Let’s be honest: There are few things Virginia fans like to talk about more than beating Florida State in ’95. They’ll tell you where they were sitting that night or why they weren’t there. They’ll break down the entire final play in detail from their vantage point.

It is, as it should be, an indelible memory forever written into the DNA of the program and its fans.

Now, maybe this FSU team isn’t that FSU team. But with the way it all unfolded, the way UVa had to earn it, and the way it ended—a direct snap to a running back stopped short of the goal line as time expired and the Hill immediately emptied onto the field at Scott Stadium—Saturday night figures to be the stuff of legend.

And it should be.

The last time before this season that UVa started 3-0 was 14 years ago, two years earlier than the last time the team won a game when it was ranked. In front of the largest crowd the place has seen since in four years, it may end up being to 2019 what Miami was to 2018. And it’s fair if folks look at this bunch of Seminoles and even down the road look back at where they go from here and wonder just how “special” this weekend was.

But it was special. And it always will be.

This was only Virginia’s fourth win over FSU in 19 tries and it’s not like the garnet and gold comes to Charlottesville very other year anymore. It’s only the third time ever that the Hoos have beaten the Noles in Scott Stadium. Everything about it made for an instant classic.

“Anyone that was in the stadium today,” Bronco Mendenhall said, “witnessed an amazing football game with two teams trying as hard as they could try to win. I felt lucky to be part of it.

“I think they’ve worked really hard and have earned the chance to have that kind of support so it was gratifying to see and feel it and to recognize it,” he added. “It had an impact on the game. It helped us win. I’m appreciative of that, from the student section to the fans to the upper deck to the hill and the end zone, it was just like ‘Man what an amazing setting.’”

Senior captain Bryce Perkins was impressive, particularly in the second half when he went 17-for-19 passing including one drop and one (wise) throwaway. Those 17 included 16 completions in a row.

He finished the night with 295 passing yards, the first game this season and eighth in his career that’s he thrown for 200 yards or more. He also finished with one passing TD, a beautiful ball in the corner of the end zone to Joe Reed that tied it in the fourth quarter. Perkins, who has now thrown for at least one touchdown in 15 of his 16 career games at UVa, had a career-high 30 completions along with a career-high 41 attempts.

But it was that second half and the two-point conversion that put UVa up 31-24 with 2:34 left that people will remember. He was as precise in the final 30 minutes as he’s been in his career. And that’s a big reason why the Wahoos put up a trio of 70-yard TD drives in the fourth quarter.

“Just had to slow it down,” he said of the second half. “It was an exciting game, the atmosphere was really exciting, and so at halftime I kind of had to come in and slow it down for myself and just get back to the basics. That’s kind of when I’m at my best, is when I’m calm and collected and doing the things I know how to do and the things that we’ve practiced all week. So, just had to slow it down. I think we all slowed it down kind of as an offense. We all came out on different cylinders and weren’t hitting. We just came in and regrouped.”

“Really pleased with Bryce,” Mendenhall said, “adjustments we made at halftime offensively, the way he played and led our team, the two-point conversion, our defensive heart and effort was magical.”

Before we get to that defense, let’s talk about that two-point conversion. Because Brian Delaney missed the extra point with 6:02 left after the second of three Wayne Taulapapa TD runs, the Cavaliers not only had to get the ball back but then they had to score. And if they scored, it wouldn’t make any sense to kick and be up five. You might as well go for two and be up seven.

After Taulapapa punched it in from two yards out, Perkins was looking to throw for the conversion. And then something special happened.

“I wanted the backside dig [route],” he recalled, “kind of saw it cloudy, couldn’t see it too much so I kind of tried to space back to the backside. We had two routes on the backside too but they kind of got too much over so when I rolled out to the left I didn’t see anybody. I was waiting for somebody to come in my line of vision and then afterward, I saw a lane and just decided to be decisive and run. Got a great down the field block at the end, I don’t know who, I think it was [Ryan] Nelson but he did a great job of blocking down field and working with the scramble drill.”

“Yeah, how do you stop him?,” Mendenhall asked. “We’re not growing the program at the rate we’re growing it without Bryce Perkins. He plays within the system really well and he plays outside the system really well, and we need both. He is exemplary. I’m so lucky he’s here and we’re so lucky he’s here, not only by how he plays but who he is. Without him, we don’t win.”

Of course, as good as Perkins was in the second half, it was the defense that had to shut the door late. Aided by multiple 15-yard penalties, the Noles had a chance to at least tie it or maybe even go for the win. But a direct snap to Cam Akers from the 4-yard line went for a rush of no gain, as De’Vante Cross cut him down and Bryce Hall tackled him. And even if officials had not ruled him down, Joey Blount made sure there was no doubt as he tackled Akers short of the goal line when the former five-star back popped up off the ground and kept running.

“I expected them to run the play and our defense and staff did a really nice job,” Mendenhall said. “They have no timeouts so I expected them to run the play. They’re an up-tempo team anyway and our defensive staff did a nice job of getting the call in. The player that had the ball for them is a phenomenal football player. It was a wild and hard-fought and effort-filled and physical finish to a game that basically looked like that the whole time. I wouldn’t question at all what they did. That’s a tempo team. That was a normal play to a very good football player and they thought they could win.

“Our team was given the task,” he added. “They had to play harder longer than this particular team. Our culture is built for that and our players are built to do that. To see them actually accomplish exactly that is really gratifying for not only them, watching each other and the coaches, but hopefully anyone that watched them. They tried their hearts out tonight.”

Hall, who was flagged a couple of times for pass interference, was called on late to make a big play and Mendenhall was clear that he was happy FSU went that way.

“Defensive players, but corners in particular, have to have the shortest memories of maybe anyone in sport,” he said. “I’m glad they tried Bryce again after getting three flags, the chance that happens again or he doesn’t make the next play, not so good for the opponent. Fitting that it went to his side again and he had an influence on winning the game.”

In the end, the raucous crowd went home happy but they played a major role in the win.

“Man I just took off,” CB Nick Grant said. “I saw my coach run on the field, Coach (Nick) Howell. I was like, ‘Yeah, this is it.’ I was trying to run to Coach Howell. Next thing I know, I look to the Hill, there’s people running at me. I’m like, 'Oh. Time to turn around.' I’m trying to run back to the locker room. It was crazy. It’s great. It’s a great feeling.”

“It was very electric,” said Joe Reed, who caught eight passes for 83 yards and a score. “That’s what we need more of, more energy in the stadium. Between that and the energy we have on the sideline, it’s going to be hard to beat us.”

It’s impossible to know where the Wahoos go from here, with ODU coming to town next Saturday before a critical stretch where UVa plays four of its next five on the road, including a matchup at Notre Dame, a Friday night in Miami, and then one at Carolina.

But it’s important to remember where they’ve been. While Mendenhall may not be familiar with the 1995 win, there are plenty of Virginia fans who would gladly help rectify that. Still, this one was important. A sign of the “tangible progress” that underlines “The Standard.”

“I don’t know if I can describe what it was like to live and play through it,” Mendenhall said. “It felt we won the game about three different times but then we didn’t.”

“I won’t forget this one,” he said plainly. “Ever.”

He’s not the only one.

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