Big East Report Card Week Eight: "A" Sensational Game

Week eight of the 2009 football season was highlighted by a sensational game in Morgantown.

First and foremost, Professor Tom gives an "A+" to the West Virginia fans. No doubt they are the best fans in the Big East.

They welcomed UConn as family, Big East family, stunned by the loss of Jasper Howard. It was an amazing show of respect and an amazing show on the field.

West Virginia (6-1, 2-0) 28, Connecticut (4-3, 1-2) 24:

This game was a classic. Back and forth, ebb and flow, UConn came to play and brought Jasper Howard's jersey and helmet to the sideline. The Huskies played inspired football and it looked like they would pull off the stunning upset.

Trailing 24-21 and time running short, Noel Devine showed his stuff and went 56 yards for a touchdown with 2:10 to play. He rolled up 178 yards on the day.

What can you say about UConn? The Huskies were awesome. Cody Endres gave his all, went 25-for-41, 378 yards and a pair of TDs.

One of those was to Kashif Moore, who held Howard in his arms moments after the stabbing. Marcus Easley caught five passes for 157 yards and a TD. Career day.

There was no loser in this game. UConn fell four points short on the scoreboard but showed the strength and determination of the program in the face of sorrow and adversity.

A thrilling win for West Virginia.

Grades:

West Virginia:    A

Connecticut:      A

Pittsburgh (7-1, 4-0) 41, South Florida (5-2, 1-2) 14:

What a wipeout! Pitt started strong and just got stronger in this rout. The Bulls never knew what hit them.

What hit them was a very balanced Pitt attack that featured Dion Lewis on the ground and Bill Stull directing the aerial assault.

Lewis went for 111 yards in only three quarters. Dave Wannstedt called off the dogs after three quarters or it could have been worse.

Stull was rock solid, 18-for-25 and 245 yards. USF couldn't cover the tall guy, Jonathan Baldwin, who hauled in six catches for 144 yards.

USF didn't show up on offense or defense, and the Bulls are now in their usual free-fall mode after starting 5-0.

Pitt, on the other hand, has stepped up as a prime contender with Cincinnati and West Virginia for the Big East title.

Grades:

Pittsburgh:      A

South Florida:  F 

Cincinnati (7-0, 3-0) 41, Louisville (2-5, 0-3) 10:

Did anyone think the Bearcats wouldn't win big in this one? Coach Brian Kelly showed it doesn't matter who plays quarterback. With Tony Pike on the mend, Zach Collaros continued the impressive play he showed in the win over USF last week.

While the Bearcats rolled up 468 yards total offense, Collaros was impressive as he hit 15-of-17 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns and added another 52 yards with his legs. This guy is good!

His two big targets, Mardy Gilyard (4/82, TD) and Armon Binns (3/75, TD) were deadly. Isaiah Peed had six carries for 88 yards and yes, the Bearcats do have a nice ground game.

These guys are on a serious roll and are a serious BCS contender!

Grades:

Cincinnati:     A

Louisville:      D

Rutgers (5-2, 0-2) 27, Army (3-5) 10:

Nasty night at West Point, cold, rainy, real football weather.

Rutgers bruiser Joe Martinek led the way for the Scarlet Knights as he ground out 139 yards on 25 carries, two touchdowns.

Freshman QB Tommy Savage was okay and completed half his attempts (10-of-20 for 164 yards). Tiny Tim Brown was on the receiving end of four of those for 101 yards.

Army played tough and spirited as we'd expect but had three fumbles and a blocked punt that was returned for a Rutgers touchdown.

This one went about as expected.

Grade:

Rutgers: B

Syracuse (3-4, 0-2) 28, Akron (1-6) 14:

Syracuse was served up a scheduled win here. The Orange needed it. Greg Paulus needs to get his confidence back. He was 12-of-17 for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Senior running back Delone Carter was the Syracuse workhorse with 170 yards on 30 carries and three touchdowns. Impressive!

Grade:

Syracuse:  B

There you have them, this week's grades. Good going by almost everyone, except those bumbling Bulls from South Florida. See you on Thursday for this week's entrees, appetizers and maybe some dessert.