Big East football schedules: Week 11

A lot of fans think that referees like to pander to the best teams in the league to ensure that the best teams in the conference represent the conference in the BCS. Ask West Virginia fans about November 13th 2009, and almost every Mountaineer fan will tell you that referee John McDaid (a favorite of yours truly and my guest blogger) handed a victory to the UC Bearcats by overturning an obvious fumble by Isaiah Pead in the endzone, resulting in six points for the Bearcats.

ESPN replays showed the ball crossing the goal line. Decide for yourself
So, 365 days later WVU fans will get their shot to avenge a loss in 2009, and an overtime loss to the UC Bearcats in 2008. That ’08 game shifted the title of top dog in the Big East to Cincinnati from Morgantown, and now Bill Stewart has his shot to regain the power in the conference from former West Virginia wide out coach Butch Jones, who now leads UC.

Talk about storylines. Here’s week 11:

Week 11 Big East Schedule
Thurs., Nov 11-Connecticut vs Pittsburgh
Sat., Nov 13-West Virginia vs Cincinnati
Nov 13-Louisville vs USF
Nov 13-Rutgers vs Syracuse

AN: As much as I’d love to continue talking about UC and West Virginia, and one of the most dangerous venues in all of sports—Milan Puskar Stadium—I have to turn it over to Jake. Pitt and UConn have similar “pro style” offenses, so on Veteran’s Day in Hartford, Conn., who takes the “W”?

JM: Well, Pitt’s “pro-style” offense has been improving from week to week this season and is starting to get back to the effectiveness that Pitt fans enjoyed last year with Bill Stull at the helm. Meanwhile, UConn’s offense has been a mess all season they’ve gone through several quarterbacks and still cannot find a viable passing game.

UConn can run the ball however with a talented running back, Jordan Todman. The combination of a good night from Todman and a solid performance by UConn’s defense could be enough to beat the Panthers, but I don’t see that happening. Pitt has made too much progress this season and controls its own destiny for a BCS bowl bid.

Honestly, one of my biggest concerns this week is the weather in Hartford. Around this time of year, Connecticut becomes basically a frozen hell, so some intense weather conditions are very possible and could play a major factor in this game.

AN: I look forward to going to Milan Puskar Stadium every other year because it is full of rabid, passionate Mountaineer fans. And as crazy as it sounds, it’s one of the coolest gameday atmospheres I’ve ever encountered (second to Oklahoma and NC State). Last year Isaiah Pead, Zach Collaros and Tony Pike all combined to put UC up 24-14, and a late WVU touchdown made it 24-21, but it was all too little too late for the Mountaineers. UC moved to 10-0, and asserted that the Big East title moves through Cincinnati, not Morgantown.

Speaking of Pead, the then sophomore running back rushed the ball a career high 18 times for 175 yards and one touchdown against West Virginia last year. The 3-3-5 “Stack” defense that Rich Rodriguez made so popular was torched by the UC offense, which never was known for its run game prowess under Brian Kelly.

If anyone knows what the atmosphere will be like in Morgantown, it’s Butch Jones who was the wide receivers coach for Rodriguez in 2005 and 2006. Will that experience translate into a win for UC? With so many injuries on both sides of the ball for the Bearcats, it’s tough to say if it will.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bill Koch, Collaros is expected to start after resting up during the UC bye week last week. A fully healthy Collaros and an offensive line that dominates the questionable scheme West Virginia runs will lead to a Bearcat win. Anything else may effectively end UC’s chances of even going bowling this holiday season.

Jake, I know you’ll have a free Saturday to watch Big East football. What stands out to you?

JM: Rutgers vs. Syracuse stands out to me because the Orange have a chance to lock up their first bowl game bid since 2004. However, the Orange may have seen any hopes of a Big East title go out the window in last week’s loss to Louisville as Syracuse is now a virtual two games back of Pitt.

AN: And beyond our trip to Morgantown, I want to keep my eyes stuck on the Pitt-UConn game on Thursday night. As an Elder Panther football fan from the early part of the decade, I’m used to seeing pound-it-out, power football. Jake, you can attest to the likes of Kyle Koester and Bradley Glatthaar pounding the ball behind those big offensive lines that we had in the early 2000s.

JM: Back in my day, we didn’t have these fancy spread offenses. If you wanted to win, you ran the football. Man, those were the days…

AN: So the “power” rushing attack that both teams will employ may look boring to the fans who love seeing the ball fly through the air, but I’ll definitely tune in to see some old-time football. I’d say the over/under on how many times each team runs “power” is 50. Over or under Jake?

JM: I’ll take the over. We’re in for a little good, old fashioned caveman football.

AN: I do think that the Pitt Panthers have a little more balance on the offensive side of the ball, but I think this game will be an epic Big East battle. Even though West Virginia couldn’t pull it off in Hartford, I believe the Panthers win, and keep the stranglehold on the Big East title.

Big East football schedules: Week 7

Week seven sees two ESPN primetime games for the Big East. The UC Bearcats love ESPN in primetime, and will battle for yet another rivalry trophy for the second straight week. This week also marks the beginning of Big East play for UC, Louisville, Pitt, and West Virginia. UConn has the week off.

Here’s week seven.

Week 7 Big East Schedule
Thurs., Oct 14-West Virginia vs USF
Fri., Oct 15-Cincinnati at Louisville
Sat., Oct 16-Pittsburgh at Syracuse
Oct 16-Rutgers vs Army

AN: The one and only trip I’ve made to Louisville for football was on a rainy night in mid-November on the day before I turned 20 years old. The end result was a lot of wet clothing and a trip back to Cincinnati with the Keg of Nails in our possession for the first time since 2002.

I mentioned in the week one preview that Charlie Strong, the former Florida defensive coordinator, and new head coach for the Cards, has built a strong program up in the short time he’s been running the show in Kentucky’s most populous city. And the early season results are certainly showing that "The Ville" is getting better.

So, this game scares me a little bit. I’m just not sure that Louisville has the fire power they need to overcome all the playmakers that UC has, but in a game that will be played at the renovated PapaJohns Cardinal Stadium, anything could happen, as we nearly found out in 2008.

Strong has already shown the UC players he can coach a darn good team, but will he be able to translate success against the Brian Kelly system into success against the Butch Jones system? To say I’m 100 percent certain UC will win this game would be a lie, but I am confident that this game should, should go in favor of the Bearcats. But don’t be surprised if the game is closer than you think.

JM: Pitt’s coming off a close loss at Notre Dame last weekend and looks to even its record at 3-3. In my opinion, this is a must-win game. Syracuse has its first legitimate shot at a bowl game since 2004 and is coming off its biggest win of the season last week against USF.

Pitt showed some progress against the Irish, with Tino Sunseri showing some improvement and the offensive line appears to be getting its act together. This will be a nice test for the Panthers as they go against a decent opponent, but one with less talent, that they should be able to beat. Beating Syracuse would be a good confidence booster and would kick off the Big East slate the right way. I like Pitt in a close one.

AN: Obviously the best game on the schedule has to be the battle between USF and West Virginia on Thursday night in Morgantown. USF has beaten the Mountaineers in ’06, ’07 and last season, and in 2008 they lost by a touchdown in their last visit to Milan Puskar Stadium. These two teams have had some epic battles in the past few seasons, and I expect this season to be the same.

"Almost heaven..."

With Skip Holtz running the show in Tampa, the USF Bulls might be in better shape than many think. In 2008, West Virginia was primed to win a Big East title behind the likes of Pat White and Noel Devine, but in game two of Bill Stewart’s first season, the Mountaineers were walloped by East Carolina 24-3 in Greenville.

The head coach of ECU that year? Skip Holtz. Now, Holtz and the ECU Pirates traveled to Morgantown last season and lost 35-20, but at least Holtz knows he has beaten West Virginia, and will know just how intimidating Milan Puskar can be for opposing teams.

JM: Well, I guess that leaves the Rutgers-Army game as the only other game on the docket. Rutgers has looked good at times and is coming off a win against UConn, but is still inconsistent. Army, like Syracuse, has a decent shot to get to a bowl game this season. The Black Knights run my favorite offense (as well as Adam’s favorite) the triple option, which can be a tough matchup for any team. I think Rutgers should win this game, but don’t be surprised if Army pulls off the upset.

AN: I do love the option.

Thanks for joining us, and stay tuned for another week of Big East football here on the blog. Next week you’ll get a little taste of the renovated PapaJohns Cardinal Stadium with some photos and a short recap of the Louisville/UC tilt. Til then, enjoy a weekend of football.

UC and Collaros improvise way to 28-7 win over Syracuse

One of the best parts of traveling around the country with the UC football program is the ability I have to experience different traditions of gamedays in different places. Yesterday I got to hear some snippets of the Syracuse radio broadcast of the UC 28-7 win over the Orange, and they were less than promotional of the nation’s now #7 (USA Today Coaches Poll) team.
One the third offensive play from scrimmage Zach Collaros—who once again started in place of the injured Tony Pike—rolled to his left. When he saw nothing there he worked his way back to his right where Armon Binns was standing with no one near him. Binns sprinted down the sideline and scored the 81 yard touchdown. 7-0 Bearcats.

After a Greg Paulus to Cody Catalina score tied the game at 7-7, the Bearcats traveled back down the field, only to have to settle for a field goal. Or so everyone thought. Collaros mishandled the snap, ran around for a few seconds and heaved the ball into the hands of Kazeem Alli for a touchdown.
“It was a good snap,” the redshirt sophomore from Steubenville, Ohio said. “I was actually going to try to run it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kazeem come across the end zone.” From there it was all Bearcats, but that’s not to say that Syracuse didn’t put up one heck of a fight.

The Syracuse radio highlights that I heard after the game called both of those plays, “lucky,” and the announcer noted that the #5 team in the nation was just getting by on luck. That’s far from true. “We do a scrambling drill every day,” Collaros added. “We have good chemistry with the receivers. All I know is I like to improvise a little bit.”
Practice, they say, makes perfect, and the Bearcats are 8-0 for the first time since 1954. That team finished 8-0-2. If this Bearcat team finished undefeated a second straight Big East title and BCS bowl game is in store. Just where Brian Kelly expected to be when he took this job three years ago.

“We’re right where we want to be,” said sophomore linebacker J.K. Schaffer. The Cincinnati native commented a few weeks back that as a lifelong UC fan these are the days that he dreamed of. Will the dream continue? UConn comes to Cincinnati this upcoming weekend, and the Huskies are the last team to defeat UC in a regular season game. Think the ‘Cats need any more incentive than that?

The Syracuse Orange was dressed as many things, including a pumpkin (in this shot). The UC Bearcat was dressed as field goal posts--pretty creative, right?

More on that later this week. For now, enjoy some more photos of UC’s visit to Syracuse, provided by yours truly.
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And one final note on the trip, the Syracuse band wins my ever changing award of “Best Band Ever”. They performed some of Michael Jackson’s hits, as are numerous marching bands this season. But, what put them over the top for me was the performance of “Thriller”. After all, it was Halloween. Only the drummers kept playing while the rest of the band did the “Thriller” dance. It was simply awesome (even though some I talked to didn’t think it was great).

UC spoils Orange Senior Night with offensive outburst in ‘07

Heading into the final game of the 2007 season—Brian Kelly’s first at the helm of the Cincinnati Bearcats—the ‘Cats were 8-3, looking at sewing up a berth in the Sun Bowl. Or so we were told. On the day after Thanksgiving we boarded our Delta charter flight and made the short trip to upstate New York where there was a layer of snow on the ground. Good thing the Syracuse Orange play indoors.

My first trip to the Carrier Dome, which might be more famous right now for the basketball team which plays in it than the football team, was a learning experience to say the least. I’ve never been to a domed stadium, and I got a crash course in domes when I walked into the facility. In order to get to the field, and steps to my endzone filming area, we needed to walk through a hallway where we had to open one door (which was tough because of the air pressure difference) and let it close before proceeding through the next door.
Needless to say, it was a learning evening.

That game between an 8-3 Cincinnati and a 2-9 Syracuse was played at 7 P.M. televised on ESPNU. Tell me about a game very few people had an interest in. I’m willing to be more people tuned in than appeared in person to watch UC play the ‘Cuse though.

The final listed attendance was 30,040, but for some reason I remember far less folks than that actually showing up. After all, the Carrier Dome holds about 50,000 fans for football games and I doubt the place was even half full for that game. If it was it would have been a much louder environment and more interesting game.
The final score that evening read UC-52, Syracuse-31, but the game was a little tighter than the score might show. With eight minutes left in the third the Orange scored to make it 35-31 UC with the lead. After receiving the kickoff the Bearcats ran three plays that gained eight yards and took less than a minute before Kevin Huber had to punt.

Syracuse, with a chance to actually go ahead in the game, faced heavy pressure from the UC defense and Corey Smith knocked sophomore quarterback Andrew Robinson to the turf. Robinson dropped the ball and Angelo Craig returned it sixteen yards to the house, putting the Bearcats up 42-31 with six minutes left in the fourth.

The ‘Cats never looked back.

Putting up 52 was no easy task, and quarterback Ben Mauk had a career day indoors. He threw for 431 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to Marcus Barnett, who caught 11 passes for 127 yards on the night. Mauk’s 431 yards ranked second in UC history for passing yards in a game and his 436 all purpose yards also ranked second in UC history, behind Greg Cook’s 1968 performance against Ohio where he threw for 554 yards.

That finished the season for UC and Syracuse, one has gone straight to the top of the Big East while the other has fired that head coach and hired a former player. Can Doug Marrone’s new look Orange with former Duke guard Greg Paulus at quarterback defeat the Big East’s best team? We’ll find out in a little over 24 hours when UC steps back into the Carrier Dome for the first time since the drubbing that Ben Mauk and company put on the Orange on their senior night in ’07.

Pictures to follow sometime next week. Enjoy your weekend and tune into ESPNU tomorrow at noon to watch UC continue their bid for a BCS bowl game and Big East title when the ‘Cats go to battle with the Orange in Syracuse.

Big East predictions: Why they can, why they can’t

With a few days remaining until the college football season kicks off it’s time for us to bat around all kinds of ideas to keep ourselves busy. My idea is to look at each Big East team today and give you a short list of reasons as to why they can win the Big East title and a few ideas as to why they can’t.

Let’s start with the Bearcats of Cincinnati, the team I know the most about, and the team who kicks off Big East play with Rutgers in just six days.

Cincinnati

Why they can: UC returns starting quarterback Tony Pike and wideout/returner Mardy Gilyard. Plus, two time defending Big East coach of the year Brian Kelly is still roaming the sidelines in the Queen City.

Why they can’t: The Bearcats are replacing ten starters on defense, and will employ a new defensive scheme.

The Bearcats were picked to finish third in the conference by the coaches. Most feel that replacing ten starters on defense will hurt the ‘Cats but those same people forget that Brian Kelly started his coaching career as a defensive coordinator in Division 2 where he won two national titles at Grand Valley State. If he can successfully defend the Big East title, it won’t surprise me.

Connecticut

Why they can: They’ll be an underdog in most Big East games, and that will provide some incentive for the 2007 Big East co-champions.

Why they can’t: Donald Brown is in the NFL now

The only team to defeat the 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats were voted sixth by the coaches a few weeks back and Randy Edsall was not happy about it. “We haven't gotten any respect since we've been in the league,” Edsall said. “I mean, really. And that's fine.” Whether they can prove that they deserved a higher ranking is still up in the air. They open Big East play with a trip to Pittsburgh in October.

Louisville

Why they can: They play seven games against Big East foes

Why they can’t: See above, and they have a bad offense, a bad defense, and they’re just bad all around.

Steve Kragthorpe is on the hot seat down in Louisville and a lot of folks expect that seat to melt under a bad Cardinal team. After the 2006 Orange Bowl victory the Cardinals have fallen off the face of the planet. This season should be no different. Kragthorpe is even worried about facing Indiana State this weekend—a team that has won one game in their past 53 tries. “I’ll kind of lay there in bed thinking, ‘Did we cover this enough? Did we cover that enough?’”

Pitt

Why they can: Picked to win it all by the coaches in lateJuly. TJ Porter is going to be good at wide receiver.

Why they can’t: Dave Wannstedt is the head coach, Bill Stull is the quarterback.

As much as WPTS radio personality, and former guest blogger Jake Meyer would like to admit it that Pitt is in the running I have a feeling that Pittsburgh will be held back by Stull’s limited arm and Wannstedt’s coaching. With that said, Wannstedt did allow offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh to go to the NFL, a move that can only help. Look for Frank Cignetti Jr. to try to revamp the Pitt offense. The final game of the year, a home matchup with the UC Bearcats could be another de-facto Big East title game.

Rutgers

Why they can: The Scarlet Knight offensive line is stout, and their stadium expansion will be in full effect against the top four finishers in the Big East last season—UC, Pitt, West Virginia and USF

Why they can’t: Schiano is 0-3 against Cincinnati in his past three tries, including a devastating loss in 2006 when Rutgers was ranked #7 nationally.

Head coach Greg Schiano is keeping his quarterback plans for the opener against Cincinnati under wraps. He names three players—senior Dominick Natale, senior Jabu Lovelace and true freshman Tom Savage—as his starting quarterback, all separated on the depth chart by the big word “OR”. Is this the year Rutgers finally beats the Bearcats and take an early lead in the Big East standings? We’ll know in six more days.

Syracuse

Why they can: Greg Paulus is playing quarterback

Why they can’t: Greg Paulus is playing quarterback

New head coach Doug Marrone has his work cut out for him in his first season back at his alma mater. With former Duke basketball player Greg Paulus making headlines as the starting quarterback, Marrone now must find 21 other guys to play for his team. He’s had quite a few people bail on the new program, and it will most likely take him a few years to get back to winning, but at least he knows he’s got a quarterback for this season.

USF

Why they can: Matt Grothe is back for year four at quarterback, and defensive end George Selvie will cause havoc

Why they can’t: They always seem to tank around mid-October, and I think they’ll lose to UC because Brian Kelly will out scheme his former defensive coordinator Joe Tresey

USF is a popular pick to win the Big East this season because they return Grothe and Selvie, but everyone seems to forget that it’s the same old song and dance year in and year out in Tampa. The Bulls start off hot, beat a few ranked opponents and then fall apart in mid-October. This season their mid-October matchup is a Thursday night duel on ESPN with the 2008 champs, the UC Bearcats.

West Virginia University

Why they can: Jarrett Brown has experience at quarterback and Noel Devine is back at running back

Why they can’t: Bill Stewart can’t manage games

West Virginia has a chance this year to prove that the Big East can play with the biggest boys in college football when they travel to Auburn and play host to Colorado. Last year West Virginia lost to Colorado in overtime when Bill Stewart mismanaged the game late and didn’t allow his senior quarterback Pat White—now with the Miami Dolphins—to lead his team to victory. White’s replacement Jarrett Brown looks to put the Mountaineers back in the national title hunt.

Hopefully you learned a little bit about each team in the Big East by reading my short thoughts on why they can and why they can’t win the conference. Tomorrow I’ll step away from the Big East and look into football the way it used to be played; the flexbone triple option attack that Navy will employ against Ohio State on Saturday in what I consider to be the most awaited game of the weekend. Until then, enjoy your Tuesday.