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Earlier this week, I released my Preseason Top 30 for the state of Virginia, and it was quite a change from last May's Pre-Summer Top 30. The new top 30 is headed by:

1. DE Olu Hall (Robinson HS, Fairfax)
2. S Kent Hicks (Culpeper HS)
3. WR Eddie Royal (Westfield HS, Chantilly)
4. LB Andrew Bowman (Hermitage HS, Richmond)
5. LB Jerod Mayo (Kecoughtan HS, Hampton)

For the complete list and commentary, click here (it's a free link).

Virginia picked up its sixth commitment for the 2004 class when Osbourn Park offensive tackle Zak Stair committed to the 'Hoos. Stair chose Virginia over offers from Maryland and Syracuse. A dual-sport athlete, Stair is an athletic 6-6, 285 pound prospect who is a very solid pickup.

Virginia appears to be slipping a little bit with another OL prospect, JP Stevens (Edison, NJ) standout Jeremy Zuttah. The 'Hoos have not called Zuttah this week, and Zuttah mentioned that Virginia may be moving down his list. He hopes to narrow his list to five by next month.

East Gaston (NC) quarterback Jadarian "JD" Moore visited UVA for the win versus Duke last weekend. He enjoyed his trip and found out that his offer was still on the table despite Virginia receiving one commitment for this year's class and a transfer (former ND quarterback Chris Olsen). Moore is having an excellent season, passing for eight touchdowns in two games.

Kyle Mitchum, star offensive lineman from McDowell HS in Erie, PA, has the Cavaliers among his top ten schools. He visited the Cavaliers unofficially during the month of July. Mitchum will narrow his list to eight within the next month or so. He has offers from 40-50 schools.

UVA is in the top 3 along with Virginia Tech and Ohio State for Gar-Field defensive end Clint Sintim. Sintim wants to visit UVA for a football game during the fall, but may not officially visit either in-state program. He wants to use his officials on schools he has not seen before. UVA likes him as an outside linebacker.

Rod Council lists UVA, ND, and Michigan as his top three schools. He will decide this fall among his family and coach and announce his decision at a later date. Expect the talented corner from West Charlotte HS to officially visit all three favorites.

Mammoth Forest Hills OL/DT Marque Hall lists UNC, NCSU, UVA, Virginia Tech, and Tennessee in his top five. He will spend many weekends checking out football games for his favorite schools. UVA likes Hall as an offensive line prospect.

Virginia lost senior quarterback Matt Schaub on the first series of the game but still came away with an impressive 27-0 victory over the Duke Blue Devils in their home opener at Scott Stadium. Virginia's defense recorded their first conference shutout since 1998 and held Duke to just 272 yards of offense. The Cavaliers also improved in another area they were lacking last season - the running game. The Hoos shuttled in Alvin Pearman, Marquis Weeks and Wali Lundy to rack up 203 yards between them.

For post game articles and statistics, please refer to Duke Game News.

Martinez helps Hoos to victory, will start against USC
By Michael Ingalls

Anthony Martinez played every series but one last Saturday night in the 27-0 win over Duke - his first-ever college experience. It's not often a freshman quarterback is so quickly thrown into action, without warning and without much preparation.

Martinez was called up for duty, probably a lot sooner than he, the team, or Coach Groh would have liked, but the young signal-caller got the job done. After a couple of shaky series where Martinez readily admits he was nervous, he began to calm down and eventually lead the team to victory. His performance quickly earned the confidence of his teammates, including defensive leader Almondo Curry.

"It seemed like he was a little nervous in there [at first], but he was thrown in during the heat of battle. I don't think he was expecting [to play] that soon," said Curry. "It took him about two or three series to get his self together. When he did, he played like a leader. A quarterback is supposed to be the leader of the team, and Anthony did [just that]. He led the offense on a couple of good drives. He threw some good passes. We needed that from him."

Martinez knew that he needed to calm down if he were to help the Hoos win the contest.

"After the first few snaps I realized that I didn't have time to be nervous," Martinez said. "Once I completed a few balls, I got more confidence and realized, 'I can do this.' This is just a game and I came here to play the game.

"It's finally sinking in. It's my job now and I have to play the game. I have to be a leader on the team and earn their confidence. A lot of the older guys came up to me [over the weekend] and said that they were proud of me and the way I handled everything. They seem like they're confident in me and ready for me to get out there and do it again this week."

Now that the job belongs to Martinez, at least until Matt Schaub can return, his confidence is better and he's ready for the next game.

"I'm confident [in myself]. This is a 180-degree turn from last week. Now I know that I'm going to play, so it's like back in high school when I knew I was the starter. Just get ready and go out and play the game. Coach Groh will have me prepared for this week, and I'll get to watch a lot more film and take most of the snaps. I'm just ready to go out and do a good job, complete a lot of balls and get a win."

For many young quarterbacks that get thrown into the fire too soon, the game on the field can seem quick in comparison to everyday practices, but not for Martinez.

"Our defense is so good and so fast that the speed of the game isn't much different on game day than it is during practice. It helps a lot going against our defense."

On Saturday, Martinez will get his first collegiate start against South Carolina. A lot will be asked of Anthony, but Coach Groh is not about to cut down the playbook or change the offense around for the young quarterback. Groh stated in his Monday press conference that he's confident that Martinez can run the offense and will not make many adjustments.

"I think I have a good grasp of most of [UVa's playbook]. I know I still have a lot of work to do on the smaller parts, but I feel that I have good knowledge of most of our plays."

For a great Sabre Edge article about Martinez and the support he gets from his family, click here. (subscribers-only; to subscribe, see our Sabre Edge ad elsewhere in this SabreMail).

Virginia Football to face South Carolina on road

UVa Football will suit up again this week when they travel to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC to face the South Carolina Gamecocks. USC is 1-0 this season after defeating LA-Lafayette last Saturday, 14-7. Kickoff is at 12:30 PM EST and will be televised on several networks regionally. Please check out South Carolina Game News for a listing of these networks, as well as information on weather, Internet radio broadcast and daily articles leading up to the game.

If you would like to read a preview of the UVa-USC game, please check out UVA-USC Preview. (free link)

Schaub's status?

So, what's the story on injured quarterback Matt Schaub? My guess is that you won't really know until you see him step onto the field for his next game. There's wide speculation about the severity of his injury, but the one thing that has been said by Schaub, the trainers and Coach Al Groh is that Matt is doing better each day. That's not a whole lot to go on, but get used to it. Groh doesn't talk much about injuries. Expect Schaub to miss at least the next two or three games while recovering.

Brown, Schmidt Earn ACC Weekly Honors

Offensive guard Elton Brown and defensive end Brennan Schmidt both earned ACC Player of the Week honors for their performances against Duke last Saturday.

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