Orange Bowl 2019: Florida Beats Virginia

MIAMI, FL — Running back Lamical Perine of the University of Florida lifted the Gators to a 36-28 victory over the University of Virginia in Monday night's Capital One Orange Bowl.

"I know they’re building what we want to build which is a championship program that is consistently competing for both SCC and national championships,"Florida Head Coach Dan Mullen told ESPN after the game. "I certainly hope all these underclassmen understand they’ve got to live up to that ... so we can get back here next January for the national championship game."

With Monday's victory, the Gators end the season at 10-3 while the Cavaliers drop to 9-5 on the year.

Perine scored on a 61-yard run in the opening minute and scored two more touchdowns on the night for a total of 181 yards rushing.

The victory will likely propel Florida to its second Top 10 finish in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2008-09.

Virginia Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall, whose Cavaliers have been designated the home team, said ahead of Monday's game that his team was still maturing.

"We're a program that is developing, rising, growing and becoming — that isn't become, that isn't has arrived — that is arriving," Mendenhall said earlier. "This is a giant opportunity for us."

Both teams have been defensive powerhouses with Florida ranked fourth in the country for sacks and Virginia ranked sixth.

The game was played at Hard Rock stadium in the Miami area and broadcast nationally on ESPN.

A 52-yard catch-and-run led to a Cavaliers touchdown that cut their deficit to 27-21 early in the fourth quarter. The Gators answered with a touchdown set up by Perine’s 23-yard run to the 1.

Virginia drove 75 yards for a touchdown with 38 seconds left, but Florida recovered the ensuing onside kick.

“We were a few plays short,” Cavaliers coach Bronco Mendenhall acknowledged.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.