Virginia linebackers make a statement

Antonio Appleby led Virginia with 11 tackles. Clint Sintim spearheaded a six-sack effort with two of his own. Jon Copper posted a nine-tackle effort and Denzel Burrell had seven tackles — six of them solo.

Even John-Kevin Dolce, a redshirt sophomore linebacker playing defensive end in nickel and dime situations, had a sack in Virginia’s 35-20 victory over East Carolina.

To say Virginia’s linebacking corps put together a big-time outing against the Pirates would be a severe understatement. The starting four held the top four spots on Virginia’s tackle totals, and when Copper was asked if that’s how it’s supposed to go, he laughed.

“If it worked out that way, it worked out that way,” Copper said.

Of the Cavaliers’ 65 total tackles, the four starting linebackers accounted for 34 as a unit. Appleby, in particular, shined against East Carolina’s speedy signal-caller Patrick Pinkney, making two critical plays. One was a sack for an 11-yard loss that stalled a late second quarter drive by the Pirates and put Virginia in a position to add to its lead, which it did with a Mikell Simpson touchdown. The other came on the Pirates’ final drive of the second quarter when Appleby stuffed Pinkney for just a one-yard gain when the senior had running room on third-and-10.

“He goes out there everyday working as hard as he can and today was his day,” Dolce said. “I remember throughout the week watching Antonio practice and he was just flying all over the field.”

Appleby seems to be breaking out along with the rest of the defense that struggled early on, and he seems to fit well with what Virginia coach Al Groh pointed to as the Cavaliers’ theme this week — being the same team that played against Maryland against the Pirates.

“Last week, [he had] a little revival there in terms of playmaking ... and it continued today,” Groh said. “Antonio is another part of the theme of … being the same guy. And he was much the same guy today.“

Dolce explained that Virginia’s defensive coaches emphasize run and hit players, and Sintim, Copper and Appleby fit that mold. Against a team with speed like East Carolina, those run and hit players become even more important.

“[Pinkney] likes to escape the pocket and he doesn’t protect the ball well,” Dolce said. “A guy like [defensive end Matt] Conrath took that and that’s why he got the strip sack.”

Sintim’s two-sack effort highlighted his seven-tackle afternoon. Sintim also recovered a fumble late to go with his solid day.

“Clint’s doing great - the coaches put together great schemes every week that allow guys like Clint to make big plays,” Copper said.

Those coaches seem to be putting together great schemes for everybody on the Cavaiers’ linebacking corps.