Big East Football Week 10 Breakdown
Lock of the Week: Louisville at West Virginia
West Virginia is the lone ranked team in the Big East, so to represent the Big East they need to keep on winning. The Mountaineers aerial assault has carried them to their six wins this year and should be key in recording their seventh victory of the year. Last week they scored 41 points to lead them to victory. This game will not be a walk in the park for West Virginia though as Louisville is starting to catch fire, winning back to back games. To make sure that Louisville does not record their third consecutive win, the Mountaineers will turn to their talented signal caller, Geno Smith. Smith leads the West Virginia passing attack that averages 354.9 yards per game and ranks seventh in the nation. Sophomore wide receiver Stedman Bailey has emerged as Smith’s favorite big play target, catching seven touchdowns on the year. Louisville needs to keep him and the rest of the talented Mountaineers wide outs in check if they want to win this game. It has been the Cardinals defense that has kept them in games throughout this year, only giving up 16.3 points per game. They will have their hands full against their toughest opponent yet, and being on the road does not make it any easier.
West Virginia 31 Louisville 17
Upset Alert! Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
The Bearcats are an impressive 6-1, whereas the Panthers are a mediocre 4-4. However this Pittsburgh team is not to be taken lightly. They are very talented and can hang with most teams in the nation. Facing them at home is an even more daunting task. The Panthers lost superstar and impact player, Ray Graham, for the year last week so seeing how they respond without their running back will be interesting. The Panthers might be on a roll for the season and they will try it ride it out until the end. Cincinnati, on the other hand, has been dominating on both sides of the ball. The Bearcats are 19th in the nation in points per game, as opponents have only been able to muster up an average of 19 points per game. Compare that to the onslaught of points that Cincinnati hangs on opponents on a weekly basis, and you start to see how they are 7-1. The offense is 11th in points per contest, averaging 41.0 points! The Panthers defense will have their hands full with this explosive Bearcat attack. To make matters worse for Pittsburgh, they cannot key on one attack to stop this offense. This offense ranks 25th in the nation with 200 rushing yards per game and 57th in the nation with 233.9 passing yards per game. Pittsburgh will likely look to shut down the run and force the Bearcats to be one dimensional. The Panthers run defense struggled against Connecticut last week and this will be another struggle. Pittsburgh will have to overcome some adversity to win this game, and it will be a struggle, but either team is capable of walking away with a victory in this contest.
Game of the Week! South Florida at Rutgers
This game provides some great intrigue. South Florida is a talented team, yet has not won a single Big East game. They are on a three game slid, after starting the year 4-0 and becoming nationally ranked. Last week they were shunned by Cincinnati in a tightly contested game with a field goal being the difference in the game. The Bulls are still looking to turn their season around and beating a talented Rutgers team on the road would be a nice start. To do this the Bulls will turn to their dual threat quarterback B.J. Daniels. He has scored a total of 15 touchdowns on the year and will need to score early and often in this contest, as it could be a shootout. South Florida has a very scary offense that is very balanced as well. Daniels’ 1,867 passing yards and 376 rushing yards have combined to help South Florida rank 26th in pass yards per game, 27th in rushing yards per contest, and 29th in points per game. He will be facing a tough Scarlet Knight defense that was abused by West Virginia a week ago. Despite giving up 41 points to them, opponents still only average 19.1 points per game. The Rutgers offense has come alive, in large part thanks to their stud WR Mohamed Sanu, who has now caught 70 passes and reeled in seven touchdowns. Rutgers offense and defense will need to be up to the task if they want to knock off South Florida. South Florida needs this win, but Rutgers will please their home crowd and win this game in a shootout.
Rutgers 47 South Florida 40
Best of the Rest! Syracuse at Connecticut
Syracuse comes into this battle with a 5-3 record. The Huskies enter with a 3-5 overall record. However both teams are 1-2 in Big East play, so one of these teams will come out with a .500 conference record. To say this is a pivotal game for either team would be an understatement. The Huskies defense has been the key to their limited success, giving up 22.5 points per game, which is good for 33rd in the nation. Their offense has struggled so far this year, only scoring 22 points per game. The Orangemen enter play 63rd in points given up per game at 26.8 and 64th in points per game at 27.4. Connecticut will put Syracuse back in their place in this contest, as the defense will shut down Syracuse and quarterback Ryan Nassib will toss a few scores to build on his current 16 touchdowns.
Week 10 Football Breakdown Page
