University of North Carolina Athletics
Droschak: Page Comes Up Big Against Cavs
October 22, 2005 | Football
Oct. 22, 2005
By David Droschak
TarHeelBlue.com
CHAPEL HILL - John Bunting called it the defensive play of the year. And not many folks on hand to watch North Carolina's 7-5 victory over No. 23 Virginia on Saturday could argue that fact.
With less than two minutes left in a game played so close to the vest if hurt, the Cavaliers were faced with a third-and-8 at the North Carolina 36. How cruel would it have been for the Tar Heels' defense to crumble now? Not after playing so super following a 69-point debacle at Louisville a game ago.
The elusive Marques Hagans dropped back to pass and was flushed out of the pocket and eventually threw a ball that was tipped by Trimane Goddard and intercepted by Cedrick Holt. The defense closed on those two as fast as they closed on Virginia's rushers all game to offer congratulations. Fifteen yards up field, Chase Page just jogged off without any handshakes, without any acknowledgement of what he accomplished on the play.
But it was Page, a senior who was billed as an NFL caliber player before the season who had just nine tackles in five previous games, who made the interception possible.
It was the 6-5, 280-pound Page who flushed Hagans and was in hot pursuit, nipping at the feet of the Virginia quarterback as he threw the ball. It was Page who made THE PLAY on the defensive play of the year.
"I've never seen Chase move that fast before in my life," laughed linebacker Tommy Richardson. "Chase must have really wanted that sack. Chase chased him so far I came out of coverage and kind of obscured his vision. I am going to take a little credit for it, too."
Page said he felt like he was in "slow motion" chasing the fast Hagans.
"I had to fight through a tight end on that play and by the time I got outside he was already running and I thought I had an angle on him, but he looked like he was going to beat me to the corner so I tried to dive at him. I was trying to heel click him and I think he was kind of watching me when I dove and he moved his foot. I hope I threw him off a little bit."
Trust me Chase, you did throw off Hagans, who is a handful to contain on any day.
North Carolina's defensive coaching staff decided not to put a spy, or a single defender to follow Hagans around all day. The plan was to stop the run and then take their chances with Hagans' throwing abilities. It worked to near perfection as the Tar Heels improved to 3-3 with just one loss in the ACC's Coastal Division.
"We contained him and that's hard work," Page said. He's such a great athlete. We all stayed in our rushing lanes."
In the end, Hagans managed just 109 yards passing and 26 rushing on eight carries.
Page had been lining up for 35 to 40 plays a week for the Tar Heels, mainly because of increased depth at his position, but partly because the senior from South Carolina hadn't been making many plays.
Page and Bunting had a heart-to-heart talk during the team's bye week and the two came to an agreement.
"He wanted more playing time," Bunting said. "I told him he had to earn it and I think he did today. He played with a great deal of confidence today. He just a real good feel for Virginia today and what they were going to do. He had a real good week of practice."
Page wasn't alone in helping the Tar Heels hold Virginia to just 199 yards of offense. And this was the same Cavaliers team that just upended Florida State a week ago. The same Virginia team that rolled up 56 points on the Tar Heels a season ago.
"We were all kind of excited to get back on the field after that Louisville game," Page said. "We wanted to redeem ourselves. "We knew it was us and not what Louisville did to us. We made mistakes on 19 of the first 20 plays of that game. We shot ourselves in the foot. We committed to learning the scheme in the off week and the coaches had a great plan and we executed."
Talk about execution. Virginia had no room to run inside or outside, and was held without a TD. The last time the Tar Heels held an opponent less than 200 yards was against Wake Forest in 2000 - a 63-game span. The tone was set early when North Carolina limited the Cavaliers to no first-quarter first downs. In fact, Virginia's longest play of the game was just 13 yards.
"I haven't looked at the stats but this feels pretty dang good," Page said. "That's really how you play good defense, you don't give up big plays. We knew we could play like this. Everybody stayed on their assignments."
Bunting had few answers for the defensive turnaround. He was emotional about it, though.
"It does happen," he said. "What's good about the character of this team is they hold themselves accountable. We as a coaching staff can continue to get them better. But there is no substitution for having great kids. I think a number of them grew up today."
The defense sure did.
