Big East in the Bowls

It says something that the game being played in Birmingham, Alabama (South Carolina vs UConn) is being played under colder conditions than that in Toronto, Canada (South Florida vs Northern Illinois). True it was close to one (1) degree F on the streets of Toronto and they played indoors at the Rogers Centre, but still....

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Speaking of the Independence Bowl, South Florida pulled away in the second half to beat the Northern Illinois Huskies 27-3. Way to go Bulls!

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Meanwhile, in the PapaJohn's Bowl in Alabama, the UConn Huskies out muscled South Carolina 20-7.

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So the Big East ends the bowl season with a record of 4-2.

Rutgers beat Central Florida 45-24 in the St. Petersburg Bowl played in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Pitt beat North Carolina 19-17 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl played in Charlotte, NC.

West Virginia lost to Florida State 33-21 in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. This in Coach Bobby Bowden's last game after a historic career.

Cincinnati lost to Florida 51-24 in the Sugar Bowl played in New Orleans, La. The final game for larger than life QB Tim Tebow who set all kinds of BCS records. And, possibly, the final game for coach Urban Meyer.

Scarlet Knights are 8-3

Rutgers 34, Louisville 14

How the heck did RU lose 31-13 to the Orange of Syracuse last week? They totally dominated the first half today. Freshman Tom Savage was nearly perfect in the air during the first half as RU leaped out to a 28-7 lead. Freshman wide receiver Mohamed Sanu ran for 148 yards out of the wildcat formation and scored two TDs doing so. He is the fourth to run for more than 100 yards in a game for the Scarlet Knights this year. Sophomore Joe Martinek (one of the four) added 90 yards on the ground. Senior WR Tim Brown made seven catches for 124 yards and a TD which increases his school record TD number to 19. He has also reached 1,051 yards receiving giving him 1,000 yards for just the first time in his career and making him only the fourth receiver in RU history to surpass the 1,000-yard mark.

Okay, last week RU was held to just 130 yards total offense as the Orange crushed (sacked) Savage seven times.

(The RU story is here.)

The Knights play once more during the regular season on Saturday, December 5th against West Virginia in Rutgers Stadium. A win in that game would move RU into third place in the Big East behind Cincinnati (11-0, 6-0 with a win over Illinois today) and Pittsburgh (9-1,5-0 facing west Virginia tonight) and boost their position in the bowls. Pittsburgh faces off against WVU tonight (Friday). I'll be watching that game with great interest. Not just to see how those two teams fair, but to see how RU will stack up against WVU. (They have already lost to Pitt--and Cincinnati.) Then there's Cincinnati's final game at Pitt on December 5th. Should the Panthers beat the Mountaineers tonight, that December 5th game will be for a Big East title and a BCS Bowl appearance.

Aerie Report, November 12, 2009

We had a successful day at Cabela's. Picked up the ThermaCELL (package of two linked to yesterday) with two sets of replacements and Christmas presents (clothes) for several people on our list. Terry found a nice blouse she liked and that fit her. She usually has trouble at Cabela's finding clothes to fit her, but this was a Woolrich product. I got myself a new set of heavy duty insulated long johns for those cold days on stand, a new rifle sling (since I only have one and have to switch when I change the rifle I carry), a three-legged stool for sitting in a ground blind, and a few other odds and ends. I looked at some of the bows and a couple of firearms but decided to pass on those right now. We dropped some change to help boost the economy, but between a rebate card for Cabela's, a rebate card from Cooper Tires, accumulated points from use of a Cabela's Club VISA card, and a $20 off coupon...well, it didn't take a lot of green out of the wallet.

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I keep forgetting just how far it is from the Aerie (on the northern edge of PA) to Cabela's (in Hamburg on I-78 on the very southern edge of the state). From door to door it was 150 miles. It took us 3-1/2 hours going down (Rt. 15 to Rt. 61) and just 3 hours to return. Two hours shopping and it was a long day.

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Sitting here now watching Rutgers dismantle South Florida. The game just ended and RU won 31-0 over the #24 Bulls. And the Scarlet Knights should have lead by more having settled for FG attempts instead of TDs on several long drives in the first half. The offense may have struggled in the opening half, but the defense! My goodness did the defense dominate in this game.

The win makes RU bowl eligible with a record of 7-2, 2-2. Three games remain on the schedule for Terry and my alma mater: @ Syracuse, @ Louisville, and West Virginia at home.

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Speaking of the Big East.... There are three teams in the hunt for the Big East title: Cincinnati at 9-0, 5-0 in conference, are on top being chased by Pittsburgh (8-1, and also 5-0 in conference) and West Virginia (7-2, 3-1). Each of these teams have yet to play the other two. Each has a one home and one away game against the other two.

Tomorrow night, West Virginia plays at Cincinnati. The Bearcats have to figure out which of their excellent quaterbacks should start. The Mountaineers have a more troubling problem. RB Noel Devine may have to sit the game out due to an ankle injury. That will put the WVa squad at a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Pitt squares off against Notre Dame on Saturday.

Week 7 In the Big East

Three intra-conference match-ups this week including one between Top 25 teams means there’s going to be some hard, hard football being played. The winners will move on up the ladder toward bowl eligibility and the Big East title.

8/9/10 (8/10/10) Cincinnati (5-0) The Bearcats travel south to face #21 South Florida…on—da-da-da-daaa-- Thursday night. I can't believe I'll be rooting for the Bulls in this one.

The Louisville Cardinals (2-3) play at Connecticut (3-2) on Saturday. Mush, Huskies! Mush!

The Pittsburgh Panthers (5-1) play at Rutgers (4-1) on Friday night. It's at Rutgers and the Panthers looked a tad vulnerable--and lucky--last week against UConn. I'm rooting for my Scarlet Knights. (R U Rah! Rah!) For me the question is who will rush for 100 yards this week?

West Virginia (4-1) will host Marshall’s Thundering Herd (4-2) on Saturday. Look for the Mountaineers to dominate their instate rival from Conference USA.

Syracuse (2-4) will have the weekend off. They need it.

Week 6 Results in the Big East

#8 Cincinnati (5-0) is idle

The UConn Huskies (3-2) played the Pittsburgh Panthers (5-1) in a well fought match that went down to the final seconds. Unfortunately, Pitt had the ball at that time and a field goal as the clock ran out meant a 24-21 victory for the Panthers.

In another close contest, the Louisville Cardinals (2-3) got a field goal with 30 seconds left to edge Southern Mississippi (3-3) by a score of 25-23.

Pittsburgh (5-1) The Panthers beat Connecticut (3-2) 24-21.

Rutgers (4-1) shut out Texas Southern (1-4) 42-0. This is the fourth year in a row that the Scarlet Knights have posted a shutout. Only Boise State can match that record in the last four years. Freshman De'Antwan Williams carried the ball 19 times for 132 yards—all in the second half--including a 44-yard TD run, thus becoming the fourth RU running back to crack the century mark this season. The RU defense “allowed” minus 25 yards rushing and returned one interception for a TD courtesy of sophomore cornerback David Rowe’s 56-yard romp. Over the previous three games, Rutgers has allowed 45 rushing yards combined. This was the second RU game against a FCS team—Howard was the first--and the BCS allows only one to count toward bowl eligibility. Still, it was the 600th win in school history.

#23 South Florida (5-0) is idle.

It was all Mountaineers in the first half as West Virginia (4-1) out manned Syracuse (2-4) 34-13.

West Virginia (4-1) The Mountaineers beat up Syracuse (2-4) 34-13.

Week 6 for The Big East Coming Up

This week’s Big East Schedule is another abbreviated one. Both #8 Cincinnati (5-0) and #23 South Florida (5-0) are idle. Two games match conference teams against each other and will go a long way toward setting up the Big East standings.

#8 Cincinnati (5-0) is idle

Connecticut (3-1) The Huskies will play at Pittsburgh (4-1). Pitt should win easily.

Louisville (1-3) The Cardinals host Southern Mississippi (3-2). This will make or break the Cardinals' season. It's all ready a long one for the Louisville squad but another loss here and it will become a real gut check.

Pittsburgh (4-1) The Panthers host Connecticut (3-1). As I said above, Pitt by at least 14.

Rutgers (3-1) hosts Texas Southern (1-3). The Knights play another FCS team (Howard was the other) and it will serve as a learning session for freshman QB Tom Savage who should be ready to go after suffering a head injury at Maryland.

#23 South Florida (5-0) is idle.

Syracuse (2-3) The Orange will host West Virginia (3-1). Does Syracuse have the defense to hold the Mountaineers in check? No. Do they have the offense to outscore them? No. The question is how big the margin will be.

West Virginia (3-1) The Mountaineers play at Syracuse (2-3). As long as they play like they did this week, they should score whenever they want.

Week 5 Reults in the Big East

There’s nothing surprising about the results in the Big East this week. Teams that should have won did. Teams that should have lost did. Both Connecticut and Rutgers are idle.

#10 Cincinnati (5-0) beat Miami (Ohio) (0-5) 37-13.
Connecticut (3-1) idle.

Pittsburgh (4-1) pounded Louisville (1-3) 35-10 Friday night.

Rutgers (3-1) idle.

South Florida (5-0) beat Syracuse (2-3) 34-20 taking advantage of five (5) interceptions thrown by Gregg Paulus and two lost fumbles by the Orange.

West Virginia (3-1) had some Devine (220 yards rushing) help in defeating the Buffaloes of Colorado (1-3) 35-24 on Thursday night.

Devine intervention

Chester and I watched the West Virginia-Colorado football game last night. WVU won 35-24 but it wasn't--and should not have been--that close. The Mountaineers had a case of the turnovers in the first half and kept handing the ball over to the Buffaloes Luckily for WVU: 1) the Buffs failed to do anything with the ball in that first half missing two field goals within the 40 and just not advancing much on the goal line and 2) WVU had Noel Devine.

Devine ran for a personal best 220 yards on 22 carries and got a good chunk of the yardage in the first half which included a 77-yard TD run and another 56-yard run from scrimmage. In the fourth quarter, he carried nine times on one drive alone before WVU's red-shirt freshman running back Ryan Clarke scored on a one-yard play.

Take out those two big runs--77 yards and 56 yards--and Devine gained just 87 yards on his other 20 carries or a little over 4 yards a carry. The same thing happened last week against Auburn. Devine had 128 yards on 15 carries but 71 of them came on one play meaning he had just 57 yards on his other 14 carries. Again, that's about 4 yards per carry. Nothing to sneeze at but stoppable. Just DO NOT let him get passed the linebackers!

Devine's quick and he's fast, and when he's on his game, he's tough to stop. But that was against Colorado's defense. A defense that seemed to be pretty tough on the pass but very soft (or slow) on the run.

On defense, the Mountaineers had their problems but did a lot of bending without breaking. Except for a 36 yard run by Colorado's Rodney Stewart (who finished the night with 105 yards on 21 carries) and a 29-yard TD pass from Cody Hawkins to Scotty McKnight to make the score 21-17 WVU, the Mountaineers allowed little until the final drive of the game. Still, the stats show the Buffaloes ran 84 plays for 392 yards, 292 of which were through the air. I'd say they are vulnerable.

It will be interesting to see how WVU fares against Cincinnati and Southern Florida. They play at Rutgers in their final game of the regular season on December 5.

Tonight it'll be Pittsburgh vs. Louisville. I just hope Chester lets me have more of the love seat tonight. Did I mention he fell asleep last night with his head draped over my arm? What's worse is he snores--almost as loudly as he purrs.

Week 5 in the Big East

Only six of the eight teams are playing this week. Both Connecticut and Rutgers are idle.

You’ve got two contest pitting Big East teams against each other on this week’s schedule. Both Louisville (against Pitt) and Syracuse (against South Florida) will be trying to prove they do not belong at the bottom of the Big East. I don’t think either will manage to prove that this week.

#10 Cincinnati should have an easy time even though they are (*ahem*) on the road. WVU should also prove victorious over a mediocre Colorado team.

#10 Cincinnati (4-0) at Miami (Ohio) (0-4)

Connecticut (3-1) is idle.

Pittsburgh (3-1) is at Louisville (1-2) (Friday night)

Rutgers (3-1) is idle.

South Florida (4-0) at Syracuse (2-2)

West Virginia (2-1) hosts Colorado (1-2) (Thursday night)

Week 4 in the Big East

The Big East is still playing outside the conference. (The only in-conference game to date was the RU/Cincinnati.) That happens when you play 12 games and have only 8 teams in the conference.

#14 Cincinnati was at home for Fresno State. Fresno State had the ball for 43:42 while Cincinnati possessed the pigskin for just 16:18. Fresno State ran 84 plays for a total of 443 yards while Cincinnati ran only 42 plays for 357 yards. So, of course, Cincinnati managed to win 28-20.

Connecticut hosted Rhode Island. Not much of a contest as UConn won 52-10.

Louisville was in Utah. The Utes were up 20-0 at half time and never looked back as they beat the Cardinals 30-14.

Pittsburgh traveled to North Carolina State. NC State QB Russell Wilson was 21-35 for 322 yards and four TDs. (That makes three weeks in a row he’s hit for four TDs in a game.) Oh, and he ran 10 times for 91 yards. Still, the Wolfpack defense had to make a stand when a bad snap was recovered by Pittsburgh to give the Knights 1st and goal on the 8 with 1:18 left in order to preserve a 38-31 victory in this see-saw game.

Rutgers played at Maryland. RU’s true freshman QB, Tom Savage, sat out the game because of head injury sustained last week. His replacement fifth year senior Dom Natale proved ineffective in the rain. So the defense and running game had to step up—but mostly the defense. RU got an interception on the first play from scrimmage and scored on the return. Trailing 13-10 at the half, the Scarlet Knights scored again on a fumble recovery in the end zone early in the second half to regain the lead, 17-13. San-San Te connected on three field goals, and Joe Martinik ran for over 100 yards in the second consecutive week. He finished the day with 148 yards and two rushing TDs, one of 61-yards and the other f 24-yards, both in the fourth quarter. Rutgers outscored the Terrapins 24-0 in the second half to win 34-13.

South Florida played at #18 Florida State. South Florida lost Matt Grothe last week to a season ending injury. It didn’t matter as red-shirt freshman QB B.J. Daniels stepped in to complete 8 of 21 passes for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns. Plus he ran for 126 yards as the Bulls upset the Seminoles 17-7.

Syracuse played at home against Maine. The Orange trailed 17-13 at the half but then scored 28 unanswered points against the Black Bears at the start of the second half before Maine added a meaningless TD to make it 41-24.
West Virginia was idle.

Big East results from Week 3

17/21/25 Cincinnati (3-0) plays at Oregon State (2-1). The Bearcats beat the Beavers 28-18 as Tony Pike posted a 31-49-332-1 line while throwing two TD passes and rushing for another.

Connecticut (2-1) prevailed over Baylor (1-1) 30-22 as both Andre Dixon (149 yards, three TDs) and Jordan Todman (103 yards) ran wild.

Louisville(1-1) lost to Kentucky (2-0)31-27 in a game that resembled a basketball game more than football. Back and forth they went in the final quarter before the smoke settled.

Pittsburgh(3-0) beat Navy (1-2) 27-14. The Panthers held the Midshipmen to just 129 yards on the ground and 218 yards total offense.

Rutgers got the W over Florida International 23-15 after leading 23-0 with less than seven minutes remaining. RU’s Freshman QB Tom Savage did not impress in this one and sat out the last 12 minutes after getting his bell rung.

South Florida (3-0) romped over Charleston Southern (0-3) by a score of 59-0. Matt Grothe lead the Bulls on three scoring drives but then came out of the game with a left knee sprain. At the time he came out, he had already complete 11 of 14 for 149 yards and two TDs, including a 50 yards TD strike to Carlton Mitchell. Grothe’s replacement, redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels did fine as he also tossed a 50-yard TD pass to Dontavia Bogan while running for two others.

Syracuse (1-2) triumphed over Northwestern (2-1)37-34 when Ryan Lichtenstein kicked a 41-yard field goal on the final play of the game. Greg Paulus ran for one TD and was 24-for-34 with two TDs. On the negative side, he threw for one interception and lost a fumble that could have cost the Orange the game. Only an interception of Northwestern’s Mike Kafka late in the fourth quarter to set up the winning field goal saved the day.

West Virginia (2-1) roared out of the gates after a thunderstorm delayed the start of their game at Auburn (3-0). Noel Devine rushed for 128 yards on 15 carries and scored the first two TDs of the game (one a 71 yard sprint up the middle) and added a third TD in the second half. The Mountaineers had a total of 509 yards of offense (207 on the ground and 302 in the air). Should be a cake walk, right?
Auburn answered with 400 yards of offense and kept grinding away. Auburn was second in the nation behind Navy in rushing offense coming into the game. So, of course, it was QB Chris Todd’s arm that resulted in four TDs—three on passes to Darvin Adams and the fourth an 82 yard bomb to Mario Fannin.

But despite all the offense, it was defense that won the game. Auburn’s Craig Stevens returned an interception of a WVU pass 15 yards for a TD with 3:41 left in the game. It was one of five interceptions suffered by WVU on the night. The conversion made the score 41-30

Big East play in Week 3

This week in the Big East we will see the following contests:

#17 Cincinnati (2-0 visits Oregon State (2-0). The Bearcats are off to an excellent start. Now we find out how they can play against a big conference school. Their explosive offense should give the Beavers fits. Jet lag could make it closer than it should be.

Connecticut (1-1) plays at Baylor (1-0). Heh? Who knows? The Huskies could be 2-0 except for that freaky holding call that lead to a safety. Are they tough enough to handle the Bears? We’ll find out on Saturday.

Louisville (1-0) plays at Kentucky (1-0). Big intrastate rivalry here. They are usually difficult to predict, but this is not the Cardinals’ year.

Pittsburgh (2-0) hosts Navy (1-1). Navy could easily be 2-0 right now. Could be a good chance to see what Pittsburgh is made of. This will be a close game either way it turns.

Rutgers (1-1) hosts Florida International (0-1). Frosh QB Tom Savage should get more experience under his belt for RU. Will he stay in long enough to throw for 300 yards this week? (Savage played only one series in the second half against Howard and still amassed 223 yards in passing. And RU didn't pass at all in the second half.) Troubling is the statistic that shows RU was only 3 for 10 on third down conversions. Of course they had FOUR TD drives of TWO plays or less.... Tough to get a third down conversion on those.

South Florida (2-0) hosts Charleston Southern (0-2). The Bulls should roll in this one.

Syracuse (0-2) hosts Northwestern (2-0). Orange QB Greg Paulus may wish he had stayed with basketball.

West Virginia (2-0) plays at Auburn (2-0). Like Cincinnati, the Mountaineers get a real test this week. So far things haven’t been…well…Devine, yet WVU has managed to post two Ws. They will need their premier running back to step it up a notch this week.

Big East results from Week 2

In the Big East things were a bit mixed this week.

#23 Cincinnati (2-0) walloped Southeast Missouri State 70-3.

West Virginia (2-0) beat East Carolina 35-20.

Pittsburgh (2-0) doubled up on Buffalo 54-27.

South Florida (2-0) treated Western Kentucky harshly 35-13.

UConn (1-1) lost to #19 North Carolina on that odd safety. (Holding penalty in the end zone.)

Rutgers (1-1) thrashed Howard 45-7.

Syracuse (0-2) dropped their game to #7 Penn State.

Louisville did not play.

#24 South Florida 10, Cincinnati 24

I'm telling you, you've got to be crazy to play on Thursday night if you are a ranked team.

Banged-up QB Pike throws two TDs as Cincy downs No. 24 USF

"CINCINNATI -- Not bad for a guy with a broken arm."

Yeah, but it wasn't his throwing arm.

Louisville stuns RU 41-38 on late FG

It was a tale of two games. The first 29 minutes belonged to Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights built a 28-10 lead over the Louisville Cardinals when Ray Rice waltzed into the end zone from 6 yards out to cap a 6 play, 51-yard drive. It was Rice’s third rushing TD of the night. But, Brian Brohm had one minute in the half to work some magic. He needed only 49 seconds and five plays to get the ball into the end zone for the Cardinals and reduce the lead to 28-17 at the half. Worse, the 52 yard scoring pass to Patrick Carter shifted the momentum of the entire game.

In the second half the Louisville defense stiffened just enough, held RU to just 10 points, and allowed the offense to exert itself and get the Cardinals back into the game. In the second half, the Rutgers defense seemingly collapsed and the offense stopped opening holes for Rice. The Cardinals scored the final 17 points with Art Carmody kicking a 33-yard field goal with 20 seconds left to win the game 41-38.

RU Offense:
Rice ended the game with 120 net yards rushing on 30 carries and the three TDs. He had almost 100 yards in the first half. Mike Teel proved his thumb problem was heeled as he completed 21 of 32 passes for 265 yards and 2 TDs. Sophomore Kenny Britt (12 catches for 173 yards and 2 TDs) and Junior Tiquan Underwood (4 catches for 63 yards) surpassed the 1,000 yard mark for receiving for the year.

RU Defense:
The defense looked inspired in the first half. In the second they just looked tired. Missed tackles and containment assignments on the edges allowed some big running plays by the Cardinals. They did sack Brohm five times and made several tackles for losses, but the big plays were killers.

Louisville Offense:
Freshman Bilal Powell rushed for 103 yards on 13 carries and Junior Brock Bolen had 117 yards also on 13 carries for the Cardinals as they ran through and around a suddenly porous RU defense. Brohm was 12 of 22 for 227 yards including that 52 yard strike to Carter to end the first half scoring. Senior Art Carmody set a NCAA record for career points by a kicker when he booted a 41-yard field goal early in the first quarter and won the game with a 33-yard kick with 20 seconds to play. It was the first time in his four years that he had kicked a game winning FG with time running out.

Louisville Defense:
Much maligned during the season and beaten badly in the first half, they came out and played some very good football in the second half. They left nothing on the field and stopped RU from scoring too many points giving the offense a chance to win the game.

Rutgers falls to 7-5, 3-4 in the BIG EAST, as they head to Toronto for the International Bowl on January 5th. Louisville evened its record at 6-6, 3-4 in the BIG EAST.

The full story and stats here and here.

RU slips past Pittsburgh 20-16plus a look at the BIG EAST bowl chances

Rutgers eked out a victory over Pittsburgh 20-16 in their final home game of the season yesterday. Mike Teel threw for a 56-yard touchdown to Kenny Britt before his troublesome sore thumb limited his playing time and Ray Rice ran for 112 yards and one TD while Jeremy Ito nailed two field goals for the other RU points. It was a near thing as the Panthers had the ball in the closing moments only to be called for offensive pass interference in the end zone on what could have been the winning score and they then were intercepted with mere seconds to go.

The Scarlet Knights improved to 7-4 overall and 3-3 in the BIG EAST while Pitt fell to 4-6 and 2-3 in conference play.

The full story and stats can be found here.

In other BIG EAST play West Virginia downed Cincinnati 28-23 and Connecticut defeated Syracuse 30-7 setting up a virtual title game this weekend. South Florida rolled over Louisville 55-17 in the other BIG EAST matchup of the week.
The remaining BIG EAST schedule:
UConn at West Virginia on Nov. 24
Cincinnati at Syracuse on Nov. 24
South Florida at Pittsburg on Nov. 24
Rutgers at Louisville on Nov. 29
Pittsburgh at West Virginia on Dec. 1

The Bowl picture:
Five BIG EAST teams are currently bowl eligible.
UConn 9-2 overall 5-1 in the BIG EAST
West Virginia 9-1, 4-1
Cincinnati 8-3, 3-3
South Florida 8-3, 3-3
Rutgers 7-4, 3-3

The winner of the UConn/West Virginia game will more than likely be the league champion and move on to a BCS bowl. (There is a tiny chance of that not happening, but it’s very, very unlikely.) Last year the BIG EAST was 5-0 in bowl games. It would be nice to see them do it again.

About the BIG EAST

Things got a whole lot tighter at the top of the BIG EAST this week..

UConn fell to Cincinnati 27-3 ending their perfect mark in the conference.
West Virginia beat Louisville 38-31.
South Florida beat Syracuse 41-10.
Rutgers beat Army in a non-conference game, 41-6.
(Pittsburgh was idle.)

Current Conference Standings (and games remaining):

Connecticut 4-1 (Syracuse (H), West Virginia (A))
West Virginia 3-1 (Cincinnati (A), Connecticut (H), Pittsburgh (H))
Cincinnati 3-2 (West Virginia (H), Syracuse (A))
Pittsburgh 2-2 (Rutgers (A), South Florida (H), West Virginia (A))
South Florida 2-3 (Louisville (H), Pittsburgh (A))
Rutgers 2-3 (Pittsburgh (H), Louisville (A))
Louisville 2-3 (South Florida (A), Rutgers (H))
Syracuse 1-4 (Connecticut (A), Cincinnati (H))

Only four of the teams have been eliminated from the possibility of garnering the BIG EAST title. One would have to say things are still favoring Connecticut, but their game against West Virginia is looking more and more like the title game—assuming WVU gets passed Cincinnati. If they don’t, the Bearcats could claim the crown if the Mountaineers go on to beat the Huskies.

West Virginia trounces Rutgers, 31-3

The #6 West Virginia Mountaineers came north to Piscataway, NJ and Rutgers Stadium to take on their BIG EAST rival the Scarlet Knights. After knocking off the #2 team in the form of South Florida last week and playing WVU to a triple overtime loss last December, the Scarlet Knights must have thought they could pull off yet another big upset. It was not to be.

Steve Slaton ran for just 73 yards but scored 3 TDs and Patrick White ran for 156 yards and 1 TD as the Mountaineers beat the Knights for the 13th consecutive time.

Junior Ray Rice rushed 30 times for Rutgers and gained 142 yards. Rice became the first player in RU history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in three seasons. Unfortunately for RU, Mike Teel suffered 2 INTs and RU lost 2 fumbles in a game that was played in a heavy rain for the first half. While the rain stopped at halftime, the field remained wet.

WVU improves to 7-1, 2-1 in BIG EAST.
RU falls to 5-3, 2-2.

Full story here.

Rutgers downs #2 South Florida 30-27

Ray Rice rushed 39 times for 181 yards, Tiquan Underwood caught five passes for 114 yards and two TDs, and Mike Teel was 11-29 for 179 yards and 2 TDs but the big story will center around trick plays (a fake field goal for a TD) and defense. The D came up with 7 sacks and a game ending interception as they bent but didn’t break on drive after drive.

USF’s Matt Grothe was 17 of 34 for 247 yards and ran 18 times for 58 yards. But he got sacked 7 times by a gambling RU defense that just kept coming.

The last player to rush for more than 100 yards against the South Florida Bulls was—Ray Rice. On September 29, 2006, Rice ran for 202 yards in RU’s 22-20 victory over the Bulls in Tampa.

The loss ends USF unbeaten string and gives them a 6-1 record, 1-1 in the Big East. Rutgers improves to 5-2, 2-1 in the Big East.

RU vs USF Rutgers Wins 30-27

So, I went out again this afternoon and saw NO DEER! If this keeps up I'll have to take up a more exciting hobby--like fly tying.

I'm stuck without ESPN and in no mood to drive anywhere tonight to watch the Rutgers USF game so I've got the GameTracker from the RU web site AND the GameCenter from CBS Sports following the game for me. There's no sound and sometimes the delay between plays is unbearable but you do what you have to....

RU! Rah! Rah!

UPDATE:
17-13 for USF at the half. USF had a TD called back after they blocked a field goal attempt. "Illegal propelling of the ball" was the call. RU managed to drive the field win the last minute for a FG.

UPDATE 2: RU scores on their first possession in the second half on a 69-yard strike from Teel to Underwood. The Knights' defense held on the first possession AND the second but they buffed the punt and USF got the ball deep in RU territory. And the defense held AGAIN! USF missed the field goal attempt from short range.

UPDATE 3: RU fakes a field goal and the holder passes for a 15-yard TD. RU now leads 27-17. Still along way to go.

UPDATE 4: With the score 30-27 in RUs favor they get the ball back with about 5 minutes to play. A long drive could kill precious minutes but Rice fumbles the ball on the RU 40 and USF recovers. When was the last time Ray Rice fumbled? Why now?

But, once again, the RU defense holds and USF punts into the end zone for a touchback. Hold on to the ball!

UPDATE 5: 1:55 on the clock and USF, down 30-27, gets the ball back on the 50-yard line. The freakin' 50-yard line! Rutgers really needs a punter.

Thank goodness for Joe Lefeged! A 12-yard sack! RU's 7th sack of the night.

And the penalties! 4th and a mile after 25 yards of penalties.

Zaire Kitchen intercepts Matt Grothe's desperation pass. RU ball with 45 seconds to go and the Bulls with no timeouts. It's over! RU wins 30-27.