Big East Roundup - Week One Standings & More

Big East conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week

Click on each team for game recaps, thoughts, schedules and more and scroll down for the games, results, players of the week and the conference roundup.
 
Cincinnati | Connecticut | Louisville | Pittsburgh | Rutgers
South Florida | Syracuse | West Virginia

Big East Game of the Week

Bowling Green 27 ... Pitt 17
Bowling Green became the first MAC team to win at Pitt as it overcame a 14-0 deficit with a 14-0 second half on touchdown runs from Anthony Turner and Tyler Sheehan. Pitt opened up the scoring with an 11-yard LeSean McCoy touchdown run and a four-yard Derek Kinder scoring grab, but Bowling Green hung around with two Jimmy Schiedler touchdown catches in the second quarter and saw its defense come through with a big second half. The Falcons came up with four sacks, including two from Diyral Briggs, while the run defense held Pitt to 46 rushing yards over the final three quarters.

Big East Player of the Week
West Virginia QB Pat White went 25-of-33 for 208 yards, five touchdowns and an interception, while leading the team with 63 rushing yards on nine carries in the win over Villanova.

	Conference			Overall
	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Connecticut	0-0	0	0	1-0	35	3	W1
South Florida	0-0	0	0	1-0	56	7	W1
West Virginia	0-0	0	0	1-0	48	21	W1
Cincinnati	0-0	0	0	1-0	40	7	W1
Syracuse	0-0	0	0	0-1	10	30	L1
Pittsburgh	0-0	0	0	0-1	17	27	L1
Rutgers	0-0	0	0	0-1	7	24	L1
Louisville	0-0	0	0	0-1	2	27	L1

Thursday, August 28
7:30	at Connecticut 35 ... Hofstra 3 CFN Prediction: Conn. 41-6
7:30	at Cincinnati 40 ... Eastern Kentucky 7 CFN Prediction: Cin. 37-10

Saturday, August 30
12:00	Bowling Green 27 ... at Pitt 17 CFN Prediction: Pitt 34-17  Pitt -12.5
12:00	at Northwestern 30 ... Syracuse 10 CFN Prediction: NU 37-20  NU -12
3:30	at West Virginia 48 ... Villanova 21 CFN Prediction: WVU 47-13
7:00	at South Florida 56 ... UT Martin 7 CFN Prediction: USF 51-7

Sunday, August 31
3:30	Kentucky 27 ... at Louisville 2 CFN Prediction: UL 33-27  UL -4.5

Monday, September 1
4:00	Fresno State 24 ... at Rutgers 7 CFN Prediction: FSU 35-31   Rutgers -5.5

Games of the Week
Aug. 30 - BGSU 27 - Pitt 17

Players of the Week
Aug. 30 - Pat White, WVU

Conference
Roundup

Cincinnati … It's not like the Bearcats were relying on Ben Mauk to win his appeal with the NCAA, but it was still important for veteran Dustin Grutza to come through with a big opening day against Eastern Kentucky before facing Oklahoma. The run defense was stifling against the EKU attack while the defense was a brick wall overall outside of the one touchdown allowed. Overall, the team pitched as perfect a game as it could've wanted, and it showed that things might just pick up where they left off after a strong 2007.
Connecticut … Connecticut might have beaten Hofstra without a problem, but it showed it still has a lot of work to do. If the passing game was an issue coming into the season, it remained that way after Tyler Lorenzen completed just 14 of 25 passes with three interceptions. Between the seven penalties and the five turnovers this was a sloppy game, and while the Huskies are better than Temple, they can't make the same mistakes next week against the better Owl defense.
Louisville … Before jumping off the cliff after a disastrous offensive performance against Kentucky, notice the bright side: the defense. The offense will come around. There's too much talent, too much speed, and too many good coaches to not come up with more production in a big hurry. The defense was the big question mark after last year, and it was swarming. Considering the O didn't provide any help, the D did a great job of holding up, especially against the run, despite being on the field for most of the game.
Pitt … There’s no sugarcoating how bad the Panthers’ loss was to Bowling Green. With expectations soaring for the nation’s No. 25 team, Pitt was lethargic and sloppy after the first quarter, raising the temperature for beleaguered head coach Dave Wannstedt. All of the concerns about the rebuilt offensive line came to life for four quarters as QB Bill Stull was harassed repeatedly and LeSean McCoy found little running room. In a pivotal season for the program and the coaching staff, but all is not lost. It's all about the Big East season, but Pitt has to be impressive next week against Buffalo or the overall attitude could go in the tank.
Rutgers … Rutgers needs to find a running game again. The strength might be the passing attack with the two excellent receivers and a veteran in Mike Teel, but too many passes were forced and too many drives stalled by trying for the mid-to-deep passes. The defensive front wearing down late didn't help, either. There's no reason to be too worried yet; Fresno State is a really good team.
South Florida … It's never a bad thing to have a light scrimmage before diving into the season, and South Florida got a chance to empty the bench against UT Martin in the ugly blowout. This was like a true NFL preseason game. The starters got some work in, sharpened up, and the depth got decent playing time. This was a nearly perfect performance against a way overmatched team. Even so, it's not a bad thing to be sharp on day one.
Syracuse … Even though it wasn't exactly hitting on all cylinders, for a little more than a half the Orange looked like it might upset Northwestern. And then reality set in. Syracuse ran out of steam, playing like the same inept program that’s won just seven games over the last three years, and got beaten up on the defensive front by the NU ground game. On a positive note, the defense did its job for roughly 40 minutes and the returns of backs Delone Carter and Curtis Brinkley will pay dividends to the running game. However, the clock keeps ticking for Greg Robinson who’ll need a miracle to save his job with a few more games like this.  
West Virginia… If the Mountaineers are going to be less explosive now that Bill Stewart is the head coach, it certainly wasn’t evident in the opener with Villanova. If anything, the attack will be more balanced. With a greater emphasis on the pass, West Virginia shook off a slow start to pull away for an easy win, but that's nothing new. That's what the team did throughout last year. Pat White was the star, throwing a career-high five touchdown passes and leading the team in rushing, but the defense also made a bunch of big plays. Everyone got in the act, as the ‘eers delivered seven sacks and got an interception for a score from LB Mortty Ivy.