30 years later, alumni call UVA’s 1995 win over Florida State ‘one of the best nights’

September 24, 2025
a collage of memorabilia from the 1995 football game between UVA and Florida State

A last-second goal-line stand from the UVA defense secures the Cavaliers’ upset of No. 2 Florida State and prompts a memorable celebration in Charlottesville on Nov. 2, 1995. (Virginia Athletics, Daily Progress and Cavalier Daily photos; illustration by John DiJulio, University Communications)

When working out of his Boulder, Colorado, office, Brian Williams often takes advantage of its surrounding beauty with nature hikes, trail runs and overnight camping trips.

The views at 5,430 feet are awe-inspiring and peaceful. It’s a quiet he relishes as the CEO of Viget, a Washington-based software development firm with four locations throughout the country.

But don’t get it twisted: If the 1997 University of Virginia graduate could go back to the chaotic evening on Nov. 2, 1995, in Charlottesville, he would “do it in a heartbeat.”

Brian Williams hanging from a goal post surrounded by a crowd of football fans on the field. Williams is excited and holding up a "#1" gesture

Brian Williams, while hanging on the crossbar of a Scott Stadium goalpost, hams it up for a camera that captures the scene following UVA’s win over Florida State. Williams, a 1997 alumnus, learned later this image of him was featured on ESPN during “SportsCenter’s” recap of the game. (Contributed photo)

Williams’ favorite view that night was of a Scott Stadium field covered with jubilant UVA football fans. His vivid memory of the scene stems from the three to four minutes he spent hanging from a goalpost.

“One of the best nights of my life,” he said. “Incredible.”

Williams will be among many UVA alumni reliving an epic memory Friday when the 3-1 Cavaliers host eighth-ranked Florida State University, nearly 30 years after beating the Seminoles in what remains, arguably, the program’s signature performance.

The Wahoos’ uniforms will emulate those donned by Tiki Barber, Anthony Poindexter and the other household names who led the Hoos to a 33-28 upset of the No. 2 Noles, which ended on a last-second, goal-line stand that sparked an orange-and-blue-colored celebration for the ages.

Fans ripped down the goalposts and carried the parts all over Grounds.

“I went by Madison Bowl the next day,” recalled 1990 alumnus Myron Ripley, “and the freaking goalpost was down there in the bowl.”

“Thousands tear up field, party in street” reads a headline from the Nov. 3, 1995, edition of the Cavalier Daily that was packed with coverage of a win the UVA student newspaper later called the “most dramatic” in the “school’s sports history.”

Virginia’s victory snapped Florida State’s 29-game winning streak over its Atlantic Coast Conference opponents. The Seminoles entered the ACC three years earlier and had never lost to a league opponent – until Poindexter and Adrian Burnim combined to stop FSU star running back Warrick Dunn just short of the end zone as time expired.

a crowd of UVA football spectators carrying a goal post off the field. A fan holds up a '#1' sign.

UVA fans carry a piece of a goalpost out of Scott Stadium following the Wahoos’ win that snapped FSU’s 29-game win streak against ACC opponents. (Daily Progress photo)

Pandemonium ensued. “A spiritual experience” is how then-third-year student Mary Zambri described to the Cavalier Daily the feeling of gleefully rushing the field.

Decades have passed, but the memories have hardly faded for those lucky enough to be in the capacity crowd of 44,300 that evening.

The Cavaliers entered the game – a rare Thursday night affair – with a 6-3 record and a No. 24 national ranking, yet they were decided underdogs against an undefeated FSU bunch trending toward its second national championship in three years.

Then-third-year student Paul Davis, his face painted orange and blue, had a message for all Wahoo fans as he arrived at Scott Stadium: “Don’t come in here negative,” he told the Cav Daily.

Davis’ classmate Dave Lampton personified optimism in a few distinct ways. He remembers making a bet with a friend that the Hoos wouldn’t just cover the 18-point spread, but they would win the game outright.

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He also brought a date to the game.

“Which started out great,” Lampton said, “until I guess I looked like a jerk when we won, and I ran on the field and lost track of her.”

(For the record, Lampton did eventually find his date later that night. He reports she wasn’t “super mad” as the couple went on to have a lengthy relationship.)

Tim Zawacki, now the Scott Stadium public address announcer, was a first-year student then. He had a spot in the bleacher part of the student section, near the top of the lower bowl on the stadium’s northeast side. What he recalls is a widespread level of noise he had never heard before.

Tim Zawacki standing in the Scott Stadium press box speaking into a microphone

Scott Stadium public address announcer Tim Zawacki prepares for UVA’s recent game against Stanford University. Zawacki, a first-year student in 1995, was part of the electric crowd that saw the Cavaliers beat FSU. (Photo by Jamie Holt, Virginia Athletics)

“It was loud the whole night,” Zawacki said. “And that was really rare at that point. The fans were really into it. And this was all the fans, not just the students. Everyone was standing and really into it.”

Virginia’s heroes included Barber (the running back amassed 311 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns), receiver Demetrius “Pete” Allen (his 72-yard touchdown catch from Mike Groh punctuated UVA’s 20-point second quarter) and a Poindexter-led defense that held the Seminoles to half their season scoring average of 56 points per game.

“I mean, the players certainly earned the win, but I think there was just something really special with the stadium that night,” Davis said. “It was the students and the alums. I mean, the energy level just got crazier and crazier as the game went on.”

Eric Spencer and Elton Oliver, a pair of 1974 alumni, were on the southwest side of the stadium and in line with the final play, a bang-bang happening that still irks sections of the FSU fan base who believe Dunn reached the end zone.

“I can confirm he did not,” Spencer said.

After the game – and as the chaos somewhat subsided – Spencer and Oliver made their way to the field and collected grass from the spot where they saw Dunn’s knee touch. Until recently, they both could locate the aged sod saved in souvenir cups they purchased at the game.

Tim Williams and his daughter Eva standing in the lobby at College Inn.

Williams smiles alongside his daughter, Eva, during a visit to the College Inn in 2019. Above Eva’s head is the framed photo of the chaotic Scott Stadium scene following the win over FSU in 1995 that includes her father hanging from the crossbar of a goalpost. (Contributed photo)

Williams, the Viget CEO, also lacks a tangible memory from that night. It once resided on a wall inside the since-closed College Inn restaurant on the Corner – a framed photo of a collection of students hanging from the crossbar of a goalpost.

“That’s me,” he used to point out to his four children when dining at the College Inn, “I’m the hippie with long hair in a dark shirt on the right side.”

Their response?

“It made them excited about going to college and wanting to go to a place with big-time football and big-time sports,” Williams said.

A life lesson from one of Dad’s wildest nights, an evening that promises to live on forever in UVA lore.

“I would definitely say it’s my favorite college memory,” Williams said. “All these years later, we still always talk about that game.”

Media Contact

Andrew Ramspacher

University News Senior Associate University Communications

Article Information

September 25, 2025

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