is easily the most intimidating foe this Virginia squad has faced so far this season. The Seminoles are the No. 7 team in the country and they currently have the No. 1 offense in the NCAA. They lead the country in points and yards per game, averaging 58 and nearly 630, and have racked up 1,886 total yards. Their defense, meanwhile, has allowed only 30 total points in weeks one to four.
The Seminoles started the season explosively, defeating then No. 8 Alabama team while they themselves were unranked. Since then, the team has continued its successful run, scoring 77 and 66 points on East Texas A&M and Kent State respectively, while allowing only 13 points between the two teams. Virginia will be their first ACC opponent this season.
“The things that they’ve been able to do is because of how explosive they are on offense,” said Elliott. “Their ability to run the ball, how they can swarm on defense, they’ve been able to keep their guys fresh. They’ve got some guys sitting in the wings that haven’t played as many snaps, and by the end of the season they’re gonna be household names. This is why you come to a place like Virginia, to play in the ACC, to compete against the best.”
Florida State has a daunting program with an impressive résumé, but this year’s Cavaliers are nothing to scoff at. They boast a top-five offense in the country, averaging 564.5 yards per game, with 2258 total yards and 22 touchdowns. Transfer QB Chandler Morris has already recorded 1,050 passing yards with a completion percentage of 70.8 and eight passing touchdowns, and has rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown. The Cavaliers have been running the football very effectively, scoring 13 rushing touchdowns and recording 1,006 total yards, with standout running backs J’mari Taylor and Harrison Waylee combined for 512 rushing yards on the season.
“Even though I’m a wideout by trade, I still want to run the ball,” said Elliott. “The best offenses I’ve been around can effectively run the football. That’s where it starts, and that creates some of the play actions to create some more of the intermediate throws and then also some of the deep shots. So we’re going to need to be able to do both down the stretch.”
Morris has distributed the football widely so far, but two standouts of the wide receiver room’s have been Trell Harris and Cam Ross. Harris has put up 321 yards and 3 touchdowns, averaging 17.8 yards per reception. Ross has recorded 252 yards and 1 touchdown, averaging 13.3 yards per reception.
“This week, you’re gonna see unbalance, you’re gonna see formation in the boundary, you’re gonna see tempo,” said Florida State head coach Mike Norvell. “This is a very unique offense. It mirrors a lot of things that we do and face and see, and so it’s gonna be good that we’ve had to work against each other throughout camp. But being on the road, we need to be as good as we’ve been come Friday.”
Florida State is currently favored to win by just seven points, making an upset win by the Cavaliers very attainable. “I’m pumped,” said Wahoo defensive tackle Jason Hammond. “I think this is our opportunity to show the world what Virginia football can do.”
The last time the two teams faced off in 2019, the Virginia Cavaliers defeated the Florida State Seminoles 41-24, but Florida State leads the series 14-4 all time.
Kickoff is set for Friday at 7 p.m. in Scott Stadium, and will air on ESPN.
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