FSU went on the road as a -6.5 betting favorite against Virginia and lost in double overtime 46-38. UVA played well, but FSU beat itself, and the coordinators have a lot of blame on their shoulders.
The FSU offense punted and turned the ball over twice on its first three possessions before finally coming to life. UVA scored 14 points off of those two turnovers, but FSU had a chance to go into halftime with a 21-14 lead, but the defense allowed a touchdown drive in 1:44.
FSU got the ball first to start the third quarter and missed a 44-yard field goal. The decision to kick that field goal was questionable, regardless, considering the FSU defense had already had trouble stopping UVA’s offense.
The two teams traded touchdowns, with the FSU offense answering with two big touchdown drives, including one with less than two minutes in regulation. The FSU defense got a big three-and-out to give the FSU offense one last chance to send it to overtime.
FSU had no answer for UVA on third down, one of the major keys for the defense going into the game. UVA was 7 of 13 and 2-2 on fourth down. UVA had two long, double-digit-play touchdown drives in the second half and looked like the more physical team. The FSU defense forced three turnovers, but UVA had their way for much of the night.
FSU seemed to get away from the run game and got too pass-happy, which led to some stalled drives, including the final possession in double overtime. Gus Malzahn elected to throw the ball four consecutive times when they could have gotten a first down and didn’t need to score.
Tommy Castellanos threw the ball 32 times, completing 18 passes for 254 yards. As bad as FSU played, the 14 points allowed from turnovers and the missed field goal were the difference in the game.
The Noles have a huge game against Miami next week, but that game lost some of its steam with how they performed against Virginia, even if they pulled off the win in overtime.
We’ll see how they respond this week, but both coordinators left a lot on the field. Tony White’s zone got eaten alive, and Gus Malzahn got too cute in several situations against an average to bad defense.