No. 25 Virginia escaped a valiant upset bid by Florida State on Saturday, but the Cavaliers' 31-24 win didn't come without some drama in the final seconds that included an error from the clock operator.
In college football, clock stops on the first down and doesn't start until it's ready for play.
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) September 15, 2019
Watch the clock not stop until three full seconds after FSU's first down, leading FSU not to clock it and instead run a nothing play to lose the game.
Real bad pic.twitter.com/0KkZb3fknq
With the Seminoles trailing by seven, James Blackman hit Keyshawn Helton at the Cavaliers' 4-yard-line; the play should have stopped the clock for a first down with seven seconds to go.
But the operator didn't halt the clock until four seconds remained, forcing the Seminoles to rush to the line of scrimmage and get the ball snapped. Florida State opted to snap the ball directly to Cam Akers on the play, but the Virginia defense swarmed the star running back to end the game with some clutch tackling.
The play was clearly doomed from the outset, but one has to wonder if Florida State would have opted for the same move with three more seconds on the clock.