Tue Sep 2 14:21:48 2008

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Big East Conference News and Notes

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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - CINCINNATI: The Bearcats crushed Eastern Kentucky by a 40-7 final last Thursday, marking the fourth consecutive season-opening win for the squad. Cincinnati nearly pitched a shutout, as EKU managed its lone score in the final minute of play. Quarterback Dustin Grutza threw for a career-high 296 yards with three touchdowns. He did not throw an interception and connected on 21-of-28 attempts. Dominick Goodman came through with 10 catches for 144 yards and two scores. The level of competition will increase tremendously in week two, as the Bearcats do battle with national powerhouse Oklahoma this Saturday.

CONNECTICUT: UConn moved to 6-0 in home openers at Rentschler Field as it crushed Hofstra by a 35-3 final. The Huskies got a tremendous performance from tailback Donald Brown, as he racked up 146 yards and four touchdowns, all four of which came before halftime. Connecticut has won its last eight home games, the sixth-longest streak in the nation. Impressively, UConn limited Hofstra to 40 rushing yards. The Huskies will take on an upstart Temple squad this weekend on the road. Temple is a former Big East member.

LOUISVILLE: Nothing seemed to go right for Louisville in its lopsided 27-2 loss to Kentucky in the season opener. The Cardinals turned the ball over five times and posted only 205 total yards. Sure, they played fairly well defensively, limiting the Wildcats to 210 yards, but that effort was overshadowed. The poor offensive showing marked Louisville's lowest yardage output since 2002. Fortunately, the Cardinals figure to have a great chance of evening their record at 1-1 this coming weekend against Tennessee Tech.

PITTSBURGH: Things looked good for the 25th-ranked Panthers early on in their season opener. Unfortunately, an early 14-0 lead was not large enough to hold off a tough Bowling Green squad, as the Falcons won by a 27-17 final. Sure, the Panthers did finish with a 393-254 advantage in total yardage, but four turnovers led to defeat. Tailback LeSean McCoy is being billed as a Heisman candidate, but he ran for only 71 yards. The Panthers will attempt to even their record this weekend when the Buffalo Bulls comes to town.

RUTGERS: The Scarlet Knights did not play nearly as well as expected against Fresno State on Monday and fell by a final score of 24-7. Mike Teel completed 20-of-39 passes for 263 yards in the setback. As for the RU ground attack, Kordell Young had a career-high 94 yards on 26 carries, as he tried to fill the enormous void created by Ray Rice's departure to the NFL. The Scarlet Knights were held scoreless in the first half for the first time since 2002. Rutgers will be idle until September 11th when the squad will take on ACC foe North Carolina.

SOUTH FLORIDA: It came as no surprise that the Bulls were completely dominant in their opener against Tennessee-Martin. They jumped out to a 28-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and cruised to a 56-7 victory. Statistically, the contest was extremely lopsided, as USF finished with a 520-97 advantage in total yards. There is some room for improvement, however, as the team turned the ball over four times. USF is slated to do battle with UCF on the road this weekend.

SYRACUSE: The Orange opened their season on the road against Northwestern and were handed a 30-10 defeat, as the Wildcats scored 21 unanswered points. Tailback Curtis Brinkley scored the only touchdown for Syracuse, and he posted 49 yards on nine carries. Early on, the Orange defense played quite well, allowing just one touchdown on Northwestern's first eight drives. Unfortunately, the Wildcats were able to get into the end zone on three of their final five possessions. The Orange will play host to Akron this Saturday.

WEST VIRGINIA: Many critics question the passing ability of West Virginia quarterback Patrick White. In the 48-21 victory over FCS foe Villanova on Saturday, White threw a career-high five touchdown passes en route to becoming the program's all-time leader in total offense with 7,984 yards. The Mountaineers scored on six consecutive possessions and were clearly in a different class than the Wildcats. West Virginia will have to play mighty well to beat upstart East Carolina on the road this weekend.