Sintim: “All I can think about now is beating USC”

By Brian Hunsicker

Published: August 29, 2008

Many questions about Virginia’s 2008 football season have centered around how the Cavaliers will deal with two key losses: Defensive end Chris Long, now in St. Louis with the Rams, and guard Branden Albert, also a first-round pick now in Kansas City.
“Now everybody is saying, ‘What are you going to do without these guys?’ None of those people were saying, ‘Isn’t it fantastic that you are going to start playing them,’ which is a credit to the players. Nobody was saying, ‘This is unbelievable. I can’t wait to see Clint Sintim play,’” head coach Al Groh told the Charlottesville Daily Progress last month.
“Now everybody is talking about Clint Sintim being a big-play player.”
Sintim, a Gar-Field graduate, made plenty of plays in 2007: He ranked fourth in the ACC with nine sacks, a number that led the nation among linebackers. He had 17 quarterback hurries, second on the team to Long. And he was one of four players to lead the team with two forced fumbles.
But when the most visible player of the unit has a familiar last name and becomes the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, it’s easy to be overshadowed.
That won’t be the case in 2008. Sintim is one of three returning starters in the Cavs’ linebacking crew and part of the unit that is recognized as the strength of the defense.
Whether he has the same role that allows him to put up similar numbers remains to be seen.
“Coach Groh is a brilliant schemer and I know he wants to create mismatches,” Sintim said after a recent practice. “I’ll go where he tells me to, whether it’s in coverage or blitzing. I’ll do whatever helps the team.”
Sintim and the rest of the linebackers — Jon Copper and Antonio Appleby are the other two returners — will face a considerable test this afternoon against No. 3 USC. Under head coach Pete Carroll, the Trojans become one of college football’s elite programs.
For Sintim, that means facing a vaunted Southern Cal offense. Quarterback Mark Sanchez told the Associated Press he expects to play against the Cavs, despite dislocating a kneecap earlier this month. There are also highly-touted skill players, like wideout Vidal Hazelton and running back Joe McKnight, and an offensive line with two members on watch lists for the Rimington and Outland trophies.
“There’s a lot of things that jump out, like the passion with which they play the game,” Sintim said of the Trojans. “They’re aggressive and talented all around.”
And that’s after USC had 10 players selected in April’s draft. U.Va., with Long and Albert, had three.
Sintim believes he can follow that path, too.
“I’m really hopeful, but it’s not something about on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “If I play as hard as I can and do all the right things, that will take care of itself.
“All I can think about now is beating USC.”