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Jason Snelling and the Hoos couldn’t get it going against FSU on Saturday. |
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Every other year for the past 15 years, Virginia has traveled to Tallahassee to do battle with Florida State. The results have generally been ugly for the Cavaliers and that trend continued Saturday as Virginia was routed 33-0 by the Seminoles at Doak-Campbell Stadium.
“The script was all too familiar,” Virginia head coach Al Groh said. “It’s a script by which Florida State has won a lot of games which is early disruption, interceptions, blocked punts, taking control of the game in that particular manner and vertical speed with their wide receivers. That’s a script by which they’ve lived off of for a long time and we weren’t able to take them out of their game.”
Virginia is now 0-8 in Tallahassee and 0-15 all-time in games played in the state of Florida. The Cavaliers have also lost eight of their past nine road games and are 10-22 on the road under Groh.
“We’re not the only ones,” Groh said of Virginia’s struggles at Florida State. “This has been going on down here for a long time.”
The Cavaliers had not been shutout since a 24-0 road loss at N.C. State in 2001.
“Every time we come down here, this seems to happen,” senior cornerback Marcus Hamilton, who has played in Tallahassee three times now, said. “We lose focus on what we need to do and make mistakes.”
After showing signs of improvement and growth in recent weeks, redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell struggled mightily against Florida State’s precociously fast defense. Sewell was sacked six times and threw two interceptions as he completed 17 of 35 passes for 125 yards.
“The only explanation I can put on it is like a baseball pitcher,” Groh said. “He goes out there and doesn’t throw any strikes and he can’t ever throw it over the plate. But he wasn’t the only one out of synch. He didn’t get much help.”
On the third play of the game, Virginia was hurt by a familiar foe this season – an interception returned for a touchdown. After picking up a first down with a four-yard scramble, Sewell looked to pass on 1st-and-10 from Virginia’s 28-yard line. He stared at Fontel Mines and telegraphed a pass over the middle that was picked off and returned for a touchdown by Florida State cornerback Tony Carter. It was the fifth time this season that the Cavaliers have allowed such a play.
“It was just a bad pass,” Sewell, who has thrown two of those five INT-TDs, said tersely after the game.
After Virginia went three-and-out on its next two possessions, junior punter Ryan Weigand came in to boot the ball away from Virginia’s own 10-yard line. Florida State defensive end Eli Charles burst through the middle of line and got to the ball before Weigand could get off the punt. The gaffe set the Seminoles up with a 1st-and-goal situation at Virginia’s one-yard line and Florida State quickly capitalized with a one-yard TD run by tailback Lorenzo Booker.
“Unfortunately we followed the same script that has dynamited a number of our chances which is touchdowns and points scored on us that we never get a chance to deny the ball being run into the end zone – interception, blocked punt, safety, bad kickoff,” Groh said.
Virginia’s effort to come back was hindered by its failure to establish a consistent running game against the speedy Seminole defense. After posting more than 100 yards rushing in each of the past five games, Virginia’s offense was able to net only 58 rushing yards against Florida State.
“Florida State is a fast team,” Snelling said. “They are hard to beat around the edge and they beat a lot of blocks.”
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Jameel Sewell was sacked six times by the Seminoles. |
Part of the problem was the offensive line, which at times looked more like it did at the beginning of the season than the resurgent unit it had been in recent weeks.
“I wouldn’t say it was a step back but the last couple of weeks we did a real good job executing and communicating and today we didn’t execute,” redshirt freshman right tackle Will Barker said. “It was just a bad day.”
Like Snelling, junior center Jordy Lipsey cited the offense’s inability to effectively handle Florida State’s speed.
“The biggest thing was that they were fast everywhere,” Lipsey said. “We’ve played teams where they had a few positions that were pretty fast but they were fast everywhere.”
While the defense was not the reason for Virginia’s loss, it was not a perfect day for Mike London’s unit. The Cavaliers limited the Seminoles to 117 yards on the ground but gave up 226 yards through the air, 190 of which came in the second half.
“For a long time, they hung in there pretty good,” Groh said of the defense. “Put in some difficult circumstances, they played the run well again. But we didn’t come up with enough plays. We didn’t cause any disruption on the ball.”
The defense’s failure to force any turnovers allowed Florida State to maintain the momentum it had gained early in the first quarter. In his second start of the season for the Seminoles, sophomore quarterback Xavier Lee completed 12 of 25 passes for 185 yards and one TD. He was also Florida State’s leading rusher with 49 yards.
“It is disappointing as a defense any game that you don’t get a turnover,” Hamilton said.
The game was not put truly out-of-reach for Virginia until a six-play sequence early in the third quarter. Linebacker Buster Davis sacked Sewell in the end zone for a safety to give the Seminoles a 19-0 lead and on its ensuing possession Florida State scored on a 37-yard touchdown reception hauled in by Chris Davis.
Florida State’s final score of the day came on a two-yard TD run by tailback Antone Smith, which was set up by a 28-yard reception by Greg Carr.
“They came out with a lot of energy and we expected that,” Snelling said. “But they went ahead with that early surge and we weren’t able to answer, which was pretty much the story of the game.”
Note: Senior wide receiver Deyon Williams did not play against the Seminoles. Groh said that Williams had re-injured his foot earlier this week.
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