Week 5 in the Big East: Tune Up Week

Only five Big East teams are in action on week five of the college season, and the two-time defending champs have the week off. So this will be light on the UC coverage, but my thoughts on this week are definitely satiated with some UC flavor.

Week five features a bye on the schedule for Syracuse as well as Cincinnati and West Virginia. Here’s a peek at week five for the Big East member schools

Week 5 Big East Schedule
Sat Oct 2-Rutgers vs Tulane
Oct 2-USF vs Florida Atlantic
Oct 2-Louisville at Arkansas State
Oct 2-Connectict vs Vanderbilt
Oct 2-Pittsburgh vs Florida International
**Oct 2-Buffalo at Bowling Green (MAC)**

AN: This week, Jake has to take an approved break to work on school projects, so I get to talk about Pitt and one more game, all by my lonesome.

But, before we get to head coach Mario Cristobal and his Florida International Panthers (and sophomore linebacker Larvez “Pooh Bear” Mars) into Heinz Field for a little gridiron matchup, ESPN.com Big East blogger Brian Bennett leaves us with this comment.

“You can’t call Week 5 “Showdown Saturday” or “Monster Saturday” or anything like that in the Big East,” he wrote. “It’s more like, “Tune-Up Saturday”

So, conventional wisdom tells me Pitt should roll, as well as Rutgers, USF and Louisville. But conventional wisdom has been wrong this year for fans of the Big East. Two-time defending Big East champ Cincinnati is 1-3, Pittsburgh looked bad last week on national TV against Miami, and Rutgers has had a stagnant offense this season.

Dave Wannstedt told the media yesterday in Pittsburgh that shuffling the offensive line came after some big time meetings with his players. “We’ve had some serious heart-to-heart conversations with some players. Let’s watch the tape: who is producing? Who is getting the job done when the lights come on? That’s the point that we’re at right now with everyone. We have to be very honest about it and play the best players that will give us the chance to win at this point.”

I have a feeling that the FIU game will give Wannstedt and the Panthers to get their feet under them and let their “new look” O-line get some time to jell on the field.

As I mentioned in our last preview, Buffalo actually might as well be a Big East team. Look at the coaching staff former UC offensive coordinator, and now Buffalo Head Coach, Jeff Quinn has put together in upstate N.Y.—his offensive coordinator is former UC quarterbacks coach Greg Forest, and his defensive coordinator is William Inge, former UC linebackers coach.

Former graduate assistants Marty Spieler and Mike Daniels now coach tight ends and running backs respectively. Adam Shorter, who was a GA under Quinn in 2007 and also played for UC, is coaching the o-line, and Ernest Jones, who once coached the running backs at UC, is coaching defensive backs.

Got all that?

Well, even if you don’t just keep in mind that Buffalo’s coaching staff is full of former UC assistants. With the UC bye week, I was hoping to have the time to travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to watch the Bulls take on the Falcons. Unfortunately, with a Saturday morning practice, it seems that I won’t be able to get to see the Bulls in person.

That doesn’t change the fact that I’m certainly a Buffalo Bulls fan this season, and as long as Quinn and Forest, et al, are running the show in Buffalo.

And, I picked that game because, with no offense to any of the Big East teams, this week is rather bland on scheduling. But, as Bennett said, the Big East needs a tune up, and what better way to tune up than with some bland opponents.

I hope you enjoy the fifth week of college football, and keep your eyes and ears pinned here for the week six preview coming up in the next seven days. Thanks for reading.