Football: UConn blows big win for the Big East

UConn, UChoked.

You were beating North Carolina, the No. 19-ranked team in the country, 10-0 going into the fourth quarter. You were on your home field, and you held UNC to no points all game without your best defensive player.

Nevermind that your defense allowed two 70-plus yard drives in the fourth quarter alone, letting UNC tie the game at 10. But the Huskies got the ball with 2:36 left on the clock to mount what everyone in the stadium was hoping would be a game-winning drive.

So you were missing your starting quarterback, but that didn’t really play into what happened next.

After an incompletion and a sack, on a 3rd and 22 from the eight-yard line, somehow UNC didn’t see a halfback screen coming and brought pressure. That’s when Connecticut’s senior offensive tackle Dan Ryan decided to bear hug and wrestle down a rusher who beat him to the outside while in the end zone.

Flag. Holding in the end zone. Safety to give UNC a 12-10 lead with 1:32 to play.

The best part is, the Huskies recovered the ensuing onside kick and drove to exactly midfield in two plays. While just 25 yards away from reasonable field goal distance, the Huskies were sacked on fourth down to end the game.

One holding call, a safety and just two points separated the Big East from its biggest win of the season.

Such is life in the Big East, a conference that while competitive internally, could really have used a win against a top 25, out-of-conference opponent.

But on to other doings in the Big East.

Pitt Football Question of the Week:

Dorin Dickerson caught three touchdown passes in Pitt’s 54-27 win over Buffalo last week. Only three times in Pitt football history has a player caught four touchdown passes in one game. Can you name the players? Check back next week for the answer.

Big East Player of the Week (Offensive)

Jarrett Brown, West Virginia – Brown threw for 334 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-20 win over East Carolina. The senior quarterback also ran 10 times for 73 yards.

Big East Player of the Week (Defensive)

Lindsey Witten, Connecticut – Had three sacks and 3.5 tackles in the loss to UNC.

Random Stat of the Week

Cincinatti’s Mardy Gilyard scored on a 53-yard punt return, a 1-yard rush and receptions of 8 and 37 yards in the first half against Southeast Missouri State. The last player to score via punt return, reception and rush in the same game was UCLA’s Maurice Jones-Drew (now of the Jacksonville Jaguars) on Oct. 8, 2005, against California. Jones-Drew scored three rushing touchdowns, one receiving and another on a punt return.

Week of the Weird

While leading 23-0, Rutgers inexplicably faked a PAT to go up 25-0 on Howard. Why would Rutgers waste the play on Howard so Big East teams can have it on film to prepare for it?

Also, where’s Bill Gramatica when you need him? As if the Connecticut-North Carolina game didn’t need any more wild occurrences, the Tarheel’s Zack Pianalto dislocated his right foot while celebrating after catching the game-tying touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Upon catching the pass, Pianalto jumped in the air, landed awkwardly and was eventually taken from the field in an air cast.

Rankings of Power – Week 2

1. Cincinnati (Last week: 70-3 win over South East Missouri State) – To say they took care of business would be a severe understatement. They’re well deserving of the No. 1 ranking.

2. Pitt (Last week: 54-27 win at Buffalo) – Offense looked really good against Buffalo, defense looked just OK. Either way, Pitt is 2-0 and hasn’t played up to its full potential yet.

3. West Virginia (Last week: 35-20 win over ECU) – Brown looks comfortable, and the Mountaineers are gaining momentum.

4. South Florida (Last week: 35-13 win at Western Kentucky) — The Bulls haven’t looked too impressive, but they are 2-0.

5. Connecticut (Last week: 12-10 loss to UNC) — Lost the game and their quarterback for at least a week. Not happy times in Hartford.

6. Rutgers (Last week: 45-7 win over Howard) — Looked dominant. It might as well have played the Rutgers scout team defense.

7. Louisville (Last week: Bye) — An off week to prepare for the in-state rival Kentucky.

8. Syracuse (Last week: 28-7 loss at Penn State) — When you’re exceeding all expectations, and are 0-3, you have a problem.

Get your name in the column: E-mail question answers to Randy at rjl25@pitt.edu