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Sintim
Virginia's Vic Hall (left) stiff-arms an East Carolina defender en route to a long punt return in the second quarter Saturday. The Cavaliers soundly defeated the Pirates, 35-20. |
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.
"It was just a matter of guys stepping up and beating blocks and trying to make plays," Sintim said. "After the initial two series, we were able to come out here and beat some blocks. So hats off to all the guys who were able to come out here and make plays."
The Cavaliers will now turn their attention to No. 18 North Carolina (5-1, 1-1) for a home contest on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Virginia has beaten the Tar Heels in five of the past six meetings.
Note
Virginia senior running back Cedric Peerman's 79-yard touchdown run against the Pirates is tied for the fifth-longest scoring run in school history.
Peerman scored on a 60-yard run, too. He became just the second Virginia player and the first since John Papit in 1948 to record two runs of 60 yards or more in the same game.
Groh said it was more than just Peerman responsible for the big plays.
"When a guy gets to run that far, there are a lot of awards to pass out," Groh said. "We had an awful lot of good blocks and he had a pretty clear path once he got around the edge on all of those."
Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com
