It was fitting that Chris Long returned to Scott Stadium and hoisted the Power of Orange flag before the game.
The All-American, No. 2 overall draft pick and arguably Virginia’s first transcendent national player since running back Thomas Jones brought a sense of passion, heart and enthusiasm to the team and Scott Stadium that was absolutely infectious. Forget the offense and defense struggling before the Maryland game — Virginia has simply lacked those three elements this season, and that has been unacceptable.
Fortunately, in 60 minutes with Long present, the Cavaliers recaptured their spirit and caused Scott Stadium to go into an uproar.
Even more appropriate is the player who displayed the most heart and passion on the field against Maryland. Long wore senior linebacker Clint Sintim’s jersey as he hoisted the flag, and that honor was not lost on Sintim.
“He’s been a longtime friend,” Sintim said. “I guess just to show a little bit of appreciation for the type of relationship we had, he did that.”
I’m sure Long appreciated Clint’s performance out there Saturday. Sintim clearly showed the leadership, passion and ability that has him rated by ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr. as the 25th best senior prospect in America. Sintim had 7 tackles and a sack, but doing Long’s trademark “L” with his arms was an example of the enthusiasm the team finally showed today.
“I told him if I got another sack I wouldn’t do it again, but it was a cool moment to represent him,” Sintim said.
It wasn’t just Sintim who displayed pure emotion against Maryland. On the last play of the second half, Maryland attempted a hook and ladder that was supposed to give the Terps a potential momentum-shifting touchdown, but senior safety Byron Glaspy hit Maryland running back DaRel Scott hard at the Virginia 8-yard line. That put the Virginia football team into a frenzy heading toward the tunnel, which resulted in Sintim being assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
But you know what? That was perfectly acceptable after what the team did before the half. A positive emotional outburst can rally a team to a win. The classic example of this is last year’s Georgia-Florida game: Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno scored a touchdown in the first quarter, and almost the entire team celebrated in the end zone and drew two personal foul penalties. After that, it seemed like there was no way Georgia was going to lose that game, and the way Virginia paraded into the tunnel before the half felt the same way.
There were several other examples all day of Virginia showing heart and passion throughout the game. The way Virginia responded by forcing a three-and-out after a roughing into the kicker penalty was critical. The defense flew around all game and made numerous hits that could have been featured in ESPN’s “Jacked-Up” segment. Senior running back Cedric Peerman made an amazing dive into the end zone on a fourth down to help cement the game. Even junior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty — which in all honesty was a ticky-tack call — was perfectly acceptable in this game.
Besides the heart and passion the team showed, what can’t be forgotten was the performance by the fans. They knew how to rally the team and keep the athletes motivated. I’m sure the night game factor helped the crowd a lot, but you still had to be impressed by the enthusiasm level, considering there were over 10,000 empty seats. The loud standing ovation the crowd gave at the end of the first half was amazing. Students — who had every reason not to show up to the game considering the Lalich fiasco, the Duke loss and the sign controversy — came strong and stayed strong all four quarters. Don’t think for a moment that the athletes don’t acknowledge great support.
It’s hard to say what will happen next week: Virginia is still under .500 and will likely be an underdog against East Carolina, and the heart and passion might not be at Scott Stadium. It will be Fall Break, it’s a non-conference game and it’s a noon kickoff. The spirit needs to be there, though. Virginia could completely turn the season around with a victory against East Carolina, and everybody from the staff to the team to the fans needs to show up and perform the same way they did this past Saturday.
After all, the band did play “Don’t Stop Believing” at halftime, and if Virginia could come out and perform like it did against Maryland, there’s no reason not to believe.
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