Wahoo Wire

Photo Courtesy of allgiants.com

Stock UP

KEITH PAYNE, Running Back, UVA

Payne was instrumental in leading the Cavaliers to a resounding 34-13 thumping of the Richmond Spiders in the Cavs opener this past Saturday. The 255 lb. refrigerator of a tailback rushed for 114 yards and 4 TD’s on 16 carries, and at times, was running with 2 or 3 Spiders draped over him. Payne had not appeared in a game since 2008, and had given up football under former coach Al Groh. However, with the new London regime in charge, Payne came out and played like he had something to prove.  Coming into the season, the Hoos had a lot of questions and unproven talent in the backfield. With his performance on Saturday, Payne looks to have answered many of those questions and solidified his spot as the primary rushing threat.

BOISE STATE FOOTBALL

The outlook for the Boise State Broncos is positively sunny after a 33-30 victory over Virginia Tech in a marquee out-of-conference matchup on Monday night. The Broncos undertook a great risk in agreeing to play Tech, especially considering that the game was played in Landover, MD, catering to the 75,000+ VT fans in attendance. The knock on Boise State has always been that they do not challenge themselves by playing opponents from the major conferences. This win bolsters Boise State’s credibility in the BCS, and with a relatively easy schedule the rest of the season, puts them in the driver’s seat to a national title run.

MIKE LONDON, HEAD COACH, UVA

London’s stock is up this week because he led the Cavs to their first season-opening win in over 4 years. London’s primary task in coming to Charlottesville was to win over and reenergize a fan base that has somewhat gotten out of touch with winning football. Had the Cavs slipped up at home on Saturday, losing to an FCS DI-AA opponent for the second straight year, London’s reinvigoration efforts would have been thrust back to the prehistoric era. With a trip to Los Angeles to face a vaunted USC program looming on the horizon, London and the Cavs absolutely could not have lost at home to the Spiders.

Stock Down

USC DEFENSE

Traditional Pac-10 powerhouse USC opened up their season with a 49-36 win at Hawaii. While many were satisfied with the win, the Trojans should be wary of the embarrassing effort put forth by their defense. USC gave up 36 points and 588 yards of offense to a Hawaii team that plays in the mid-major WAC conference. After Saturday’s performance, USC is currently ranked 106^th in the nation in total defense. Luckily for the Trojans, their offense was clicking on all cylinders and carried them to the win. But if USC is to win the Pac-10, their defense had better tackle and cover their assignments much better than they did against Hawaii. UVA comes to town to challenge the Trojans next week, and if the USC defense plays like that again, then the Cavs will have many areas they can exploit offensively. But, for all I know, USC is still USC, and this coming Saturday the Trojans will hold Verica to 9- 30 for 66 yards and 3 picks en route to a 45-0 victory. So goes the life of a UVA football fan.

DAN HAMPTON

Many readers may be scratching their head wondering who in the world Dan Hampton is? Hampton is a Hall of Fame Defensive Tackle and current broadcaster for ProFootball Weekly TV. In a recent episode previewing the upcoming NFL season Hampton came under fire for making some questionable remarks. In discussing the NFL opener on Thursday between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints, Hampton said that the Vikings “need to go down there and hit that town like Katrina.” Now I am all for free speech, but this imbecile should be thrown off the air immediately for using such a boneheaded and insensitive metaphor. Some issues are just off-limits. And that is why, Mr. Hampton, your stock is plunging faster than Sylven Landesberg’s NBA career (who by the way is now playing for Maccabi Haifa BC of the Israeli Super Basketball League. Go figure).

MATT LEINART

Matt Leinart, the 10^th overall pick in the 2006 draft, was cut this past week by the team that drafted him, the Arizona Cardinals. Leinart was extremely hyped coming out of USC, as he won the Heisman Trophy and led USC to a national championship in 2004. Throughout his career in Arizona, Leinart has carried the clipboard on the sideline behind the rugged veteran Kurt Warner. However, after Warner finally retired last season, the stage seemed to be set for Leinart to claim a starting role. However, he struggled throughout training camp and lost the job to former Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, who by no means is the next Johnny Unitas. After being cut, Leinart was picked up by the Houston Texans, who are already set with former UVA QB Matt Schaub. Looks like Leinart should expect to hold the clipboard for the foreseeable future.