Notre Dame News

2010 ULTIMATE BIG EAST FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

A week-by-week look at the biggest games in 2010 within the Big East

By Raphielle Johnson

With camps getting underway (USF and Louisville kick things off on Thursday), now seems to be as good a time as any to take a look at the Big East football schedule for the upcoming season. Twelve games: seven conference and five non-conference, with the goal of those non-conference matchups to spread the wealth a bit. No teams will be seen twice on this portion of the slate, and seven of the eight Big East members will be on the schedule at some point. Feel free to add in your own thoughts below.

Week 1: Connecticut at Michigan (September 4th)

Michigan debuts their newly-renovated stadium amidst the cloud of NCAA inquiry in regards to practice time and other issues, not to mention two straight losing seasons under Rich Rodriguez. The Huskies, who won their last four games to close out 2009, never beat Rodriguez when he was the head coach at West Virginia (which received a letter from the NCAA today in regards to Rodriguez’s tenure in Morgantown) but this is likely their best chance. If the Huskies can shore up their secondary and tackling in space issues look out; it shouldn’t be a surprise if Zach Frazer, Jordan Todman and company leave Ann Arbor 1-0.

Best game: Pittsburgh at Utah (September 2nd)

Danger game: Cincinnati at Fresno State (September 4th)
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BIG EAST FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL & AWARDS WATCHLIST

Pitt receives all but two first-place votes in pre-season media poll

By Raphielle Johnson

Tuesday morning marked the official release of the Big East preseason media poll, with Pittsburgh being the pick to win the conference. Dave Wannstedt’s Panthers, who lost their final two conference games a season ago to miss out on a BCS bid, picked up the first place vote on 22 of 24 ballots to separate themselves from two-time defending champ Cincinnati and West Virginia by 48 points. The Bearcats and Mountaineers both finished with 142 points, although Bill Stewart’s squad picked up one of the other two first place votes. Connecticut, who won their last four games to end 2009, picked up the other first place vote and finished fourth in the poll. Rutgers, who has won their last four bowl games, finished fifth by twenty points over USF and Syracuse finished one point ahead of Louisville for seventh.

1) Pittsburgh -190 points (22 first-place votes)
2) Cincinnati – 142 points
(tie) West Virginia – 142 points (one first-place vote)
4) Connecticut – 131 points (one first-place vote)
5) Rutgers – 99 points
6) South Florida – 79 points
7) Syracuse – 41 points
8] Louisville – 40 points

Can’t say that this is much of a surprise; on paper well before Tuesday’s release the Big East looked to be a league of three “tiers”: the top four with Pittsburgh leading the way, followed by a pair of teams in Rutgers and USF who have the ability to be positive surprises and the rebuilding projects at Syracuse and Louisville bringing up the rear. Personal pick for surprise team is USF; the Bulls have a lot more talent at the disposal of new head coach Skip Holtz and his staff than meets the eye. The biggest question in regards to personnel has to be Syracuse. What happens if they don’t have the services of either Delone Carter (led the team in rushing last season) or Averin Collier (slated to be the starter once Carter was dismissed from school)? You’d have to drop them behind Louisville, who has RB Victor Anderson back for his junior campaign (look for him to rebound from last season should he remain relatively healthy).

My picks:

Pittsburgh
West Virginia
Cincinnati
Connecticut
USF
Rutgers
Louisville
Syracuse

Preseason Award Watch Lists

July marks the time of the year when the individual awards release their initial watch lists for the upcoming season, and a number of Big East players found themselves honored. Below are the players from member schools who are on these lists.

Nagurski Award: DE Greg Romeus (Pittsburgh), S Robert Sands (West Virginia), LB J.K. Schaeffer (Cincinnati), LB J.T. Thomas (West Virginia), LB Lawrence Wilson (Connecticut)

O’Brien Award: QB Zach Collaros (Cincinnati), Tom Savage (Rutgers)

Outland Trophy: G Art Forst (Rutgers), G Zach Hurd (Connecticut), T Jason Pinkston (Rutgers)

Thorpe Award: S Dom DeCicco (Pittsburgh), CB Brandon Hogan (West Virginia), CB Johnny Patrick (Louisville), S Robert Sands (West Virginia)

More awards watch lists will be released next week.

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BIG EAST FOOTBALL APPROACHING CROSSROADS?

Expansion possibilities threaten league’s viability

By Raphielle Johnson

The company line following the BCS meetings in Phoenix last month was that the Big Ten Conference would wait until December to issue invites to possible expansion targets, staying on course instead of accelerating the process as rumored. That may have been thrown for a loop if the report put out by 810 WHB in Kansas City on Monday has any truth to it. According to the Kansas City-based ESPN affiliate the Big Ten will invite four institutions to join the league: Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Rutgers. Is there truth to the report or is it merely speculation from “sources” that could be wrong? That’s the question and the report was followed by denials from those intimately involved with the process.

All four schools issued denials on Monday and with an issue such as this it’s difficult to find the truth in the midst of so many rumors. But well before this day the Big East had a simple decision to make. Is the league proactive, making a move with the idea of beating the Big Ten to the punch and gaining a little leverage for itself? Or does the Big East go the reactive route, acting only after it knows what the Big Ten’s course of action will be? You can’t blame Big East loyalists who’ve had flashbacks to the ACC’s calling of three schools back in 2003-04 when it comes to the latter course of action.

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BIG EAST MONDAY MORNING QB: WEEK #12 IN REVIEW

by MICHAEL PINA

My honest apologies to those who tune in each week for my Monday Morning Quarterback Column. Last week it just couldn’t get done, but I’ll do my best to make it up with in depth coverage of the three games which took place this past Saturday. We had a major upset, an expected outcome and a win for a suffering Connecticut program that was as emotional and fulfilling as one victory can possibly be.

Rutgers (7-3, 2-3) vs. Syracuse (4-7, 1-5) (31-13 Syracuse Win)

After finally cracking the top 25 for the first time this season, becoming the fifth Big East team to do so in 2009, Rutgers continued their woeful conference performances falling to Syracuse in what has to be the year’s biggest upset.

Fresh off a more than convincing 31-0 victory over South Florida, the Scarlet Knights looked terrible, specifically on the defensive end of the ball where they allowed 424 yards and 23 first downs by one of the most anemic offenses in the country.

Freshman quarterback Tom Savage played like a freshman, going 7 for 17 with 66 yards passing and two interceptions. In the end, Syracuse played like a team that wanted to win for its seniors on their day and they pulled it off.

South Florida (7-3, 3-3) vs. Louisville (4-7, 1-3) (34-22 South Florida Win)

B.J. Daniels had one of the better all around games by a quarterback this season, finishing with 304 yards passing and 141 yards rushing. He accounted for three touchdowns including a 20-yard run and a 16-yard pass. The freshman resiliently rebounded from the worst start of his career last week against Rutgers, accounting for 445 total yards (12 off of Matt Grothe’s school record) while surpassing his statistical output from last week in the game’s first two drives.

Albeit the win came against lowly Louisville. A team which has lost nine straight road games and looks as misguided as any team in the nation. The Cardinals actually managed to go up 16-14 on a second quarter punt return by Trent Guy, but a field goal at the half’s horn put South Florida up for good.

This clearly isn’t the Bulls season of dominance, but with a freshman quarterback taking his lumps, showing gradual progression and learning each week, South Florida looks like a dangerous school for the next few years and will certainly compete for the Big East title.

Connecticut (5-5, 1-4) vs. Notre Dame (6-5) (33-30 2OT Connecticut Win)

On national television, on the road, against a historic program playing on Senior Day, Connecticut was finally able to win that ever elusive close game which has been haunting them all season long.

It took two overtimes, but the Huskies managed to pull off the upset with a 4-yard Andre Dixon touchdown scamper through the left side of the line. Jordan Todman had the game’s highlight plays which included a 43-yard run in the second quarter that put Connecticut on the board and a 96-yard kick off return that tied the game at 17 in the third quarter.

Notre Dame’s Golden Tate had another fine game with nine receptions for 123 yards and one touchdown, but it wasn’t enough and all signs now point to this contest being the final nail in the coffin for Charlie Weis.

Quote of the Week- “You’ve got to understand what this team has gone through. A couple of close games, and then you lose a teammate, you lose a brother, you lose a son, and you’re trying so hard to honor him by winning on the field. We hadn’t done that.”

-Connecticut Head Coach Randy Edsall

Big East Top Performers- South Florida Quarterback B.J. Daniels- A superb day for the Bulls and specifically their young leader who, as previously mentioned, should only improve and get better over the next few years.

Connecticut Football Program- Huge win for the Huskies. No team deserved to win a game in the entire country more than Connecticut and to do it in front of the entire country made it all the sweeter.

Mike’s Big East Power Poll

Cincinnati
Pittsburgh
West Virginia
South Florida
Connecticut
Rutgers
Syracuse
Louisville

UCONN OUTLASTS NOTRE DAME IN OT

Dixon TD run in 2nd OT wins it for UConn leaving Weis’ future in limbo

By Raphielle Johnson

To put into perspective just how much Saturday’s 33-30 win at Notre Dame means to the Connecticut program in regards to football, here are the 1999 standings in the Atlantic 10 Football Conference:

James Madison* 7-1 8-4

Massachusetts* 7-1 9-4

Villanova 6-2 7-4

Delaware 5-3 7-4

William & Mary 5-3 6-5

Connecticut 3-5 4-7

Maine 3-5 4-7

New Hampshire 3-5 5-6

Richmond 3-5 5-6

Northeastern 1-7 2-9

Rhode Island 1-7 1-10

In ten seasons a lot has changed: the A-10 no longer sponsors football (the CAA handles that) and the Huskies have progressed to the point where they’d have the opportunity to visit South Bend. Now while Notre Dame isn’t “Notre Dame” you cannot discount what the result means for Randy Edsall’s program. Following a much-needed bye week there were numerous moments where it looked as if the Huskies were in danger of falling out of reach. The first: Jimmy Clausen’s quarterback sneak early in the second quarter to put the Irish up 14-0. At that point the Huskies hadn’t shown the ability to slow down the Notre Dame passing game.

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UCONN – NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL PREVIEW

A Look at the Notre Dame Two-Deep Roster as Charlie Weis Firestorm Continues

By Raphielle Johnson

Saturday marks the first-ever meeting between Connecticut and Notre Dame, and if you remember the days of watching Yankee Conference football at Memorial Stadium then you know how special this is. The future of head coach Charlie Weis is the national subplot on Senior Day in South Bend but the Huskies get an opportunity on national television to pick up their fifth win of the season. The question: can the Connecticut secondary hold its own against the vaunted Notre Dame passing attack? If so they’ll have a shot at heading back to Storrs with the win. No major injuries for UConn outside of those already deemed to be season-ending while the Irish will be without the stellar tight end Kyle Rudolph.

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A LOOK AHEAD TO WEEK #11 IN BIG EAST FOOTBALL

Last gasp for the Mountaineers in Big East race?

By Raphielle Johnson

West Virginia (7-2, 3-1) may be just one game behind Big East co-leaders Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, but their game on Friday night against the Bearcats is likely their final chance at being a player in the conference title race. By no means were the Mountaineers impressive in their 17-9 win over Louisville last weekend, even losing Noel Devine to a sprained ankle. But he’ll be ready to go in the Queen City where they hope to move the ball on a defense that struggled last weekend.

Cincinnati (9-0, 5-0) remained undefeated with a 47-45 win over Connecticut thanks to 711 yards of offense, but the defense definitely left something to be desired. They were unable to force any turnovers and had a hard time dealing with the Huskies’ power run game. The Bearcats have been best challenged by teams (Fresno State and Connecticut) who can line up and pound the ball, taking advantage of the Bearcats’ 3-4 scheme. Going against spread looks has helped Bob Diaco’s defense lead the nation in tackles for loss to this point in the season, but this may be the most versatile version that they’ll see.

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