Virginia's defensive line doesn't try to attract attention. It just comes naturally.
"I don't think of myself as the sexy player," senior defensive end Chris Long said.
Things just seem to fall into place for the men up front -- especially footballs. The defensive line has reinvented the wheel for defensive strategy. Renaissance men of the gridiron, these defenders are more than capable of rushing quarterbacks and taking the ball out of the air all at once. If they get lucky, the ball lands right in their hands for an interception. On a better-than-average day, they carry the ball halfway down the field -- if not the whole way.
But as complicated as it might sound to play the line and secondary at the same time, it all starts with a simple focus -- keeping your hands up.
"It's not one of those things [where] there's a skill level and you can jump up and actually snag the ball two feet from the quarterback," senior nose tackle Allen Billyk said. "It just comes down to being aware -- being in the right place at the right time."
So far, Virginia's defensive line has been as lucky as leprechauns, because the ball seems to be finding them, instead of the reverse.
Three games into the season, the defensive line already has two interceptions, compared to the one grabbed by the rest of the entire secondary.
The ball found sophomore defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald in the season opener against Wyoming when Fitzgerald snagged his third career interception.
In the second half against North Carolina last week, Long picked up his first career interception and then carried the ball 25 yards before being tripped up by UNC freshman quarterback T.J. Yates.
Long wasn't trying to look sexy, it was just a normal day on the job.
"As much as it was surprising to a lot of people in the stands, people like Chris Long and Jeffrey Fitzgerald do that every week in practice," sophomore defensive end Nate Collins said. "It wasn't that big of a shock to us on the sideline."
Collins said the real shock was the ball Long knocked down in the first half -- and consequently dropped.
With the game on the line and the clock running out, Virginia's defensive line made the stop to save the game.
This time it was Collins, who played the role of jack-of-all-trades defender, stepping up for Virginia.
Down by two points with two minutes remaining in the game, Yates attempted a two-point conversion to even the score. But Collins stood directly in his way.
"Our coaches are always teaching us to read the quarterback's eyes, and I knew to put my hands up when he got the long-arm separation," Collins said. "[Yates] turned his head and was scanning the right side of the field, and I realized that the ball was coming there. Once he took his front hand off [the ball] and got long-arm separation, I made a point to put my hands up, and he threw right to where I was."
Collins settled for the knockdown and the game-saving play, even though he couldn't intercept the ball -- let alone return it for 25 yards.
While the Cavalier defensive line has grown out of their traditional role, they haven't forgotten their roots. Long happens to lead the ACC with five sacks this season.
"We talk about the D-line as being the foundation of the defense," Billyk said. "We try to set a precedent in ourselves."
For a group that has to defend itself from looking sexy, the game plan is pretty simple: Don't stop fighting and make sure to keep the four-leaf clover tight in your pocket.
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