North Carolina's defensive line dominates Virginia with 10 sacks in 41-14 win

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — With 30 seconds to go in the third quarter, Virginia's Anthony Colandrea dropped back in the pocket.

The quarterback surveyed the field and tried to fire the ball to his checkdown option.

But Jahvaree Ritzie's hand got in the way. He tipped the ball and picked it off.

Then, the 6-foot-4.5, 290-pound graduate defensive lineman took off up the field, making his way toward the sideline. At the 30, he stiff-armed Colandrea and stayed on his feet.

Ritzie continued to sprint down the sideline. 84-yard house call.

On Saturday, UNC football dominated Virginia, 41-14, in Charlottesville to snap a four-game losing skid. With a healthy defensive line, UNC's rush defense put up its best performance of the season. The Tar Heels picked off the ball twice, while holding the Cavaliers to just seven total rushing yards and adding 10 sacks. Saturday's game featured a cohesive defensive unit — a stark contrast to the one seen in recent losses.

“Defensively, we came into the season saying we were going to be more aggressive, we’re going to stop the run, we’re going to harass the quarterback,” head coach Mack Brown said.  “All that happened today.”

In its two prior games, North Carolina had recorded zero sacks. But in Saturday’s game, seven players combined to record 10 sacks, the most in a game since 2000. 

Leading the team with three sacks was graduate rush Kaimon Rucker. He returned from an injury two weeks ago, but didn’t hit his stride until Saturday.  

“I could see his face light up because he knew he was back," Brown said. "And that makes so much difference for us.” 

Rucker joked that he dropped an interception in practice this week and was taunted by some teammates. But he just told them to wait. Sure enough, Rucker redeemed himself.

Early in the third quarter, Colandrea rolled out to his left. Rucker was sitting back in zone coverage. After Colandrea let the ball go, Rucker jumped the route and intercepted the ball as he fell to the ground.

“This is just a reminder that the Butcher is back,” Rucker said.  

Despite the standouts, it was the cohesion of the Tar Heel defense against Virginia that allowed for their performance. UNC's secondary held the Cavaliers to just 73 passing yards in the first half, and 16 defenders had at least one solo tackle. 

The defensive backs struggled some late in the game to prevent long passes. But for the majority of the game, they blanketed receivers downfield, giving the defensive line time to collapse the pocket and put pressure on Colandrea.

“A sack for us is everything. Big men making big plays like that, that’s what you want to see,” Ritzie said. “It just hypes us up because okay we’re getting back there. That’s how we know the DBs are doing their job and the linebackers are doing their job." 

As Ritzie ran down the sideline, sophomore linebacker Amare Campbell ran alongside him and blocked a Virginia defender to allow Ritzie to score. 

After Ritzie’s pick six, Brown joked that the defensive lineman resembled graduate wide receiver J.J. Jones, who also wears No. 5 and led the team in receiving yards on Saturday. 

And while the defensive performance might have come as a surprise for some, it's just what North Carolina needed. 

“I think this was a turning point for our team, our defense," Rucker said. "Cause we’re capable of doing what we did today every single game for sixty minutes, first through the fourth quarter."

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