Mattes already has UVA offer

One of the top two-way linemen from the Keystone State has already received a scholarship offer from Coach Al Groh and Virginia. The brother of a Notre Dame football player, Kurt Mattes could be close to getting plenty more offers.

The 6-foot-6, 260-pound offensive/defensive lineman runs the 40-yard dash in an impressive 4.8 seconds. As a junior he recorded 50 tackles, five sacks and 10 tackles for loss en route to first team all-conference honors. He was also named one of the top 33 players in the area. Does he have an early leader?

"There are a lot of schools I'm looking at right now, but Virginia is a little unique in that they've offered me a scholarship. I'm sure I'll get more, but they got my attention when I did that. But I'll say that I'm still wide open without a leader."

Mattes, a junior at Plymouth (Pa.) Wyoming Valley West, is the brother of Brian Mattes, an offensive lineman at Notre Dame. He's received letters from the Irish, in addition to schools like Penn State, Pitt, Boston College, Michigan and other top programs.

"My biggest strengths as a player are my speed and aggressiveness. I'm going all-out on every play and leaving it all on the field. I think coaches will notice that pretty quickly when they watch me play."

What will be the biggest factors in Mattes decision?

"Well it's a long way off, but I'll be looking first of all at the academics. I'll consider the people that are there, in terms of the staff and the players. Then I'll look at the success the program has on the field each year. I don't care whether I play offensive line or defensive line. It won't be any one thing, but several things that I consider."