Rutgers News
2010 ULTIMATE BIG EAST FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
August 6, 2010 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
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
August 4, 2010 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
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 SUMMER SCHOOL: RUTGERS
July 16, 2010 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
Young Scarlet Knights look to build on 2009
By Raphielle Johnson
Big East (and college football) fans had an interesting dilemma going into the 2009 season. Which “experts” should be believed in regards to who was the favorite to win the Big East? The pundits on ESPN almost unanimously picked Rutgers to win, citing an offensive line that was expected to be the best the conference had to offer. However, the conference’s beat writers went in the other direction, picking the Scarlet Knights to finish fifth in the preseason poll. And unfortunately for Rutgers (and their fans) the season opener against eventual champion Cincinnati was a strong signal that the writers were closer in their projection.
Domenic Natale, chosen to be the starter due to his experience, struggled against the Bearcats and highly touted freshman Tom Savage wasn’t much better in the 47-15 pasting in front of a sellout crowd. The loss brought Rutgers and the expectations back to Earth, but there was a silver lining in that loss. Savage became the man, ushering in the future sooner rather than later and as he (and classmate Mohamed Sanu) established themselves the team improved as a whole. There were certainly hiccups along the way, most notably a 34-14 loss at Syracuse, but that’s to be expected of a young squad. To go from how poorly they played against Cincinnati to closing out a nine-win campaign with a whipping of UCF in the St. Petersburg Bowl signaled a growth that head coach Greg Schiano and his staff hope to build upon in 2010.
Savage enters the season as the unquestioned starter, earning Freshman All-America honors from three different entities in 2009 after throwing for more than 2,200 yards and 14 touchdowns. It says something that despite Scarlet Knight quarterbacks being sacked a combined 40 times (worst in the Big East) Savage completed 52.3% of his passes and threw just seven interceptions. A lot of the defensive looks that may have been foreign to the Pennsylvania native last season will be all the more familiar in 2010, which leads many to expect bigger things and rightfully so. And given his connection with Sanu there’s a very good chance of that progression taking place.
PHIL STEELE’S PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAMS
May 28, 2010 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
Phil Steele Releases All-Big East Teams
Daniels, Lewis lead the way for Big East talent in 2010
By Raphielle Johnson
CLEVELAND, OH – May 19, 2010 – Phil Steele sent his Phil Steele’s 2010 College Football Preview to the press. Enclosed is Phil’s preseason All-Big East Team as well as his All-American Team as it will appear in the Magazine, hitting newsstands June 8th.
Phil Steele’s College Football Preview is the nation’s most informative preseason football magazine and has always provided a preseason All-American team as well as preseason All-Conference teams. For more information or to obtain a copy of each of the All-Conference teams, please visit PhilSteele.com
BIG EAST FOOTBALL APPROACHING CROSSROADS?
May 11, 2010 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
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.
BIG EAST FOOTBALL 2009 SEASON AWARDS
December 9, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
Big East Honors Announced with Panthers and Bearcats splitting major awards
By Raphielle Johnson
The Big East Conference announced its 2009 football awards on Wednesday afternoon and there were few surprises with the results. Brian Kelly, who in some circles is rumored to be headed to Notre Dame, was named the Big East Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. Kelly’s Cincinnati Bearcats finished the regular season 12-0 and will once again represent the league in the Bowl Championship Series, playing Florida in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The Bearcats also saw Mardy Gilyard win the Big East Special Teams Player of the Year, the second consecutive award for the senior and third straight for the UC program (Kevin Huber in 2007).
As for the offensive and defensive honors those went to Pittsburgh, with freshman Dion Lewis winning both Offensive Player and Rookie of the Year. Lewis led the Big East in rushing and ranked in the top five nationally in rushing yards per game. Defensively Greg Romeus and Mick Williams shared the Big East Defensive Player of the Year award and as a team Pitt had ten players named to the league’s First Team All-Big East squad. Lastly the conference made late Connecticut cornerback Jasper Howard the honorary captain. Howard was tragically lost in the early morning hours of October 18th after playing one of the best games of his career in a win over Louisville.
“As a family, we wanted to respectfully remember Jasper Howard and honor his memory,” said Big East commissioner John Marinatto in the conference’s release. “In naming him the Honorary Captain of the 2009 All-BIG EAST Team, we have memorialized his name in BIG EAST Conference history.”
2009 Big East Football Awards
BIG EAST MONDAY MORNING QB: FINAL WEEK
December 8, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
by MICHAEL PINA
Some 940 miles away from the heart of Bearcat country, a 46-yard field goal by Texas’s Hunter Lawrence ended the possibility of a Cincinnati national championship berth. An incredible effort by Mardy Gilyard and the rest of Cincinnati’s undefeated team in a comeback win over Pittsburgh had hopes extremely high heading into Saturday night, but with Texas’s unimpressive 13-12 victory over Nebraska, the Longhorns, and not the Bearcats will be headed to Pasadena.
Regardless the Big East will be well represented in six bowl games, including the Sugar Bowl which is where Cincinnati will face defending national champion Florida.
The other bowl games are the St. Petersburg Bowl (Rutgers vs. UCF), Meineke Car Care Bowl (Pittsburgh vs. North Carolina), the Gator Bowl (West Virginia vs. Florida State), the International Bowl (South Florida vs. Northern Illinois), and the Papajohns.com Bowl (Connecticut vs. South Carolina).
Saturday saw three Big East match ups and thankfully all of them were closely contested, including the Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh instant classic which is where we’ll start.
A LOOK AT THE FINAL WEEKEND OF BIG EAST FOOTBALL
December 2, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
Bearcats and Panthers square off for Big East title in River City Showdown
By Raphielle Johnson
While there are three conference games on the schedule for the final Saturday of the regular season there’s only one that matters nationally. #5 Cincinnati (11-0, 6-0) takes its high-powered offense on the road to take on a Pittsburgh team (9-2, 5-1) coming off of a loss to bitter rival West Virginia. The winner (Noon on ABC) lands the Big East’s BCS bid, with the Bearcats winning the conference outright with a victory while the Panthers would share the trophy but not the most important spoils.
The question for the Bearcats: can they stop the run? It’s been an issue in victories over Fresno State, Connecticut and Illinois and they’re going to have their hands full with the freshman tandem of Dion Lewis and Ray Graham. Not only is Lewis a virtual lock to win the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award but a case could be made for him being Offensive Player of the Year. He leads the Big East in rushing and his emergence has taken some of the pressure off of QB Bill Stull, who’s had a banner 2009 despite his struggles last week.
The problem with first-year defensive coordinator Bob Diaco has been opponents’ ability to run between the tackles against the three-man front. Add to this a Pittsburgh offensive line that many consider to be the best in the conference and this could end up being a costly issue for the Bearcats. But if Cincinnati can take a page out of West Virginia’s book and force Stull into rushed decisions they could end up with the upper hand via turnover margin even if Lewis and Graham combine for a big afternoon.
BIG EAST MONDAY MORNING QB: LOOKING BACK AT WEEK #13
November 30, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
by MICHAEL PINA
Thanksgiving is officially behind us and Bowl Season is rapidly approaching. The Big East still has a national title contender that seems to dominate its opponents no matter who’s at quarterback and thanks to Notre Dame’s loss at Stanford on Saturday, the Gator Bowl will officially include a Big East team.
The Big East now has six bowl eligible teams (sorry Syracuse and Louisville) and has shaped itself into an extremely underrated, competitive football conference. Given that a few schools were forced to start young, unproven quarterbacks like Tom Savage, B.J. Daniels and Zach Collaros, the conference faired surprisingly well and should only progress over the next few years.
More heralded seasons by youngsters like Dion Lewis only reinforce the notion that the Big East isn’t standing pat, but rising up quicker than ever before.
BIG EAST WEEKEND PREVIEW: WEEK #13
November 25, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
Annual “Backyard Brawl” between Pitt & WVU takes center stage
By Raphielle Johnson
One of the fiercest rivalries in the game will be played on Friday night (7PM on ESPN2) in Morgantown and it would be a conservative statement to say that these two schools don’t like each other. The Panthers (9-1, 5-0) return to Morgantown for the first time since their upset of the Mountaineers in 2007, a result that knocked West Virginia (7-3, 3-2) out of a possible national title berth and could be seen as a program-changing result for both.
West Virginia did go on to win the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl with a dominant performance over Oklahoma, but that result changed the atmosphere surrounding Dave Wannstedt’s program. The Panthers won nine games last season and have followed that up with one of their best seasons as a Big East football member. Bill Stull, inconsistent throughout his career in the Steel City, has played the best football of his career due to improved decision-making and the presence of offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.
The Pittsburgh native calling the plays has done a masterful job of using the run (backs Dion Lewis and Ray Graham) and the pass (Jonathan Baldwin, Dorin Dickerson and Nate Byham) all season long and if not for a defensive letdown in the second half at NC State the Panthers are undefeated. The match of wits between Cignetti Jr. and West Virginia defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel will likely determine the outcome in Morgantown. As for the West Virginia offense, their explosive playmaking ability has sometimes been short-circuited by their propensity to turn the ball over.
