Florida State Gets Sweet Revenge, 31-24

Florida State waited a year for payback and it came Saturday.

Thad Busby passed for 316 yards and two touchdowns, and Warrick Dunn scored on a 65-yard run as the third-ranked Seminoles avenged their only Atlantic Coast Conference loss with a 31-24 victory over No. 14 Virginia.

“We underestimated those guys last year and today we knew it was going to be a tough football game,” said Dunn, who rushed for 131 yards. “Those guys played exceptionally well.”

Last year, Virginia ended Florida State’s 29-game conference winning streak with a 33-28 victory in Charlottesville. But the Seminoles extended other streaks Saturday, keeping Coach Bobby Bowden perfect on homecoming with 21 consecutive victories and running their unbeaten home string to 27 games.

“To avenge last year’s loss we would have had to beat them 35-0,” Bowden said. “We couldn’t beat these guys 35-0. They’re too good.”

Busby had his best day as a starter, completing 25 of 36 passes, including touchdown passes to Wayne Messam and E.G. Green. Another scoring pass was negated by a penalty.

“Their offense is better than it looks,” said Virginia Coach George Welsh. “I’m not sure Busby did anything different. He just did it better.”

The Seminoles, 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the ACC, had 533 yards and their defense kept pressure on Virginia’s Tim Sherman, who completed only nine of 28 passes.

“They put pressure on us all day,” said Sherman, who left the field twice during the game after taking hits from the Florida State defense. “I give them all the credit. They lived up to their ranking.”

Welsh said Florida State’s offense may not be quite as explosive as recent teams, but praised the Seminole defense.

Virginia (5-2, 3-2) scored with 2:43 to play on a 21-yard pass from Sherman to Germane Crowell. The Cavaliers got the ball back with 1:30 left, but their hopes of another upset vanished when Sherman’s fourth-down pass was picked off at midfield by James Colzie.

Florida State’s go-ahead touchdown was set up when Samari Rolle picked off Sherman’s pass at the Virginia 43 on the opening series of the second half. Four plays later, the Seminoles scored on Busby’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Green.

Scott Bentley kicked a 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to give the Seminoles a 24-17 lead and Rock Preston added a 24-yard touchdown run with 5:54 left to make it 31-17.