Pete Allen coached high school football in these parts for more than a dozen years, and whenever one of his teams approached a large game, he would invoke Nov. 2, 1995. To inspire. To infuse hope. To unleash the power of the underdog.
As Virginia and No. 8 Florida State prepared for their clash Friday night in Charlottesville, this landmark date in Cavaliers history, approaching its 30th anniversary, became a natural conversation piece.
For more than 3½ hours on that Thursday evening, a collection of talent rarely, if ever, witnessed at Scott Stadium, staged an epic not decided, fittingly, until the final snap.
“It does feel like 30 years ago,” said Allen, then a UVA receiver and now the division head of athletics and special services for the city of Norfolk. “But I tell you what, the feeling is still the same. When I think about it, when I watch the game, I still have the magical feeling of that night, how special it was.”
Magical for the No. 24 Cavaliers, maddening for the No. 2 and undefeated Seminoles.
Virginia 33, Florida State 28.
Never in three-plus seasons of ACC membership had the Seminoles lost to a conference opponent, a 29-game winning binge that remains a league record. Never as a Cavalier had Tiki Barber carried the ball so many times for so many yards.
“I thought for sure we were going to lose it,” Virginia coach George Welsh said that night. “Honest to God.”
Can you blame him?
To open the season, UVA had lost at Michigan 18-17, squandering a 17-0, fourth-quarter lead that evaporated on Scott Dreisbach’s last-snap, 15-yard touchdown pass to Mercury Hayes. Moreover, 12 days prior to the FSU game, Virginia had fallen 17-16 at Texas on Phil Dawson’s 50-yard field goal into the wind as time expired.
Michigan and Texas, storied programs both. And here the Cavaliers were again, versus a third celebrated opponent, nursing another final-second lead.
The margin was five points, and the Seminoles were 6 yards from the winning touchdown. Four seconds remained, and UVA students were poised to storm the field.
“I was terrified,” said Allen, a Granby High product.
Lined up alongside quarterback Danny Kanell, tailback Warrick Dunn took a direct snap and burst up the middle toward the goal line. But Adrian Burnim and Anthony Poindexter stopped him a fingernail shy, igniting a tear-down-the-goalposts celebration.
’Twas 11:41 p.m.
Virginia fans tore down the goalposts after 1995 win over Florida State. (UVA Athletics photo)
“It was our night,” Allen said. “It was a long night. We were on The Corner; we were at guys’ houses. Wherever the party was, we were going. The whole town was excited. Everywhere you went, people were celebrating and partying.”
Some remarkable numbers: Virginia won despite committing five turnovers and six penalties. Barber rushed for 193 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries. UVA safety Percy Ellsworth intercepted two passes, broke up another and made seven tackles. Seminoles linebacker Sam Cowart logged a game-high 16 tackles.
And then there were the Cavaliers’ special teams. James Farrior blocked a punt to complement his 10 tackles. Rafael Garcia made 4 of 4 field goals, and Will Brice averaged 47.1 yards on eight punts, half of which pinned FSU inside its own 10.
“Their kicking game was something,” Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said in the aftermath. “They put us in a hole with their punts. They didn’t miss a field goal. That’s the game right there.”
Of all the night’s seismic plays, none was longer than Mike Groh’s 72-yard touchdown pass to Allen. The second-quarter strike, on third-and-12, extended Virginia’s lead to 24-14.
Virginia’s Mike Groh threw for 302 yards and two scores in 1995 upset of FSU. (UVA Athletics photo)
Allen was split wide, the lone receiver to the left side of the formation. Noticing cornerback Samari Rolle in press coverage, Allen and Groh made eye contact, and Groh audibled from the original play call from offensive coordinator Tom O’Brien.
Running a fade route near the sideline, Allen made a leaping catch over Rolle, a future NFL all-star, at FSU’s 41 and waltzed into the end zone.
“I just remember making the guy miss on the line,” Allen said. “I got my shoulder on top and was able to control him a little bit. Mike made a great throw. He put it right over the outside shoulder. You coach a quarterback on where to put the ball on a fade route, that’s on the outside shoulder. He did that, I made a catch. I turned around, and guys were tripping over each other. It was an easy walk to the end zone.”
But the most extraordinary numbers from the game reveal the depth of talent on display.
The Seminoles (seven) and Cavaliers (six) produced 13 of the 24 players named first-team All-ACC, a group that included Tiki and Ronde Barber, Ellsworth, Brice and Garcia from UVA, and Kanell, Dunn, and receiver Andre Cooper from Florida State.
More than 30 players from the respective rosters were eventually selected in the NFL draft, nine in the first round.
“That’s why I think it was such a special game,” Allen said. “The talent level was so high. Guys were making plays on both sides.”
And as Allen noted, many players from opposite sidelines that evening became NFL teammates, prolonging the debate over whether Dunn reached the goal line on the final play. Ellsworth, Tiki Barber and Kanell landed with the New York Giants, Dunn, Ronde Barber and Seminoles cornerback Dexter Jackson with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
UVA fans salute quarterback Mike Groh in 1995 game against Florida State. (UVA Athletics photo)
Undrafted, Allen earned tryouts in the NFL and Canada before tears of both Achilles tendons brought him back to Hampton Roads. He and his wife, Kristie, a fellow Virginia graduate, reside in Chesapeake and have two children.
Though out of coaching, Allen follows high school football and laments that, unlike in his day, most of Virginia’s top prospects elect to play collegiately out of state.
The Cavaliers’ depth chart for Friday tells the story. Linebackers James Jackson and Kam Robinson, and safety Ethan Minter are the lone starters who played high school football in the state.
“We chose to stay in Virginia because we wanted to prove that Virginia played good football,” Allen said. “It was a thing back then. I know times are different with NIL and all that stuff, but I still think it says something when you stay in your home state, play at a high level and bring the program up to where it was supposed to be.”
Indeed, the state produced two nationally ranked conference champions in 1995. Virginia in the ACC and Virginia Tech in the Big East, both of their depth charts stocked with homegrown athletes.
Allen, Poindexter, Ellsworth, Farrior, the Barber twins, Garcia, Jamie Sharper, Paul London (Bethel High), Kevin Brooks (Great Bridge) and Skeet Jones (Green Run) at UVA. Cornell Brown, Ken Oxendine, William Yarborough (Warwick), Antonio Banks (Warwick), Myron Newsome (Hampton), Bryan Still, Brandon Semones and Dwight Vick (Hampton) at Tech.
After defeating Florida State, Virginia had to win at Maryland the following week to secure its share of the ACC title. Then, in the regular-season finale against Virginia Tech in Charlottesville, UVA squandered another double-digit, fourth-quarter lead as the Hokies closed on a 22-0 bender to win 36-29.
At 8-4, Virginia received an invitation to play Georgia in the Peach Bowl, where the Cavaliers again fretted away a two-score, final-quarter lead. But after the Bulldogs forged a last-minute tie, Allen, in his final college game, returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for the winning touchdown.
“That was the way to go out,” he said.
Harrowing as the 34-27 victory was, it paled to Nov. 3, and 30 seasons later, Virginia welcomes another undefeated Florida State squad.
“They have an opportunity to go out and etch their names in UVA history,” Allen said of the Cavaliers. “… I hope this 2025 team recognizes the opportunity that they have. This is one of those games you can prove to yourself, and everyone else, what type of player you are…
“I know they can do it. It’s their time. If they’re looking for a blueprint, all they have to do is look at 1995.”
