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Cavaliers Date published: 10/13/2008
BY TAFT COGHILL JR. CHARLOTTESVILLE-- University of Virginia outside linebacker Clint Sintim received a text message from best friend and former Cavalier teammate Chris Long last week.The gist of Long's message was that Sintim couldn't top the 14 sacks the current St. Louis Rams rookie defensive end registered for Virginia last season. Long may have to think again. Sintim collected his seventh sack of the season in the Cavaliers' 35-20 victory over East Carolina on Saturday at Scott Stadium. The senior's second quarterback takedown gave him 23 on his career, moving him past Long and into a tie for fifth place on the Cavaliers' all-time list. "He's going to hear it," Sintim said of his newfound place above Long on the career sack list. "I didn't really know [about passing him], so he's going to hear it." If Sintim does pass Long's 14 sacks, he'll also move into second place on the school's all-time list. He needs just five more to eclipse former outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock's 27 sacks, which is good for second all-time. That would leave Sintim trailing just Chris Slade's career record of 40. "Clint's doing great," Cavaliers' senior inside linebacker Jon Copper said. "Coach [Al Groh] puts in great schemes every week to allow guys like Clint to really make plays. We've had good coverage and that's allowed him to get free, too." Sintim has been one of the main reasons the Cavaliers (3-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) have revitalized their season. His seven sacks leads the ACC and is first in the nation among linebackers. His performance against East Carolina also included a forced fumble. It was his second multi-sack game of the season. He collected three against Duke, and should've been credited with a fourth, but officials ruled Blue Devils' quarterback Thad Lewis got off a pass before his knee hit the ground. "I honestly feel like I've gotten into a little bit of a groove now," Sintim said. "Whenever I have the opportunity to get to the QB on third down, I feel like I've got to win." Sintim wasn't the only Cavalier defender to step up against the Pirates. The team sacked East Carolina quarterback Patrick Pinkney six times. Two redshirt freshmen--defensive end Matt Conrath and linebacker John-Kevin Dolce--had one each.
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