Virginia faces its first true road test when it visits Florida State for an Atlantic Coast Conference contest on Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Cavaliers (3-1, 1-0 ACC) lost a neutral-site game against West Virginia in Charlotte on Sept. 19 but bounced back with a 42-3 home win against Delaware last weekend.
Playing on the road is nothing new for most of the players at Virginia, which leads the nation with 31 players in at least their fifth year of college.
“Their offensive line is extremely experienced and older,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said Monday. “They’ve done a good job of being able to control the line of scrimmage.
“Defensively they’re big, they’re old, they’re experienced. Their linebackers fly around sideline to sideline. We get one-on-one opportunities, we’ve got to go win them.”
The Seminoles (2-2, 0-1) got back in the win column last week with a 34-7 defeat of Central Arkansas, following consecutive losses to ranked opponents SMU and Alabama.
Cavaliers coach Tony Elliott said of the Seminoles, “They’re extremely talented, they’re well-coached, and if you want to find your way to Charlotte (for the ACC title game), you got to win down in Tallahassee.”
Virginia and Florida State both feature experienced transfers at quarterback.
The Cavaliers’ Beau Pribula has completed 76.7% of his passes for 793 yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception. He accounted for five scores (four passing, one rushing) against Delaware before leaving with a huge lead in the third quarter.
The Seminoles’ Ashton Daniels has passed for 928 yards and six touchdowns with five interceptions and rushed for 142 yards and four TDs. He tossed scoring strikes of 29 and 34 yards against Central Arkansas.
Both teams can run the football. Ousmane Kromah leads Florida State with 397 yards and five touchdowns, while Virginia uses a committee approach with five players (including Pribula) having between 125 and 177 rushing yards.
Virginia has won the past two meetings, but Florida State still holds a 15-5 lead in the all-time series (9-1 at home). The Cavaliers’ only victory in Tallahassee came in 2011.
