West Virginia
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.
PREVIEWING WEEK #12 IN BIG EAST FOOTBALL
November 18, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
Zach Frazer returns to South Bend as UConn meets Notre Dame
By Raphielle Johnson
At one point in time Zach Frazer was ranked among the best scholastic quarterbacks in the nation, even ranking ahead of eventual Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford in his graduating class. He was expected to go to Notre Dame (2:30 PM on NBC) and compete for the starting job but found himself on the outside looking in following spring football as a freshman and he transferred to Connecticut. The junior has now regained the starting job due to Cody Endres’ shoulder injury suffered against Rutgers and he looked good at Cincinnati two weeks ago.
This Saturday marks his return to South Bend and he’ll be leading UConn (4-5, 1-4) into a possible firestorm that has absolutely nothing to do with them. The question surrounding Notre Dame (6-4) involves the future of head coach Charlie Weis, who at this point in his tenure has the same winning percentage as Ty Willingham and Bob Davie…and they were fired. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick has announced that the state of the program will be evaluated at season’s end but it doesn’t take much to figure out that Coach Weis will need at the least a split of their final two games.
As for what may happen on the field, hopefully the Huskies have taken care of their tackling and pass defense issues with the extra time afforded to them. Connecticut will have their hands full with QB Jimmy Clausen and receivers Golden Tate and Michael Floyd, and tight end Kyle Rudolph is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury. The Huskies must limit the number of big plays through the air it they’re to win.
A LOOK AHEAD TO WEEK #11 IN BIG EAST FOOTBALL
November 12, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
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.
A LOOK AHEAD TO WEEK #10 IN BIG EAST FOOTBALL
November 4, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
Contenders look to avoid the upset as stretch run approaches
By Raphielle Johnson
Week 10 in the Big East has worked out (in regards to the schedule) to provide three games matching contenders for the conference title with teams looking to reverse their fortunes. All three contenders will be at home this weekend with #5 Cincinnati (8-0, 4-0) taking the prime-time stage (8 PM on ABC) against Connecticut (4-4, 1-3) at Nippert Stadium. As of right now QB Tony Pike, whose forearm has been improving, is questionable to play on Saturday night. But if he were unable to go Zach Collaros would get the start, and there hasn’t been much of a drop (if any) in production with the sophomore in the lineup.
On the other side of the field will be a Connecticut football team that’s been through a three-week stretch that shouldn’t be wished upon anyone. The death of Jasper Howard has been followed up by back-to-back losses by the same score (28-24), with both results coming by way of a late touchdown. Two issues that have been a problem for the Husky defense all season long, tackling in space and coverage breakdowns in the secondary, are two areas that the Bearcats can exploit with punishing regularity.
Mardy Gilyard has received the majority of the attention at wide receiver because of his big-play ability on both offense and special teams, but there’s another weapon to be concerned about. Armon Binns has taken advantage of the attention shown to Gilyard and D.J. Woods in recent weeks, and be it Binns or any other Cincinnati wideout the Bearcats can take advantage of mismatches should UConn cover the slot with a linebacker or safety.
The Bearcats are also one of the leading teams in the conference in sacking the quarterback, something that’s of added importance to their opponents this week due to the loss of QB Cody Endres (shoulder) for the remainder of the season. Zach Frazer, who entered the season as the starter before injuring his knee against North Carolina, threw four interceptions against Rutgers last week but did lead the two drives that ultimately gave the Huskies a 24-21 lead with 38 seconds remaining.
BIG EAST MONDAY MORNING QB: WEEK #9
November 2, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
by Michael Pina
After nine weeks, two teams look like they’re starting to separate themselves from the rest of the league as both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh find themselves ranked in the top 15 with the Panthers looking forward to a November 14th nationally televised primetime showdown against Notre Dame. Last year’s Irish vs. Panther match-up played out like an intense online Texas Hold em duel, but instead of a pair of card sharks matching wits, a pair of former NFL coaches, Dave Wannstedt and Charlie Weiss, tried to call the other’s bluff.
One of the biggest question marks right now in the conference however, is coming out of upstate New York where the Syracuse Orange’s best player Mike Williams abruptly quit the program this morning in a surprising development.
On to this past week’s games. We only had four of them, but two of the conference match-ups really showed just how competitive Big East football has become. Any team (except Louisville) can win on any given Saturday.
A LOOK AHEAD TO WEEK #9 IN BIG EAST FOOTBALL
October 28, 2009 by nbesports · Leave a Comment
South Florida looks to salvage season hosting West Virginia this week
By Raphielle Johnson
Having the look of a possible Big East title contender at the end of September, the USF Bulls once again had issues once the calendar hit October. Losing the conference home opener to Cincinnati shouldn’t have been as costly as it’s become given how good the Bearcats are. But USF (5-2, 1-2) hasn’t shown themselves to be the best at managing the disappointment of losing a “big game”, following up that loss with a beating at the hands of Pittsburgh last week.
USF was never in that game, going into the locker room at the half down 31-7 on their way to a 41-14 defeat. Now they’ve essentially been relegated to the role of spoiler, yet thanks to their schedule this is their last shot at derailing a contender. West Virginia (6-1, 2-0) comes to town on Friday night (8 PM on ESPN2), hoping to limit their turnovers and avenge their loss at Raymond James Stadium two years ago. The Mountaineers should be in good spirits following a wild 28-24 victory over Connecticut in an emotional game last Saturday.
