The Cavaliers weren’t perfect Saturday night, but they did enough to come away with a 26-21 victory. The defense gave up 472 yards but shut down the high-powered FSU scoring machine. There were as many dropped interceptions by the defense as there were dropped passes by the offense, but when the secondary needed a big pick it got it and when the receivers needed a drive-sustaining catch, they made it.

The Wahoos attacked on both sides of the ball and played with an emotion and physicality that they had not displayed in five previous games. “Magical” Marques Hagans was, well, magical, and though the receivers did not catch everything, they caught enough. The defense freely gave up yardage between the 20s but stiffened in the red zone, holding one of the top-scoring offenses in the nation almost 15 points below its season average.

Quarterback (A-)

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