Big East Previews, Week 13
Courtesy of The Big East
November 20, 2007


CONNECTICUT HUSKIES at WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS
Saturday, Nov. 24 • 3:30 p.m.
Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000/FieldTurf) Morgantown, W.Va.
Television: ABC (Bob Wischusen, David Norrie, Jeannine Edwards)
The Game: Saturday’s game is the fourth meeting between Connecticut and West Virginia … The Mountaineers have taken each of the first three matchups, including a 37-11 decision last season at Rentschler Field … West Virginia quarterback Patrick White ran for 102 yards and a touchdown and threw for 156 yards and a score in last year’s game … Connecticut and West Virginia rank first and second, respectively, in the BIG EAST in scoring defense … The winner of Saturday’s game is assured of the BIG EAST’s automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series.
Head Coaches:
UConn - Randy Edsall (Syracuse ’80) 50-53, ninth season
West Virginia - Rich Rodriguez (West Virginia ’86) 59-25, seventh season at West Virginia; 104-61-2, 15th year as collegiate head coach
UConn Notes: Connecticut would clinch the outright BIG EAST championship with a win against West Virginia … Though the Huskies have never won the BIG EAST title in football, they most recently won a conference championship in 1998, when they finished as the Atlantic 10 New England Division champion … Connecticut’s athletics program has already won BIG EAST titles in field hockey and men’s soccer this fall … Connecticut has held its opponents to just 14.3 points per game, good for third nationally … The Huskies are fifth nationally in turnover margin (+1.36) … QB Tyler Lorenzen has completed 170 of 294 passes for 2,118 yards and 12 touchdowns … Lorenzen has thrown just five interceptions, or roughly one pick for every 59 attempts … Tyvon Branch leads the conference in kickoff return average (34.0 ypr) … FS Robert Vaughn has a conference-leading six interceptions.
West Virginia Notes: West Virginia would clinch at least a piece of the BIG EAST title with a win against Connecticut … The Mountaineers can win the outright championship with wins in their last two games (they host Pittsburgh next week) … West Virginia has won four BIG EAST football championships (1993, 2003, 2004, 2005) … The Mountaineer athletics program has won BIG EAST titles in women’s cross country and women’s soccer this fall … West Virginia has won five straight games … The Mountaineers rank third nationally in rushing (289.4 yards per game) … RB Steve Slaton (98.8 ypg) and Patrick White (95.8 ypg) are third and fourth, respectively, in the BIG EAST in rushing … West Virginia’s defense, meanwhile, is fourth nationally in total defense (288.6 ypg) and eighth in scoring defense (17.3 ppg) … The Mountaineers have held opponents to just 93.0 rushing yards per game.



USF BULLS at PITTSBURGH PANTHERS
Saturday, Nov. 24 • Noon
Heinz Field (65,000/Natural Grass) Pittsburgh, Pa.
Television: ERT/BIG EAST GAME OF THE WEEK (Dave Sims, John Congemi, Sarah Kustok)
The Game: Saturday’s game will be the fifth meeting between USF and Pittsburgh with the series tied at 2-2 … The schools first met in 2001 when the Bulls took a 35-26 win at Heinz Field … Pitt registered back-to-back wins in 2004 and 2005 before USF took last year’s meeting 22-12 in Tampa … Last year’s game saw USF QB Matt Grothe run for one touchdown and throw for another before leaving with an injury.
Head Coaches:
USF - Jim Leavitt (Missouri ’78) 78-46, 11th season
Pittsburgh - Dave Wannstedt (Pittsburgh ’74) 15-18, third season
USF Notes - USF improved to 8-3 with last Saturday’s 55-17 win against Louisville and would match the program record for victories with a win against Pittsburgh … The Bulls won nine games in 2002 and 2006 … Freshman RB Mike Ford, who was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week Monday, is the first USF rookie to run for at least 100 yards in consecutive games … Ford is ranked ninth in the BIG EAST in rushing (57.4 ypg) and has 10 TDs on the ground … Sophomore QB Matt Grothe is sixth in the conference in rushing (69.5 ypg) and fourth in passing (210.4 ypg) … The Bulls have gained at least 400 offensive yards in six of their last seven games, with two 500-yard games in that stretch … USF has forced 11 turnovers in its last two games … Sophomore DE George Selvie has been named a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s top defensive player … Selvie was surpassed by Indiana’s Greg Middleton as the national leader in sacks, marking the first time this season that Selvie has not been atop the national list … Middleton has 16 sacks, while Selvie has 14.5.
Pittsburgh Notes - Pittsburgh is one of two BIG EAST teams that does not play its final regular-season game this week — the Panthers face West Virginia in the 100th Backyard Brawl next week … Pittsburgh needs to win both of its remaining games to become bowl eligible … The Panthers have 20 players from Florida on their roster, including five starters … Junior LB Scott McKillop has been the top player on a solid Pitt defense, entering Saturday’s game as the national leader in tackles (12.4 per game) … He leads a unit that is ranked ninth nationally in total defense (303.7 yards per game) … Freshman RB LeSean McCoy is averaging 112.5 rushing yards per game, good for second in the BIG EAST … Another true freshman starts at quarterback in Pat Bostick, who is seventh in the BIG EAST in passing (141.9 ypg).



CINCINNATI BEARCATS at SYRACUSE ORANGE
Saturday, Nov. 24 • 7:15 p.m.
Carrier Dome (49,262/FieldTurf) Syracuse, N.Y.
The Game: Cincinnati and Syracuse have met seven times on the gridiron, and the Orange hold a 4-3 series lead … Syracuse won the first three meetings (1993, 1994, 1998), but Cincinnati has taken three of the last four, including a 17-3 win at Nippert Stadium last season … Bearcat quarterback Dustin Grutza completed 13 of 18 passes for 205 yards and a TD in the winning effort last year.
Head Coaches:
Cincinnati - Brian Kelly (Assumption ’83) 9-3, first full season at Cincinnati; 146-54-2, 17th season as collegiate head coach
Syracuse - Greg Robinson (Pacific ’75) 7-27, third season
Cincinnati Notes: At 8-3, Cincinnati has a chance to match its highest win total in 54 years with Saturday’s regular-season finale against Syracuse … The current record is Cincinnati’s best since the Bearcats were 8-3 under head coach Tim Murphy in 1993 … The last time Cincinnati won nine games was in 1953, when the team was 9-1 … The Bearcats saw a streak of four straight wins against top-25 opponents end with last Saturday’s loss to then-No. 5 West Virginia … Cincinnati is 3-6-1 all-time when it is nationally ranked … QB Ben Mauk is second in the BIG EAST in passing yards (235.6 yards per game) … Mauk has completed 176 of 292 passes for 2,356 yards and 23 touchdowns against just six interceptions … Freshman WR Marcus Barnett has caught a BIG EAST-best 10 touchdown passes … Junior CB Mike Mickens is tied for the conference lead with six interceptions … Cincinnati ranks 10th nationally in scoring defense (17.5 ppg).
Syracuse Notes: Syracuse closes its 118th varsity season with Saturday’s home date against Cincinnati … Syracuse is 1-2 against top-25 teams this season with a win against then-No. 18 Louisville (38-35) and losses to then-No. 13 West Virginia (55-14) and then-No. 25 Connecticut (30-7) … Longtime Syracuse head coach and current Orange broadcaster Dick McPherson spent four years as an assistant at Cincinnati (1961-65) … Two Syracuse freshmen are ranked among the top three kickoff return men in the BIG EAST … Max Suter is averaging 25.6 yards per return and Mike Holmes is averaging 25.1 yards per return … Freshman Rob Long is second in the conference in punting (42.4 yards per punt) … Suter is sixth in the BIG EAST in all-purpose yards (105.9 ypg) … Sophomore WR Mike Williams has caught a touchdown pass in a school-record eight consecutive games.