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BIG EAST MONDAY MORNING QB: WEEK #7

by MICHAEL PINA

Football takes a backseat this week in light of the incredibly tragic stabbing death of Connecticut’s Jasper Howard. How this team will move on from something as sad as this is simply an unthinkable dilemma and there is no doubting their focus certainly won’t be on football when they go up against West Virginia next week.

I only hope closure is brought to his teammates and family members as soon as possible; that the killer is found and brought to a swift and rightful justice.

There’s no appropriate way to smoothly transition from a situation as heartbreaking as this one to analyzing the four Big East football games that took place Thursday night and over the weekend, but we’ll start with Connecticut’s win over Louisville.

Connecticut (4-2) vs. Louisville (2-4) (38-25 Connecticut win)

At halftime, the Cardinals found themselves down a single point as they tried to formulate an upset and avoid falling to the Huskies three straight times. Behind half back Andre Dixon, Connecticut found themselves executing their traditional game plan of physical defense and an imposing running game. Dixon finished the day with 33 carries for 153 yards and three touchdowns.

While Connecticut’s strategy might be as conservative and predictable as they come, the Cardinals were eventually worn down by it, giving up 17 points in the third quarter. Louisville remains the doormat of the conference and have yet to bounce back from Bobby Petrino’s callous departure three years ago.
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#5 Cincinnati (6-0 vs. South Florida (5-1) (34-17 Cincinnati win)

This was hands down the most anticipated game of the season heading in, and it turned out to be even more of a let down than an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

The Heisman hopeful quarterback (Tony Pike) went down with tons of time left, South Florida’s freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels started out strong, but ended up performing as any freshman in that situation would, throwing costly interceptions and scrambling around when easier plays were open for the taking.

Daniels is somewhere in the top 20 in the category of most exciting players in the country and as he gets older, South Florida could be a very, very dangerous team. In the here and now however, Cincinnati looks like a national title contender. They went into a hostile environment under the nation’s watchful eye and systematically dominated a pretty good Bulls team.

The way they switched up their entire offensive attack after Pike’s injury, running it effectively time and time again, having their way with a very talented Bulls defensive line, was more than impressive and should be duly noted by pollsters should the Bearcats run the table.
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#20 Pittsburgh (6-1) vs. Rutgers 4-2) (24-17 Pittsburgh win)

There really isn’t too much more that can be said about freshman Dion Lewis. Rushing for 180 yards and two scores on 31 carries against a commanding Scarlet Knight defense, he’s obviously a special player and possibly the Big East’s M.V.P. up to this point.

This was the first win over Rutgers in four years for the Panthers and it was huge in more ways than one. Pittsburgh now finds itself atop the Big East and ranked for the first time all season.
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#23 West Virginia vs. Marshall (24-7 win)

The Big East finally seems to be getting the respect it deserves, with a third ranked team in the BCS standings. West Virginia probably should have been here before, but they solidified a much deserved spot with a powerful out of conference win over Marshall.

When Jarrett Brown went down with a concussion, Noel Devine picked things up for the Mountaineers, rushing for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. West Virginia looks like they could beat anybody on any given day, given their enormous amount of talent on both sides of the ball. If Brown can recover and get healthy, West Virginia has just as good as shot as anybody to win the Big East.

Big East Top Performers

Pittsburgh Running back Dion Lewis- In another stud performance against a team that Panther seniors badly wanted to defeat, Lewis stepped up in a big way, proving to be the key difference maker.

Connecticut Running back Andre Dixon- The defense knew what was coming at them and Dixon continues to deliver.

Quote of the Week

“Cincinnati should be ranked in the top five. They are that good. Their quarterback (Tony Pike) is ridiculous. He’s as good as there is out there.”

— South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt

Power Poll

1. Cincinnati
2. Pittsburgh
3. South Florida
4. West Virginia
5. Connecticut
6. Rutgers
7. Syracuse
8. Louisville