Virginia fans instantly storm field after upset victory over No. 8 Florida State
News > Sports News

Audio By Carbonatix
9:30 PM on Friday, September 26
By MIKE BARBER
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — When Tommy Castellanos' last-ditch heave into the corner of the end zone was intercepted, his intended receiver, Squirrel White, lay on the turf. Instantly, Virginia fans standing just off the field, at the base of Scott Stadium's grass hill, rushed the field, swarming and trampling White and each other.
The play sealed Virginia's 46-38 double-overtime victory over No. 8 Florida State on Friday night. Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said he believed all of his players were unharmed.
“I’m not sure of any issues," Norvell said. "We got everybody in the locker room.”
Virginia coach Tony Elliott said he regretted being unable to speak to Norvell and some Florida State players after the game.
“I hope that nobody got injured," Elliott said. "You don't want to see that. I hate that I didn't get a chance to go shake Coach Norvell's hand, because I've got a tremendous amount of respect for him and what he's done with that program.”
While no players or coaches were apparently injured, witnesses saw at least one fan being taken off the field on a stretcher and at least a dozen others being tended to by stadium personnel.
Over the summer the ACC instituted a new policy that fines schools for field and basketball court stormings. The first occurrence results in a $50,000 fine, the second $100,000 and the third offense or more over a two-year rolling period will be a $200,000 fine. All fines will be put into the conference’s postgraduate scholarship account.
The first conference school to be hit with a fine? That was Florida State after it opened the season with an upset of Alabama.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football