Big East Conference Football Roundup: Pittsburgh In First Place

Pitt is in the top spot in Big East Conference football with a 3-0 record after a 20-3 victory over Louisville on Saturday. The Panthers are 5-3 overall. Louisville is 4-4 overall, 1-2 in the Big East.

Pitt broke away from a 3-3 tie after one quarter, scoring the game's final 17 points.

Connecticut 16, West Virginia 13 (OT)

In Friday night action, Connecticut defeated West Virginia, 16-13, in overtime. Dave Teggart's 27-yard field goal provided the winning points in overtime.

Connecticut is 4-4 overall, 1-2 in the Big East. West Virginia is 5-3 overall, 1-2 in the Big East.

It was an historic victory for the Huskies (4-4, 1-2 Big East), who had never beaten the Mountaineers in six prior meetings, losing by an average score of 40-17 in those contests.

West Virginia got the ball to begin overtime. Smith led the team to the one- yard line, where on first down Ryan Clarke fumbled and Lawrence Wilson recovered for Connecticut, setting the stage for Teggart's heroics on the ensuing possession.

Syracuse is 3-1 in conference play after Saturday's 31-7 drubbing of Cincinnati.

Syracuse 31, Cincinnati 7: Orange No Longer Big East Doormats

Syracuse routed Cincinnati, 31-7, in Big East Conference football action Saturday afternoon. Now, we have to talk about the nitty gritty stuff. Could the Orange crack the Top 25 college football rankings this week? Maybe. Could they be headed to a bowl game for the first time since 2004? Maybe.

Over at SB Nation’s fine Syracuse blog, Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician, they are in a celebratory mood.

Syracuse Football is 6-2. It’s the first time they’ve won six games in a season since 2004.

They are 3-1 in the conference.First time they’ve done that since ’04 as well.

With four games left, they need only win one to go to a bowl game. something they haven’t done since, you guessed it…2004.

They have defeated South Florida, West Virginia and Cincinnati, whom they were a combined 0-15 against in the previous five seasons.

Quarterback Ryan Nassib threw a pair of touchdown passes for Syracuse. Cincinnati (3-5, 1-2) played without quarterback Zach Collaros, out with a bruised knee. Seventeen of Syracuse’s points came as a result of Cincinnati turnovers.

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Syracuse (5-2) at Cincinnati (3-4): Orange Hope To Build On Last Week

Coming off their biggest victory of the season, the Syracuse Orange are now set to face the Cincinnati Bearcats in Big East action this weekend at Nippert Stadium.

The Orange have been the doormat of the Big East for the last several seasons, but that label can now be lifted following the team's shocking 19-14 upset at 20th-ranked West Virginia last weekend. That now makes Syracuse 2-1 within the league, with its other victory coming at South Florida, 13-9, earlier this month. The Orange have already topped last year's win totals, when the team finished 4-8 overall and just 1-6 in the Big East.

As for the Bearcats, they are coming off their first league loss in quite some time, dropping a 38-30 decision to South Florida last Friday. The loss ended Cincinnati's 13-game conference winning steak and marked the team's first setback in 14 games at Nippert Stadium. The two-time defending Big East champions are now in need of a victory to keep pace for another conference title.

Cincinnati leads the head-to-head series with Syracuse, 5-4, courtesy of a 28-7 victory in last season's meeting.

The Orange didn't do much on offense last weekend, but four field goals by Ross Krautman propelled the team to a 19-14 upset of WVU. The offense did punch in one TD to complement the field goals and the Orange also racked up 183 yards on the ground to help move the chains. Antwon Bailey led the way with 94 yards on 19 carries, while Delone Carter added 75 yards on nine totes. Syracuse is averaging a respectable 154.1 ypg on the ground this season and the team is led by Carter, who has gained 637 yards and six TDs. QB Ryan Nassib has been mostly asked to manage the offense and he did so last weekend, completing just 5-of-15 pass attempts for 63 yards and a TD. He avoided any turnovers, which was crucial in such a close game, and Nassib has now tossed 12 TDs against only four INTs for the season. Van Chew has been his favorite target with 498 receiving yards, and he grabbed an important 29-yard TD pass in the upset of WVU.

Defensively, Syracuse was sensational last weekend and pretty much won the game versus WVU. Not only did the Orange keep WVU off the scoreboard for the final three quarters, but the unit also recorded three INTs, which led to a field goal each time. The Orange had just four INTs going into the game, so it was a remarkable effort. Doug Hogue had a pair of INTs, to go with a team-high 10 tackles, while Chandler Jones logged eight stops and two of the team's five sacks. Jones now has a team-high four sacks to his credit, and Hogue ranks third in tackles with 49 for a defense that is limiting foes to just 301.6 total ypg for the season.

Trailing for the entire game, the Bearcats rolled up 590 total yards, including an whopping 512 through the air, but it still wasn't enough to overcome USF in a 38-30 setback last week. Cincinnati had a chance to possibly tie things up, but its final drive ended when backup QB Chazz Anderson threw an incomplete pass at USF's 15-yard line with seven seconds remaining. Anderson stepped in for the final drive after starter Zach Collaros was sidelined with a leg injury. Collaros had thrown for 463 yards and three TDs prior to the injury, so he it was obviously a big blow not to have him under center when it mattered most. One of the premier gunslingers in the Big East, Collaros has thrown for 1,918 yards and 20 TDs against just four INTs, but he is listed as questionable for this weekend. Armon Binns and DJ Woods have certainly enjoyed having Collaros throw them the ball, as they have combined for over 1,300 receiving yards and 15 TDs already. Both cracked the century mark versus USF, with Binns catching 12 passes for 158 yards and two TDs, while Woods went for 137 yards on nine receptions. Isaiah Pead never really got going against USF with Cincinnati always trailing, but he leads a solid ground attack with 595 yards behind a 7.7 yard per carry average.

Facing what was supposed to be an inept offense, the Bearcats were burnt by several big plays in the loss to USF. The Bearcats surrendered several pass plays of 30 or more yards, including two that went for 64 and 70 yards, respectively. USF completed an efficient 13-of-16 pass attempts for 286 yards, averaging 17.9 yards per attempt. It was a poor showing from the defense of Cincinnati, which is now allowing 261.4 ypg through the air. The Bearcats have surrendered 13 passing TDs with just two INTs in 239 attempts, simply poor numbers. JK Schaffer heads this unit, which has had success in limiting foes to only 106.3 rushing ypg, with 60 stops.

Syracuse is coming off an impressive victory and the defense will need to be every bit as good this weekend. The Bearcats though, have plenty of weapons at their disposal and they should shine in a big rebound victory.