Big East outlook

By Bill Koch • bkoch@enquirer.com • August 27, 2008
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1. West Virginia: The bitterness over the departure of favorite son Rich Rodriguez to Michigan continues to linger among Mountaineer fans, but the players are ready to move on under new coach Bill Stewart, a longtime West Virginia assistant. QB Pat White, a Heisman Trophy hopeful, is back to run the powerful offense and is being asked to add more of a passing threat to his formidable running skills. Sophomore Noel Devin (8.6 yards per carry and six touchdowns last year as a rookie) is poised to take up the slack left by Steve Slaton's departure.
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2. South Florida: The Bulls, who rose to No. 2 in the national polls last year before hitting a three-game losing skid, return the top two players from that team in quarterback Matt Grothe, one of the most versatile QBs in the league, and defensive end George Selvie, the reigning Big East defensive player of the year.

3. Pittsburgh: Dave Wannstedt is only 16-19 since returning to coach his alma mater, but he has been stockpiling talent with solid recruiting classes. The Panthers could be poised to move up the Big East ladder after they knocked off West Virginia in the final game of last season. Running back LeSean McCoy set a Big East freshman record last year with 1,328 yards. Pat Bostick started eight games at quarterback last year as a freshman. On defense, Pitt has one of the best groups of linebackers in the league.

4. Rutgers: Prolific running back Ray Rice is gone, but the Scarlet Knights showed the ability to throw the ball last year behind quarterback Mike Teel, who ranked second in the league in passing yardage. He has two all-league receivers to throw to in Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood. In addition to the loss of Rice, the Scarlet Knights also will miss placekicker Jeremy Ito, who left with the Big East record for points (400).

5. Cincinnati: The Bearcats enter Brian Kelly's second season as head coach well-equipped on defense with All-America tackle Terrill Byrd and two standout defensive backs in Mike Mickens and DeAngelo Smith. But there are question marks on offense, beginning at quarterback.

6. Connecticut: Talk about a lack of respect. The Huskies return 19 starters from a team that shared the Big East title last year, but are still ranked only sixth in this year's preseason league poll. QB Tyler Lorenzen returns after throwing only six interceptions a year ago. Andre Dixon and Donald Brown give the Huskies one of the best running back tandems in the league. UConn won last year without a lot of star players - only four players were named to the 51-player all-league teams. The Huskies did it with balanced offense.

7. Louisville: The first year under new coach Steve Kragthorpe was nothing short of a disaster. The Cardinals, who entered the season as a national top-10 pick, fell on hard times with a 6-6 record one year after beating Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.

8. Syracuse: The Orange have won only seven games in three years under Greg Robinson - just two in the Big East - but Robinson still managed to survive to coach at least one more year.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll.../808270305

Flaws.

1. No mention of WVU losing 8 starters on D.

2. Grothe is better than departed CB Jenkins? Hardly.

3. Bostick isn't going to be the QB at Pitt.

4. If Rutgers can't run, they have a hard time opening up the passing game. That and Teel sucks.

GameTime_21 Wrote:Flaws.

1. No mention of WVU losing 8 starters on D.

2. Grothe is better than departed CB Jenkins? Hardly.

3. Bostick isn't going to be the QB at Pitt.

4. If Rutgers can't run, they have a hard time opening up the passing game. That and Teel sucks.

1. Everyone seems to be ignoring that, which kinda suprises me. People didn't really ever get the memo that WVU's defense last year was really good and losing that many players is going to hurt them alot.

2. UC fans tend to seriously underrate Grothe. He's the 2nd best QB in the conference this year. He's a different kind of Qb than Mauk was, but in terms of production I don't think the difference between him and Mauk is very big. Still, I would tend to agree thatn Jenkins was better than Grothe last year.

3. I doubt this was Koch's point, but having a backup QB that started for your team last year is usually a good sign that you've made a significantly upgrade at the position. UC last year is a good example of this.

4. Teel is another one that UC fans jump all over (and as with Grothe, that has something to do with the fact that he hasn't played well against UC the last two years). Teel's struggles against UC are less about him sucking and more about UC's defense being good. If the O-line is decent, Rutgers won't have any trouble using the passing game to set up the run. I can't believe he didn't make a single mention of Rutgers' defense though, which figures to be one of the best in the conference, if not the nation, and also figures to be the strength of the team.

Poor Bill Koch or whoever wrote this for the Enquirer has absolutely no clue whatsoever.

When in the world has USF ever been good playing on the road in cold weather? That kills them right there 2 BE games a season.

Matt Grothe was nowhere near one of the top 2 players on last year's USF team. That is just a stupid unknowledgeable statement.

People need to get off the Rutgers bandwagon. They lost as much as any team in the Big East last year from top to bottom. And Teel is a serviceable QB at best.

Marcus Wrote:People need to get off the Rutgers bandwagon. They lost as much as any team in the Big East last year from top to bottom. And Teel is a serviceable QB at best.

You just described every QB in the Big East not named Pat White.

My best friend is from WV and follows them closely. He keeps saying they'll have alot of problems this year, mostly cause of players lost off their D.

SF has been inconsistent and erratic, and it's hard to picture them dominating for an entire season, but I'm going to keep an open mind. They are loaded with athletes and play with a little more maturity each year. They're very dangerous.

I doubt Koch did any work on this himself -- probably just lifted these ratings from elsewhere. Very hard to rate teams in this conference because they're so close together. I don't feel confident playing anybody except maybe cuse.

I've watched Teel and Grothe a lot more than just the games they have played UC. I like Grothe. Tough kid, good arm and can make big plays with his legs. I'd have him 3rd in the league behind White and Cantwell. Teel is not very good. Last year he took advantage of teams stacking the box to stop Rice. Now that the focus will be on him, his poor decision making will be costly...

Koch acts like we're breaking in a suspect, new QB. Grutza is a battle-tested QB who has been able to win games. And he's said starts with QB, what are the other weaknesses on offense? Maybe the running game, only because the guys we have are new, but talent wise we have some serious weapons. Our receivers are among the best in the league. Meanwhile West Virginia and especially Rutgers, have a huge turnover of players, with Rutgers having far more issues then Cincinnati.[/align]

Although Rutgers certainly COULD finish above UC, I don't see it happening. Yes, Britt and Underwood are studs and Teel is okay....overall UC has had their number and with them coming to the Nip this year I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Rutgers was 8-5 with Rice last year....I don't see them bettering that without him....

Grain of salt....but I heard Teel had an arm injury the last year, is finally healthy, and has been very good in camp. Underwood and Britt can make anyone look good. Guessing they air it out this season.

No one better to take the "air" out of their sails then Mickens, Smith, and Underwood.

1. Who was QB when we led Ohio State at their place?

2. Who was QB when we took a lead vs Virginia Tech into the 4th Quarter at their place?

3. Who was QB the last time we beat USF at Nippert?

Grutza has had big games. He's not a greenhorn.

He'll be better than he's being given credit for.

Bearcat 1984 Wrote:1. Who was QB when we led Ohio State at their place?

2. Who was QB when we took a lead vs Virginia Tech into the 4th Quarter at their place?

3. Who was QB the last time we beat USF at Nippert?

Grutza has had big games. He's not a greenhorn.

He'll be better than he's being given credit for.

good points.....

In BK's system he'll look even better than under Dantonio...I'm cool with Grutza now....until give reason not to be that is.

UC will finish higher than 5th in the Big East. No Doubt.

Don't forget the game at Louisville in 2006, where he came up 20 yards shy on the final drive to win AT Louisville, you know...the year they won the Orange Bowl.