The rules for overtime are explained to the audience at home right before overtime starts. It seems pretty clear. The first overtime is normal; you score, you get to kick an extra point. However, in the second overtime, once a team scores a touchdown, they have to go for a two-point conversion, and every overtime after that is simply just two-point conversion tries until one team fails.
For Virginia head coach Tony Elliott he apparently did not get the memo on the overtime rules because when Virginia scored a touchdown in the second overtime, he put up one finger to signal kicking an extra point. His kicking unit took the field like normal, until he was told he had to go for a two-point conversion. So, fans would think that would probably result in a delay of the game, right?
Wrong.
Instead, the game clock reset and Virginia was able to put their offense on the field and make a play call. This had Florida State head coach Mike Norvell absolutely enraged at the fact that there was no penalty and the game clock reset. At that moment, Florida State was never going to have a fair chance at winning the game.
Mike Norvell had every right to be upset there. If UVA made a mistake and sent the kicking team on the field when you have to go for 2, how is that not a delay of game? Why did the refs reset the play clock??
— Van Allen Plexico (@VanAllenPlexico) September 27, 2025
In the end, it didn't seem to matter, but that is how it looks on paper. When looking at it a little deeper, if Virginia doesn't get that two-point conversion, Florida State may call some different plays to ensure they get that touchdown and two-point conversion themselves.
It will never be known how it would have ended had the refs called the game fairly and not restarted the game clock for the Cavaliers, but it could have changed things. In the end, Florida State lost the game because the offense couldn't stop the rush from the Virginia defense when it mattered most, and now it is back to the drawing board for the Seminoles.