First, let’s give credit where it’s due. Florida State played a marvelous game. After hearing all week about how vulnerable they were, the Seminoles played with pride, passion and purpose in front of their fired-up fans. Their defense was swarming. Their tailbacks were tremendous. Their quarterback, the supposed weak link, was nearly perfect. Their speed was breathtaking on both sides of the ball and they looked every bit as good as the great FSU teams of the 1990s. Even if the Cavaliers had played their best, they probably wouldn’t have won Saturday night.

But Virginia didn’t even play close to its best football, and that’s the most disappointing thing about the 36-3 loss. Given a chance to prove that they belong among the nation’s elite programs, the Wahoos looked like wannabes. They looked like frauds. That may not be a fair or accurate assessment, but that’s what the college football world surely will believe after watching the Cavs fall flat on the national stage in their first major challenge of the season.

Despite the ugly outing — and it was UGLY in every way — I still don’t think Virginia was exposed as a fraud, unless you had the team on the short list of national title contenders. Frankly, the Cavs don’t have that kind of talent. They may have closed the gap on Florida State in terms of bringing in top recruits at certain positions and putting big, strong athletes on the field. But speed kills in football, and the Seminoles were a lethal blur.

Lorenzo Booker and Leon Washington proved they are the best tailback tandem in the ACC. (Sorry, Lundy and Pearman.) They were elusive and explosive in combining for nearly 200 rushing yards, often changing directions while gashing through the Virginia defense. FSU’s wideouts and defensive backs also were simply too fast for their Cavalier counterparts.

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