FSU Seminoles miss second chance, fall 14-13 to Virginia

The second celebration was the sweetest for Virginia.

In a bizarre ending, Florida State's Dustin Hopkins' 42-yard field goal attempt - which came after the Cavaliers had to be called back onto the field after an officials' review - went wide left, securing the Cavaliers' 14-13 victory in front of 77,178 stunned fans.

Hopkins' attempt came after a catch by FSU's Bert Reed was ruled to hit the ground, putting eight seconds on the clock. Reed appeared to have caught the ball but could not get out of bounds, which allowed the final eight seconds to expire before FSU could get its field goal team lined up.

But with the entire Virginia team heading off the field - some already in the locker room area - a review was called and it showed Reed did not have control when the ball hit the ground.

That gave Hopkins, a Groza Award finalist who had made all five of his previous attempts from 40 to 49 yards this season, his chance. He lined up for a 48-yard attempt before FSU received a huge break when Virginia was called for encroachment.

That moved the line of scrimmage to the 25. But Hopkins' kick went wide left, and this time the Cavaliers' celebration counted.

The Seminoles (7-4, 5-3) lost for the first time since Oct. 8, and it ends any chance for a second consecutive 10-win season.

The Cavaliers (8-3, 5-2) remain alive for their first ACC Coastal Division title, which will go to the winner of their game Saturday against rival Virginia Tech.

Clemson clinched the Atlantic Division title a week ago.

Coach Jimbo Fisher said the game was not lost on any one play.

"It was a conglomerate across the board," he said. "Very disappointing. I thought we were past some of that. Way too many self-inflicted wounds."

Fisher cited three crucial plays.

Quarterback EJ Manuel's fumble on the Virginia 18 in the first quarter that killed the Seminoles' first potential scoring drive. Virginia recovered and drove 82 yards for the game's first score.

A 68-yard pass from Manuel to Bert Reed early in the second half to the 1-yard line. The Seminoles then ran three plays, a 1-yard loss by Jermaine Thomas, incomplete pass and 1-yard loss by Manuel before settling for a 21-yard Hopkins field goal that made the score 13-7.

FSU was driving to make it a two-score game late in the fourth quarter when Manuel was sacked on third-and-11 from the 30. Instead of possibly icing the game if Hopkins were able to kick a field goal, FSU had to punt, giving Virginia the ball with 1:53 remaining and down by six.

"We are making mistakes we should be over," Fisher said.

Quarterback Michael Rocco then completed four consecutive passes to move the ball from the UVA 25 to the FSU 10. Kevin Parks scored on the next play to give the Cavaliers a 14-13 lead with 1:16 remaining.

Florida State then faced fourth down-and-1 from midfield with less than a minute remaining when Manuel appeared to be stopped. But Virginia's Cam Johnson grabbed a hold of Manuel's facemask as the Seminoles quarterback was going down, and the penalty moved the ball to the 35 yard line, setting up the frantic final seconds.

Florida State entered averaging 34.6 points per game but was held to one touchdown from little used tight end Ja'Barris Little and two Hopkins field goals.

Manuel finished 18-of-31 for 200 yards. And outside of their struggles on short yardage, FSU's running game was solid, accounting for 186 yards.