http://wvgazette.com/Sports/201009271142
Big East booted its chances to gain respect
The Big East had its chances this past weekend.
By Mitch Vingle
The Charleston Gazette
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The Big East had its chances this past weekend.
In fact, a couple of teams looked up to the task of tackling Top 25 non-conference opponents. In the end, though, the opponents slipped the tackles for victories.
Of course, most in the Mountain State know about West Virginia's toe-to-toe battle with LSU. WVU (3-1) had its chances to replicate its comeback against Marshall, but couldn't finish the job and lost 20-14.
The other respectable league performance came from Cincinnati (1-3). The Bearcats trailed 24-9 in the third quarter, but rallied to get within 31-29 before time ran out against No. 8 Oklahoma at Paul Brown Stadium.
"We didn't get it done at the end," said Cincinati coach Butch Jones on Monday, "but I think our team continued to take some great strides."
Cincinnati was led by quarterback Zach Collaros, who threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns, and back Isaiah Pead, who ran for 169 yards in his return to the starting lineup.
Rutgers likewise played OK, but fell 17-13 to North Carolina at Rutgers Stadium. The Scarlet Knights proved stout on defense, but managed just 244 yards of offense.
Then there was the Pitt game. In perhaps the most ugly league showing of the week, the Panthers (1-2) fell 31-3 to Miami (Fla.) at Heinz Field. Pitt running back Ray Graham ran for 100 yards on 14 carries, but the Panthers too were undone in part by turnovers, three in the fourth quarter.
"The Miami game was disappointing, to say the least," said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt on Monday.
Connecticut, meanwhile, downed Buffalo 45-21, and Syracuse defeated Colgate 42-7. South Florida, however, held but a 7-0 halftime lead against Western Kentucky before sending the Hilltoppers to their 24th consecutive loss by 24-12.
After WVU's loss to LSU, a concern for the Mountaineers was the toe injury to running back Noel Devine.
West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, however, said during Monday's league coaches teleconference that Devine received two treatments to his injured toe and "hopefully he'll be able to heal up in a couple weeks."
The Mountaineers are off this week before meeting UNLV.
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The ugly totals continue to climb for games against BCS leagues. So far, Big East teams are 15-13 in all games. They are 6-13 against FBS opponents and 1-10 against teams from BCS leagues. The lone win is West Virginia's over the ACC's Maryland. Against Top 25 teams, the Big East is 0-5.
The league has no ranked teams in the major polls.
"It's way too early to judge anything," said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano. "Leagues have ebbs and flows. Who knows what will be at the end of 2010?"
The Big East had its chances this past weekend.
In fact, a couple of teams looked up to the task of tackling Top 25 non-conference opponents. In the end, though, the opponents slipped the tackles for victories.
Of course, most in the Mountain State know about West Virginia's toe-to-toe battle with LSU. WVU (3-1) had its chances to replicate its comeback against Marshall, but couldn't finish the job and lost 20-14.
The other respectable league performance came from Cincinnati (1-3). The Bearcats trailed 24-9 in the third quarter, but rallied to get within 31-29 before time ran out against No. 8 Oklahoma at Paul Brown Stadium.
"We didn't get it done at the end," said Cincinati coach Butch Jones on Monday, "but I think our team continued to take some great strides."
Cincinnati was led by quarterback Zach Collaros, who threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns, and back Isaiah Pead, who ran for 169 yards in his return to the starting lineup.
Rutgers likewise played OK, but fell 17-13 to North Carolina at Rutgers Stadium. The Scarlet Knights proved stout on defense, but managed just 244 yards of offense.
Then there was the Pitt game. In perhaps the most ugly league showing of the week, the Panthers (1-2) fell 31-3 to Miami (Fla.) at Heinz Field. Pitt running back Ray Graham ran for 100 yards on 14 carries, but the Panthers too were undone in part by turnovers, three in the fourth quarter.
"The Miami game was disappointing, to say the least," said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt on Monday.
Connecticut, meanwhile, downed Buffalo 45-21, and Syracuse defeated Colgate 42-7. South Florida, however, held but a 7-0 halftime lead against Western Kentucky before sending the Hilltoppers to their 24th consecutive loss by 24-12.
nn
After WVU's loss to LSU, a concern for the Mountaineers was the toe injury to running back Noel Devine.
West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, however, said during Monday's league coaches teleconference that Devine received two treatments to his injured toe and "hopefully he'll be able to heal up in a couple weeks."
The Mountaineers are off this week before meeting UNLV.
nn
The ugly totals continue to climb for games against BCS leagues. So far, Big East teams are 15-13 in all games. They are 6-13 against FBS opponents and 1-10 against teams from BCS leagues. The lone win is West Virginia's over the ACC's Maryland. Against Top 25 teams, the Big East is 0-5.
The league has no ranked teams in the major polls.
"It's way too early to judge anything," said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano. "Leagues have ebbs and flows. Who knows what will be at the end of 2010?"
nn
Connecticut (2-2) found itself tied at halftime against Buffalo. And that was apparently a time for change.
Huskies coach Randy Edsall made switches at quarterback and running back for the third quarter, and the moves paid off. Quarterback Cody Endres came off the bench to complete 7-of-11 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Robbie Frey rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown.
The Huskies also inserted linebacker Sio Moore into the starting lineup and he finished with a game-high 16 tackles and an interception.
nn
The Big East handed out its weekly award winners on Monday. The offensive player of the week was Syracuse running back Delone Carter, who ran for a career-high 172 yards on 14 carries and matched his career high with four rushing touchdowns against Colgate.
The aforementioned Moore of Connecticut was the defensive player of the week. The special teams award went to Terrence Mitchell, a redshirt freshman from South Florida, who averaged 47 yards on two punt returns, including a 67-yard return that led to a key second-half touchdown against WKU.
Finishers
South Florida (2-1) ran the ball 44 of its 55 offensive plays to finally wear down Western Kentucky. The Bulls finished with 226 rushing yards. Demetris Murray ran for a career-high 115 yards.
Syracuse was on the short end of a near 30-minute discrepancy in possession (44:26-15:34) against Colgate, but still managed to move to 3-1 for the first time since 2003.
Cincinnati QB Collaros was sacked three times by Oklahoma (he's now been tagged 18 times this season), but had enough time to move atop the Big East statistics in passing yards per game (241 average), total passing yards (964) and is second to Syracuse's Ryan Nassib in pass efficiency (146.2).
Also, UC receiver D.J. Woods had a tough Saturday night with two costly fumbles, but is now tied with WVU's Tavon Austin and Jock Sanders in reception average per game (6) and is first in receiving yards per game (108.75) and total receiving yards (435).
Although Rutgers lost to North Carolina, the Scarlet Knights forced three turnovers, sacked Tar Heel quarterback T.J. Yates twice and held UNC to 91 yards rushing on 30 carries.
Rutgers quarterback Tom Savage took a shot to the ribs against North Carolina. He said he was fine afterward, but Schiano said Monday the QB was undergoing a test and more would be known today.
Louisville senior wide receiver Doug Beaumont underwent knee surgery and is out indefinitely.
Pitt middle linebacker Dan Mason is out for the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury in the second half of the Miami game. Pitt has also had four players arrested in the past two months, including one last week. Reserve defensive back Jeffrey Knox faces charges he beat up a woman, and was released from the team.
Reach Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or e-mail mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.
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Charleston Gazette: Big East booted its chances to gain respect
