RB Respect Month Vol. 3, Day 24: Tiki Barber and Virginia knock off Florida State (1995)
The Noles' first ACC loss!
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Welcome to day 24 of Running Back Respect Month! Yesterday, LaDainian Tomlinson showed Northwestern what happens when you disrespect one of the greatest backs of all-time. Here's where we're at today, and how the rest of the month looks:
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Today: Tiki Barber vs. Florida State (1995)
RB Respect Month Vol. 3, Day 24: Tiki Barber and Virginia knock off Florida State (1995)
Florida State joined the ACC prior to the 1992 season. On the morning of November 2, 1995, the Noles still hadn't lost a conference game:
People can point to the ACC being weak all they want, but Florida State's immediate dominance upon joining was more a reflection of how finely tuned a machine their program was at that time than anything else. Hell, of their three losses in that span, two of them have nicknames! 'Wide Right II' vs. Miami in 1992, and the 'Game of the Century' vs. Notre Dame in 1993 were both top-three matchups, and all three losses were by a combined 24 points to teams who finished in the top-six of the final AP Poll those respective seasons. Florida State was a problem for anyone to beat, not just their new ACC brethren. At some point, though, someone was going to catch them slipping in conference play.
That team just happened to be the 1995 Virginia Cavaliers. On the first Thursday in November, running back Tiki Barber led the Hoos to one of the most iconic (and dramatic) wins in school history. Barber collected 311 all-purpose yards (193 rushing, 45 receiving, 73 on punt returns), and scored two touchdowns as Virginia stopped the Noles at the goal line for a 33-28 win:
Barber's 64-yard TD to tie the game at seven after his early fumble is unquestionably his standout play. You can make an argument that it might not even be his most impactful. With 1:51 left and UVA a first down away from clinching the game, he recovered this errant snap that would've been a disaster had Florida State jumped on it:
