Big East Report Card Week 12: Hallelujah Huskies!!

Cheer, cheer for old....forget that! How about those wonderful, marvelous UConn Huskies? Hope you saw that thriller in South Bend on the grass at hallowed, storied, underachieving Notre Dame. Here's this week's Big East report card from Professor Tom:

Connecticut (5-5, 1-4) 33, Notre Dame (6-5) 30:

Thrilling, pulsating gem of a college football game. Unheralded underdog UConn goes into Notre Dame and puts the smack down on the Irish. Just call it Rudy in Reverse! Hard to top this, and we'd have to say that it's the Big East Game of the Year to date. 

The Huskies had everything going against them in this one. But they refused to lose and it showed. Talk about heart and determination—they had that and more.  When Andre Dixon crossed the goal line in the second overtime, UConn came away with the biggest win in the history of its program.

There were plenty of heroes to go around. Credit the UConn defense for making plays when needed.  Jordan Todman was amazing with the 96-yard kickoff return and 130 yards on the ground. Dixon was awesome with his hard running that added another 114 yards.

Coach Randy Edsall is sending the game ball to the family of Jazz Howard, who lost his life in the campus tragedy. It's not been easy for this team and you have to credit Edsall for leading this group when it could have easily given up.

This is the victory that ends it all for embattled Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis.

Notre Dame is now searching for a replacement and if they're smart, they'd put Randy Edsall on their "interview" list.

But for now, it's onward and upward for UConn.

Hallelujah Huskies!

Grades

Connecticut: A+++ (as good as it gets!)

Notre Dame: D- (can't spell Notre Dame without a "D")

Syracuse (4-7, 1-7) 31, Rutgers (7-3, 2-3) 13:

Where was the Rutgers team that brutalized USF?

Gotta give major credit to the Orange and that defense, they totally undressed Rutgers much to the delight of the home crowd.

Tom Savage was sacked five times and was held to 66 yards passing while Joe Martinek was shut down. He managed only 55 yards.  Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus was very efficient, hitting 13-of-16 passes.

Syracuse really needed something good to happen after than 10-9 fiasco at Louisville.

Should give the Orange a boost as they prepare to play at UConn on Saturday.

Great win, great defense, and shame on us for not giving Syracuse a chance in this game. Sorry fellas!

Grades

Syracuse: A+

Rutgers: F

South Florida 34 (7-3, 3-3), Louisville (4-7, 1-5) 22:

Louisville doesn't want to see B.J. Daniels anytime soon. Daniels racked up 445 yards total offense and became the first player in Big East history to pass for more than 300 yards (304) and run for more than 100 (141) in a single game.

Still, coach Jim Leavitt was not happy with his team's overall performance. This was a Louisville team that managed only 10 points at home against Syracuse last week.

Outside of Daniels, USF doesn't have anyone running the ball effectively on a consistent basis.

Daniels 445 total was still short of Matt Grothe's team record 457.

It was homecoming at USF and perhaps the team was looking forward a bit to their Saturday game at home against Miami.

Still, huge day for B.J. and a win USF needed to become bowl-eligible.

Grades

South Florida: B+

Louisville: C

There you have it. A short but interesting bunch of games. We'll see you Thursday morning before you gorge yourself on turkey for our Big East entrees and appetizers for Thanksgiving Day consumption.