Last year, the Virginia football team allowed opposing FBS quarterbacks to complete more than 57.5 percent of their passes. This year, the Cavaliers have limited opposing quarterbacks to just a 46.3 percent completion percentage. Even despite injuries, the secondary has proven successful, and a lot of that can be attributed to the emergence of junior safety Anthony Harris.
Harris burst into Virginia fans’ consciousness with an interception and blocked punt that carried the struggling Cavaliers to a season opening victory against BYU. Since then, Harris has picked off another four passes, including two this past weekend against Georgia Tech. But with the Cavaliers sitting at the bottom of the ACC standings with a 2-6 record, Harris understands the importance of looking past the stat line and focusing on the overall team play.
“I don’t really think about myself,” Harris said. “I just go out there and just try to do whatever I can do to help my team win, whether that’s interceptions, tackles, motivating guys, or just anything I can do on the field. My main focus is just my team right now, not individual accomplishments.”
With his five interceptions, Harris now ties for the national lead, a fact that took him by surprise.
“I woke up the next morning, I checked Twitter, and then I saw a tweet from it,” Harris said. “It’s not something that I really thought about right away, and then after a while, I was just like ‘Wow.’ … I can’t believe I’m standing in that position right now.”
With injuries to key defensive players like senior defensive tackle Brent Urban, sophomore cornerback Maurice Canady and junior cornerback Demetrious Nicholson, Harris has been tasked with leading one of the youngest defenses in the nation. Even among the recent adversity the team has faced, Harris has grown into a strong leadership role and now serves as a linchpin in the secondary.
“I know the biggest thing with him is having that maturation process,” coach Mike London said. “And then the experience that he’s gained from that last season going into this season, he is one of the toughest players on our team. He gets guys lined up. He’s involved with a lot of tackles. He just does a great job just running the defense.”
Harris’ leadership on the field has translated into an important leadership role in the locker room. Given the recent on-field troubles for the rest of the team, Harris will continue to play a central role in maintaining a positive locker room.
“I think it’s a combination of, obviously, performance in the game, but just how you carry yourself in the weight room, on Grounds when you’re hanging around them, you kind of build yourself up that as well,” Harris said. “I definitely say, this year, me making some plays for the team has definitely grown on the guys and just continued to be an up spirit for the team.”
Harris has not been the only one that has helped fill the void created by the recent slew of injuries. Freshman Tim Harris has filled in for Nicholson for the past three weeks, and has received positive reviews. The freshman’s level of play has helped maintain one of the few strengths of this team.
“We’ve been having to juggle a lot of pieces back there on the back end,” Anthony Harris said. “Tim Harris has done a great job with coming in for us. Guys do a lot of communicating with him, but we think he’s done a good job of receiving information and going out and executing each week.”
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