Big East Notebook: Week 7

Big East in Week 7 ‘ ‘ ‘ Not many Big East teams played this past weekend, and nothing… Big East in Week 7 ‘ ‘ ‘ Not many Big East teams played this past weekend, and nothing spectacular arose from those that did. If it weren’t for the defense and special teams making fourth-quarter plays, most teams would not be celebrating a victory. ‘ ‘ ‘ Louisville’s defense returned a fourth-quarter fumble to push the Cardinals past Memphis, 35-28. Barely leading Syracuse for three quarters, West Virginia moved to 2-0 in the conference after two fourth-quarter plays broadened the Mountaineer spread, 17-6.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ In its Big East opener, Cincinnati managed to hold off Rutgers, 13-10, despite an afternoon of penalties. ‘ ‘ ‘ Pittsburgh, South Florida and Connecticut had bye weeks in Week 7. Team Reports Several teams have been plagued with significant injuries. Others are just trying to find ways to win consistently. West Virginia quarterback Pat White has been out with a head injury suffered in the Rutgers victory two weeks ago. White, a 2007 Heisman candidate, has not been practicing with the team, but coaches and doctors don’t believe the injury to be too serious. Junior Jarrett Brown has been picking up the slack, and although he’s not Pat White, the Mountaineers are finding ways to win. The real test of West Virginia’s ability will come Oct. 23, when the Mountaineers face Auburn on ESPN. Cincinnati has also struggled in the quarterback position, losing two starting quarterbacks in Dustin Grutza and Tony Pike. In spite of these setbacks, the team is still averaging 29 points per game. However, the upcoming schedule will show how good Cincinnati really is, with games against every Big East opponent the rest of the way, with the exception of Rutgers. Cincinnati wide receiver Marshwan Gilyard is the Bearcats’ most notable offensive threat. Gilyard, the Big East’s leading kick returner, averages 15.6 yards per catch. Defensively, cornerback Mike Mickens is a big playmaker, leading the team with 39 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass breakups. Connecticut also lost a quarterback. Tyler Lorenzen broke his right foot during a victory over Louisville at the end of September. Since then, Connecticut has played one game, which it lost convincingly to North Carolina. ‘ ‘ ‘ Sophomore Zach Frazer made his first collegiate start in the North Carolina game, completing 29 of 44 passes for 210 yards and three interceptions. With the quarterback issues, pressure is placed on junior running back Donald Brown to make plays for the Huskies. Brown is the 10th Husky ever to rush more than 1,000 yards in a season. ‘ ‘ ‘ Standing at 5-1, 1-0 in the Big East, Connecticut is off to a good start. However, Connecticut’s real competition will come at the end of the season when it faces ranked conference opponents No. 19 South Florida and No. 23 Pittsburgh. Louisville has had a rollercoaster season up to this point, with wins over Kansas State, Tennessee Tech and Memphis and losses to Connecticut and Kentucky. The Cardinals are trying to compose an effective offense to take the pressure off the defense and special teams.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Speaking of defense, Cardinal cornerback Johnny Patrick was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week. In the win over Memphis, Patrick finished with six tackles, a blocked field goal and a 19-yard touchdown off a fumble recovery. ‘ ‘ ‘ Louisville also has a tough schedule coming up after Middle Tennessee State this weekend. Syracuse is 2-20 in Big East play under Greg Robinson, in addition to being ranked in ESPN.com’s Bottom 10. ‘ ‘ ‘ Despite the losing record, tailback Curtis Brinkley was named to the Big East honor roll for his 144-yard effort against West Virginia last week. Brinkley has run for more than 100 yards in four of the six games this season. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Orange will take on South Florida this weekend, where they are heavy underdogs. South Florida had a bye week after losing to Pittsburgh Oct. 2. The 26-21 loss was the first of the season for the Bulls. ‘ ‘ ‘ Opening with five wins, the Bulls equaled their second best start of the season. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Bulls lead the Big East in scoring offense, total offense, first downs, third down conversions and punt return average. Quarterback Matt Grothe leads in total offense with 258 yards per game. ‘ ‘ ‘ For the upcoming Syracuse game, sophomore running back Mike Ford is in the spotlight after rushing for 134 yards and two touchdowns in the 41-10 win over Syracuse last year. ‘ ‘ ‘ For the defense, Tyrone McKenzie is ranked third in the Big East for passes defended, while Jeff Murphy is ranked fifth. McKenzie is also tied for second in tackles. Pittsburgh is in the perfect position to make a statement. With the win over South Florida in the season’s sixth week, the Panthers regained their national ranking. ‘ ‘ ‘ With Navy this weekend, the determining factors of Pitt’s ability to sustain national attention will be offensive execution and defensive stops. ‘ ‘ ‘ Offensive threats like tailbacks LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling, combined with a variety of options like reserve quarterback Greg Cross, kicker Conor Lee and receiver Derek Kinder, give Pittsburgh the potential to have one of the best offenses in the Big East.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Defensively, Pitt has been productive this year under the leadership of defensive coordinator Phil Bennett. At the same time, Navy is not like any team Pitt has played this season. Pitt will face Navy this Saturday, a team Pitt failed to beat last year. Navy’s triple option was too much for the Panthers to handle in last year’s 48-45 loss. This year, Navy is averaging 350 yards per game and is one of the top rushing programs in the country. Lastly, Rutgers has completely fallen off this year with its worst start since the 2002 season, when it went 1-11. The problem lies with the offense. During the Cincinnati game last week, Rutgers held the Bearcats to 0 for 11 in third down conversions. Unfortunately, the offense wasn’t able to make anything happen. If something doesn’t change soon, it doesn’t look good for the Scarlet Knights’ chances this season. ‘ ‘