Yeah, I know who I am. I'll admit Virginia deserves to be in the top 25 now.

Earlier this season, the Hoos' offense was scaring no one, and our defense had given up over 1,000 yards and 70 points against Maryland and Boston College. We'd beaten bad teams like Western Michigan, Syracuse, and Duke, looking embarassingly average.

Virginia had a much more talented and experienced defense last year at every position. We lost two starting linebackers (Dennis Haley has been off and on with the Jets), and our best linebacker has been hurt for months. We lost our two best defensive lineman from last year (Andrew Hoffman has been on the Browns' practice squad). We're starting a true freshman at one cornerback and a true sophmore at safety. Our starting running back has been dinged up all year. We lost two of our three best offensive linemen from last year, and three of our current OL starters have missed significant time. Our wideouts are average, our two best tight ends from last year are in the NFL now (not to mention our best running back). And we have a quarterback who must have been standing on a telephone book when they measured him at 5'11".

So how did we jump up and beat the number four team in the nation, after looking like crap in our first five games?

Florida State did not start the season in the top 10, and had shaky quarterback and offensive line play all year. Without a fumbled snap on a late field goal, Miami likely would have beaten them in overtime. Against Boston College they returned an interception for a touchdown, and had two short touchdown drives after another interception and a blocked punt. FSU's defense has been good but not great. They weren't impressive or dominating (even in their other games), yet rose to #4 mostly on reputation and no losses. In retrospect they seem overrated.

Virginia made the plays they had to to win though. The offense played absolutely all out, with four trick plays in the first half. (None of them worked, I guess that's what makes them so tricky.) We threw the ball constantly, with maybe ten designed runs in the first 53 minutes. Eleven players caught passes. Wali Lundy made his first big play of the year, making the catch at the 10, breaking a tackle at the 5, and powering into the end zone late in the first half. Even Maurice "we have a number 80?" Covington made a big catch!

Florida State didn't help themselves with several critical penalties and mishaps. Cornerback Tony Carter was burned all day long by multiple receivers. He had two pass interference penalties on the first drive that led to a touchdown. And he gave us our last first down with another pass interference call. A Lorenzo Washington touchdown was called back for holding. An interception was nullified by a late hit. They were all the correct calls, but were the type of calls that don't go our way much of the time.

On the other hand, it could have been worse for the Seminoles. The first interception (by Marcus Hamilton, having perhaps the best year of any Virginia defender not named Kai Parham) was a horribly overthrown ball. On the second int, with FSU at their own 1, Chris Gorham was backpedaling even before the snap. Weatherford threw the ball straight to him. The third, game sealing interception was blanket coverage by Tony Franklin, the ball never should have been thrown to that receiver. And there were at least three other passes that hit Virginia defenders right in the hands. Twice Deyon Williams was open behind the secondary for sure touchdowns but was a step behind the ball.

Give the Virginia defense credit. Outside of the 58 yard touchdown, FSU only ran for 37 yards. After a personal foul gave FSU first and goal at the 2, Brennan Schmidt had perhaps the biggest defensive play of the game. He came in unblocked and caused a five yard loss. Six plays inside the 10 for FSU, but only three points. I saw the 3-4, the 4-3, zone blitzes, safety blitzes, passes knocked down, and good run support everywhere.

But the biggest reason we won Saturday: Marques Hagans. I've said before we might be a four win team without him. Anybody who watched the game now knows why. Countless times he was pressured from the pocket only to make incredibly accurate throws on the run. Countless times he dodged sure sacks and made FSU linemen look silly. Without him we might have lost by three touchdowns. He was that good.

Coming up: FSU has games against Maryland, NCSU, Clemson, and Florida. They could go anywhere from 4-0 to 1-3. FSU is vulnerable, but none of those teams is overpowering.

Virginia has a tougher schedule. Two more top 10 teams in Virginia Tech and Miami, plus pick-em type games against Georgia Tech and at UNC. (Plus Temple.) GT and UNC are very important games for bowl eligibility and positioning, and a win against the Hokies or Canes would be some very tasty icing.

The Yellow Jackets and Tar heels are far from gimmes. Getting seven wins is going to be tough. If we manage to beat both of them (which would make me pretty happy in and of itself), it could set up a HUMONGOUS game at home against the Hokies.

I can only hope the game turns out to be that big. This is why I love college football.