UVA Football | First look: ‘Hoos face #8 Florida State on Friday night

Florida State, preseason: unranked, picked seventh in the ACC media poll, is now at #7 in the AP poll, entirely due to its Week 1 shocker over Alabama.

We don’t know much else about FSU, which beat East Texas A&M – not to be confused with, you know, the other Texas A&M – and Kent State the past two weeks by a combined 143-13.

Tommy (“Don’t call me Thomas”) Castellanos is the QB1, and we remember him from his days at Boston College – Castellanos led BC to a 27-24 win over Virginia in 2023, passing for 183 yards and two TDs, and running for 78 yards.

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Details

#8 Florida State (3-0, 0-0 ACC) at Virginia (3-1, 1-0 ACC)
Date/time: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: VirginiaSports.com
Line: FSU -7.5
Over/under: 51.5
Projected final score: FSU 28, Virginia 23

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The ‘Hoos evened things up with Castellanos last year, getting a 24-14 win as Castellanos passed for 254 yards and two TDs.

Castellanos was picked off twice in each of the two games, and INTs have been an issue for him – he has 20 of them in his career.

Bill O’Brien put Castellanos under wraps last season, trying to make him more a pocket QB – and it kinda worked: Castellanos had a career-best 163.4 passer rating; it also kinda didn’t: his rush yards went from 1,113 in 2023 to 194 in 2024.

At FSU, Gus Malzahn, brought in as the O coordinator after FSU’s 2-10 debacle in 2024, has taken the shackles off.

Castellanos ran for 78 yards and a TD in the 31-17 win over ‘Bama in Week 1, as the ‘Noles churned out 230 yards on the ground.

Notes

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• Virginia moved up 12 spots in the ESPN Football Power Index, from 51 to 39, following the 48-20 win over Stanford on Saturday night. FPI projects an 8.7-3.6 record for Virginia, and gives the ‘Hoos a 6.2 percent chance of getting a College Football Playoff spot.
• UVA is up 21 spots in SP+, sitting this week at 42.
• Sagarin has the Cavaliers at 38 this week.
• The UVA offense ranks fourth nationally in yards per game (564.5), 12th in rushing (251.5 yards/g), and 11th in scoring (45.5 points/g).
• Chandler Morris is 17th nationally in QBR (81.3) and 18th nationally in passing efficiency (164.7 rating)