Virginia gets signature win with upset of No. 8 FSU

The Virginia Cavaliers might be back. They not only improved to 4-1 on Friday night with a stunning 46-38 double-overtime win against No. 8 Florida State, but it also gave head coach Tony Elliott a signature win for his tenure with the program. 

Biggest win of the Tony Elliott era

It’s been a long road back for Virginia under Elliott, and after a 14-23 record in his first three full seasons, he finally seems to have the program back on track and Friday is a big step forward in that process. 

While the Cavaliers entered Friday’s game with a 3-1 record, they had not yet been fully tested, and there should have still been some healthy skepticism as to how “real” their fast start was. Their wins were over Coastal Carolina, Stanford and FCS William & Mary, with a close 35-31 loss to North Carolina State mixed in. 

Beating the No. 8 team in the country, however, is a huge step and an extraordinarily validating win. 

It is also the type of thing that could get Virginia to crack the top 25 for the first time since the 2019 season. That was also the most recent season Virginia finished with a winning record. 

Florida State on both ends of top-10 upsets this season

This is the second time this season that a top-10 team has lost to an unranked opponent, and oddly enough, Florida State has been on both ends of those results. 

The Seminoles opened their season with a 31-17 win over No. 8-ranked Alabama. It seemed to be a huge steppingstone for a Seminoles team that was wildly disappointing in 2024 and set the stage for a fast start that saw them climb as high as No. 8 going into Friday’s game.

Now that the Seminoles made that climb, they were the team to get knocked off the top-10 perch to an unranked opponent. 

It’s poor timing for Florida State because a win on Friday could have helped set the stage for a gigantic ACC clash next week when it hosts the current No. 2-ranked team, Miami. 

While it will still be a huge rivalry game, and a huge game in the conference, it certainly loses some of its luster with the Seminoles dropping the ball this week.