Pinned at its own 2 by a Virginia punt, FSU went 98 yards in eight plays, keyed by a 48-yard screen to Tre Wisner. Daniels punched it in from four yards out to tie it.

Back-to-back sacks by Kevin Wynn and Mandrell Desir forced a punt, Jasen Lopez returned it 31 yards, and Daniels scored again from three. Gabe Panikowski added a 44-yard field goal for a 17-7 halftime lead.

The second quarter, per 247Sports’ John Evans: FSU 218 yards, Virginia minus-12.

Virginia opened the second half with its best drive since the first quarter, then Chris Jones blew up a fourth-and-1 run. FSU answered with a 78-yard touchdown drive.

Daniels’ 81-yard touchdown run late in the third made it 31-7. A goal-line stand and three straight sacks in the fourth sealed it, and Daniels added his fifth score with 3:41 left.

Final tally: FSU outgained Virginia 464-205 and held the Cavaliers scoreless on 12 of 13 drives.

Daniels ran 17 times for 136 yards and five touchdowns. The five rushing TDs are an FSU single-game record for any player, passing the four shared by Greg Allen, Antone Smith, Dalvin Cook and Cam Akers. The old record for an FSU quarterback was three (Kelly Lowrey, 1983).

His 30 points tied Ron Sellers’ 1968 school record for a single game. Per NoleGameday, the five TDs tie the ACC record for a quarterback in a conference game, the 81-yarder is the second-longest QB run in FSU history, and the 136 yards are the most by an FSU quarterback since 2008.

He also went 12-of-19 for 183 yards with one interception, and now has nine rushing TDs this season, tying the school record for a quarterback.

Daniels: “When plays break down, I can go out there and make it happen with my legs.”

Norvell: “I think Ash earned some respect tonight on the performance he had.”

Tony Elliott: “He’s a big, 225-pound guy that can run behind his pads. If you misfit a gap, he showed he can take it the distance.”

The 10 sacks tied an ACC record (since 2005) and were FSU’s most since 1997, per NoleGameday. Nine different players got at least half a sack, led by Rylan Kennedy (2) and Chris Jones (1.5, plus six tackles). Mikai Gbayor added six tackles and a sack.

Virginia, which came in averaging 192.8 rushing yards per game, ran for 37 yards on 40 carries (0.9 per carry). Pribula finished 14-of-32 for 168 yards and minus-62 rushing, the worst of his career. The Cavaliers went 3-of-15 on third down and 0-for-4 on fourth.

Kevin Wynn, the big nose tackle everyone wanted to see more of, had a sack and a TFL and moved Virginia’s center backward all day.

Chris Jones on the fourth-down stop: “Anytime the back was beside the quarterback, we expected inside zone… I just shot it fast and made a good play and did what my coach told me to do.”

DT Deante McCray: “Not worrying about all the outside noise and not being result-based. We’re a very process-driven group.”

Virginia DL Anthony Britton: “We just started playing to the circumstances, and we let that get to us.”

“I believe this can be a really good and dominant football team. We didn’t start the way we wanted to start, we still haven’t played a 60-minute game yet, but those last 45 minutes were really impressive.”

On the outside noise: “If it was a team that broke apart through challenges, then it wouldn’t be much of a team, and it wouldn’t be real.”

Clark noted Norvell running down the sideline pumping his fist on Daniels’ 81-yarder, then finding Tony White after a fourth-down stop for a high-five and, later, a hug.

“It starts with me,” Elliott said repeatedly, calling it “a rough day at the office.”

On FSU: “I don’t care what people say, that’s a talented roster, and I think we saw that today.”

And this, from a former Clemson player and coach: “I’ve had my butt kicked worse than that down here in Tallahassee before.”

“For about a full calendar year, we’ve been writing, talking, discussing and pondering Mike Norvell’s future. Nothing has been fun… There was nothing negative about Saturday.”

His closing kicker: “Oh, and Florida got smoked at Missouri. Like embarrassingly so.”

281: FSU rushing yards, its most in an ACC game since 2023. Kromah had 80, and Wisner had 106 yards from scrimmage (46 rushing, 60 receiving), the kind of day FSU was hoping for when it brought him in.

70: Receiving yards for Micahi Danzy on four catches, including a back-shoulder dime in the second quarter.

21-for-21: FSU in the red zone this season, with 17 touchdowns. Panikowski also hit all five extra points and his 44-yard field goal.

2.85: Yards per play allowed by FSU’s defense on Virginia’s 72 snaps.

65: Yards on a career-long punt by Daniel Hughes.

100: Career tackles for Ashlynd Barker, who got there with a broken bone in his arm.

50: Career games for long snapper Caleb Bowers, who hit the milestone on his 23rd birthday.

16-5: FSU’s all-time record vs. Virginia, which also ended UVA’s active road winning streak.

4-star ATH Za’Kari Johnson (FSU commit): “Yeah I love it here. A lot of good energy. Culture is great [and] I’m loving the way the defense playing!!”

Top247 2028 DL Zylen Little: “They are heading in the right direction to turn things around in Tallahassee!!!”

Top247 2028 edge Antonio Thomas Jr.: “Surprised they won by such a big margin but great win. I definitely see myself here.”

Syracuse OT commit Omari Lawson: “It was a big time atmosphere, and being there made it even better.”

Edge commit Anthony Cavallaro: “It’s just great to see that this team can prove who they really are to all of the doubters.”

Four-star DL commit Sam LeJeune, one of the names on the “at risk” lists, made a surprise visit and reviewed the game over a Jersey Mike’s sub: “That game was lit… They got 10 sacks, they popped off, they was eating.”

And about that trip to Mississippi State last week? “I got a girlfriend, and she’s a Mississippi State fan, and it was our one-year anniversary.” He’ll be back for Clemson on Oct. 31.

The Noles have lost 10-plus straight road games, per Noles247, and Norvell hasn’t won a road game since 2023. Louisville is coming off a home loss to Wake Forest.

Injury watch: 247Sports noted CB Ja’Bril Rawls appeared to get hurt on the first defensive play of the second half. Keep an eye on this week’s availability reports.

Noles247’s Chris Nee reminds everyone FSU also blew out Wake Forest last season, then went 1-3 down the stretch: “Now they have to build on it for Saturday’s win to actually mean something.”

On the optimistic side, a couple of Tomahawk Nation staffers think 8-4 is possible if the defense is even close to this good. Matt Minnick: “If Mike can find a way to win a road game for the first time since 2023, a bowl game is there for the taking.”

Brian Pensky’s club, national champs in 2023 and 2025, visits Clemson today at 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network. FSU (4-1-3) is unbeaten in four straight and has won nine in a row against the Tigers. Wrianna Hudson ranks third nationally in shot accuracy, and No. 1 North Carolina comes to Tallahassee on Friday.

Fresh off a sweep of NC State, FSU hosts Wake Forest at 1 p.m. (ACCNX) looking for its 20th straight win in the series.

Today’s fall game vs. Florida A&M has been postponed, with a new date to be announced. Troy visits next Saturday.

Jameis Winston and the Giants host Arizona at 1 p.m. on CBS.