Jefferson–Eppes Trophy

The Florida State–Virginia football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Florida State Seminoles football team of Florida State University and Virginia Cavaliers football team of the University of Virginia. The Jefferson–Eppes Trophy is awarded to the winner of the game. The trophy was created in 1995 and was named for former President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, and Jefferson's grandson Francis W. Eppes VII, a two-time mayor of Tallahassee and president of the Board of Trustees of the West Florida Seminary, now Florida State University.

Although the game is played for a trophy, it is not considered a significant rivalry. Virginia's biggest rivalries are with Virginia Tech for the Commonwealth Cup and North Carolina in the South's Oldest Rivalry. FSU's most meaningful rivalries are with Florida in the Florida–Florida State game and Miami in the Florida State–Miami game. When the ACC split into divisions in 2005, the annual rivalry between Florida State and Virginia ceased, as the Seminoles were assigned to the Atlantic Division and the Cavaliers to the Coastal Division. Though each team in the ACC plays an annual game against one designated cross-divisional rival, both teams' more historic rivals were awarded these positions (Maryland for Virginia, Miami for Florida State). As a result, Florida State and Virginia have not played on an annual basis since 2006.

The most recent meeting took place on November 19, 2011, with Virginia winning 14–13 in Tallahassee, giving the Cavaliers their first win at Tallahassee in school history.

Origin
The idea for the Jefferson–Eppes Trophy was conceived by Florida State University President Talbot D'Alemberte. UVA link

Construction
The trophy is composed of an intricately wrought silver pitcher presented to the city of Tallahassee by Eppes in 1842 and set upon a wood base made of remains of the McGuffey Ash, which was once the largest tree on the Grounds of the University of Virginia but suffered a fatal tree disease in 1990. The trophy was designed by famed artist Ryan Parker.