Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 3, 1995 TAG: 9511030106
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Dogged by a history of losses and late-game flops, No.24 UVa put an end to No. 2 Florida State's 28-game ACC unbeaten run with a 33-28 victory before a crowd of 44,300 at Scott Stadium.
A game-saving Virginia gang tackle of running back Warrick Dunn on the game's last play decided a game of great offensive performances.
A record-shattering first half of offensive football was nearly matched by the defenses in the second half.
Virginia had 358 yards of offense in the first 30 minutes, with Groh completing 12 passes for 221 yards and Tiki Barber rushing 12 times for 111 yards.
In the first half.
Against Florida State.
After three quarters, Barber had 275 yards on 25 rushes, four catches and four punt returns.
Kanell completed 20 of 38 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Those three scoring passes gave him 28 for the season and 53 for his career, both Seminoles records. In the first half. But of course, it's Florida State.
How did it happen? A look at the Seminoles' play book could explain a lot. The Cavaliers stole a page or two from FSU. UVa stayed that way except for one snap - the Cavs' first scoring play. That was strictly option football.
Groh faked a handoff to fullback Darrell Medley and fed it to Barber. Medley then opened a huge hole that Barber burst through for a 64-yard sprint as Virginia tied the score at 7.
The Cavaliers held FSU without a first down on its next drive, but when the Seminoles got the ball back, Kanell took them 94 yards in 2:03. A 14-yard pass play to Dunn accounted for the touchdown as the Seminoles went up 14-7.
Virginia still was in the answering mode and went 68 yards in less than three minutes to tie the score at 14 with 13:26 to go in the second quarter.
The Cavs added a field goal two minutes later to go up 17-14. It was only the second time all season the Seminoles had trailed at any point in a game. The first time came against Georgia Tech, which went up 3-0 on Oct.21 in Tallahassee. The Yellow Jackets didn't add to the margin as Virginia did, however.
With 3:05 to go before intermission, Pete Allen got around Samari Rolle, who tripped teammate Sean Hamlet as Allen caught a rocket from Groh. The play went for 80 yards and a touchdown, making it 24-14 Virginia.
Still undeterred, Kanell completed four of his next five passes, the last going to E.G. Green for a 38-yard touchdown. The 80-yard drive took the Seminoles 52 seconds.
The Cavaliers added a 48-yard field goal by Rafael Garcia to lead 27-21 at halftime.
As good as it looked, however, Virginia had only one touchdown to show for four trips inside the FSU 20-yard line.
When the Cavaliers got a 41-yard field goal from Garcia with 10:38 to go in the third to make it 30-21, it marked the greatest point production by an ACC team against FSU since the Seminoles joined the league.
Amazingly, those turned out to be the only points in the third quarter as the both teams' pass rushes dominated. Virginia did not allow the Seminoles to complete a pass on their first six second half possessions.
The Cavaliers got to 33-21 with Garcia's fourth field goal of the game, a 35-yarder with 6:57 to go.
Finally, Florida State got it going again. It took four plays for Dunn to make it 33-28 on a 7-yard touchdown run.
by CNB