Big East Breakdown: Rutgers maintains lead, Pitt moves up

The Big East hit a low point this past week when the league’s football teams went 3-4 against…

Pitt moves up to fourth in this week’s Big East power rankings.

Sheldon Satenstein, Senior Staff Photographer

The Big East hit a low point this past week when the league’s football teams went 3-4 against mostly mediocre opposition.

Rutgers recorded the only notable win — a 35-26 triumph over Arkansas, who entered the season as a top-10 team favored to compete for an SEC championship.

Although Arkansas is now 1-3, it’s still an impressive win for the Scarlet Knights as they continue to prove me right by remaining at the top of my Big East power rankings.

With two — yes, two — Big East schools now in the top 25 of national rankings for the first time this season, here is my ranking of the eight conference programs heading into week five of the college football season:

1. Rutgers

While the Rutgers defense has carried the Scarlet Knights through most of 2012 so far, the offense and quarterback Gary Nova surged Rutgers past Arkansas.

Nova had a career day, passing for 397 yards on 25-of-35 passes for five touchdowns.

The Scarlet Knights, now ranked No. 23 in the country, proved their worth over a talented Arkansas team that has fallen on hard times.

Rutgers showed some resiliency in the win, as well. The Razorbacks jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, only to be outscored 28-3 in the second and third quarters.

2. Louisville

A 28-21 victory might have erased the memories of an upset loss to Florida International in 2011, but the Cardinals did not look impressive in the win.

On the road at FIU, Louisville almost came up short. The Panthers never trailed the Cardinals by more than seven points and even outgained their opponent in yardage.

Louisville head coach Charlie Strong’s stud quarterback Teddy Bridgewater finally looked human, throwing two interceptions.  However, he made up for it by adding three touchdowns, two passing and one rushing.

The Cardinals will need to play better at Southern Mississippi this Saturday.

3. Cincinnati

The Bearcats took the week off, and that was probably a good thing with most conference teams struggling in week four.

Virginia Tech, who will still be annoyed after losing to Pitt, looms this week on the schedule for Cincinnati.

The Bearcats’ rushing attack leads all Big East teams and is ranked 12th in the nation, with an average of 259 yards per game.

Since Pitt used a dominant rushing attack to beat the Hokies, look for Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones to call plenty of runs this weekend.

4. Pittsburgh

The Panthers did what they were supposed to do against their FCS opponent last weekend, beating Gardner-Webb, 55-10.

Not much was learned about Coach Paul Chryst’s team, even if Pitt did put up 626 yards offensively.

In the dominant win, Pitt had a major setback, as nine penalties for a total of 77 yards raised questions about the team’s discipline.

After how poor Pitt started the season, the Panthers might be the toughest team to judge in the Big East this year.

5. South Florida

A late touchdown by Ball State sunk the Bulls, 31-27, last Saturday.

South Florida got the ball back with just over a minute to play and drove down the field, but the drive stalled at the Ball State 28-yard line when USF quarterback B.J. Daniels threw an interception inside the 10-yard line on the final play of the game.

Although the loss came at the hands of an MAC school, Ball State has looked impressive in 2012, with only one loss. The Cardinals also clinched a win over Big Ten school Indiana.

This weekend, the Bulls have a chance to get the Big East’s biggest win of the year when they take on in-state rival No. 4 Florida State, a legitimate national title contender.

6. Connecticut

The Huskies’ fourth game looked very similar to South Florida’s.

Taking on a quality MAC school, Western Michigan, on the road, UConn narrowly fell, 30-24.

It was the second straight year that the Huskies lost to the Broncos, as Connecticut fell behind early, 17-0, and couldn’t recover from the initial hole, despite outgaining its opponent in total yards, 425 to 330.

The Huskies must beat lowly Buffalo this weekend at home.

7. Temple

The Owls lost to Penn State for the 23rd consecutive time last weekend.

But this loss especially stung for the Owls. After losing tight games against Penn State the past two years, many Temple fans marked this year as the chance to knock their rival.

However, Temple’s defense looked atrocious, allowing much-maligned Nittany Lion quarterback Matt McGloin to throw for 318 yards.

That said, Penn State played very poorly, and Temple never really competed. The Nittany Lions had nine penalties for 100 yards and committed the game’s only turnover.

Maybe a bye week will help the Owls regroup.

8. Syracuse

The Orange lost to an undefeated Big Ten program on the road by just one touchdown, but Syracuse still sits on the bottom of the standings.

That’s because Syracuse has gotten the benefit of the doubt too much this season for its several close losses, and losing to Minnesota — even if it is 4-0 — doesn’t fall in the category of a quality defeat.

Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib — still second in the nation in passing yards — struggled against Minnesota with two interceptions.

The lone bright spot for Syracuse was wide receiver Alec Lemon. His nine receptions for 106 yards moved him to first on the career reception record list at the school.