Virginia Repeats History, Holds Off Florida State

Marques Hagans threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns and Connor Hughes kicked four field goals to help Virginia recapture a bit of its history by holding on to beat No. 4 Florida State, 26-21, Saturday night.

The Cavaliers (4-2, 2-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) stopped the Seminoles near midfield with 3 1/2 minutes left to force a punt.

Hagans then ran for six yards before Florida State’s Tony Carter was called for pass interference on third down, giving Virginia a first down and a chance to run out the clock.

After Hagans came up a yard short on a third-and-seven run, the Cavaliers punted and Florida State had one last chance from its 26 with 56 seconds left.

Tony Franklin then intercepted a pass by freshman quarterback Drew Weatherford, sealing the upset and bringing thousands of fans pouring onto the field to celebrate the victory.

The only bigger win in program history came 10 years ago, also against Florida State, when the Seminoles arrived ranked second and the Cavaliers held on for a 33-28 victory as Warrick Dunn was stopped at the goal line in the game’s final seconds.

That 1995 team was honored at halftime, and then history repeated itself.

Florida State (5-1, 3-1) had rallied from a 26-10 deficit behind the play of Weatherford in the final quarter. He completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Chris Davis and drove the Seminoles into range for a 32-yard field goal from Gary Cismesia.

Weatherford completed 35 of 59 passes for 377 yards with three interceptions. Hagans was 27 for 36 for 306 yards.