Big East Report Card Week 4: Undone By the 'U'

In the ongoing battle for national respect, seems like the Big East sank a little deeper on the national depth chart last week. Enough is enough, time to pass out the grades:

Miami 31, Pittsburgh 3:

This could have been a lot worse; good thing Dave Wannstedt and Randy Shannon are buddies. It has to be obvious to Pitt fans that this team is going nowhere with Tino Sunseri at quarterback. How about 8-of-15 for a whopping 61 yards?

Yes, and there's Jonathan Baldwin getting three passes for a mind-boggling 26 yards. Well, at least the announcers can talk about how big and fast he is. Might want to consider giving Pat Bostick a shot at quarterback. Dion Lewis is still in his "sophomore slump."

Grade:  Pittsburgh F

LSU 20, West Virginia 14:

Really, really tough place to play and West Virginia managed to make a game of it. LSU simply had too much defense and that's what you get in the SEC. This is not a great LSU team on offense, but the defense is remarkable.

For a young quarterback, Geno Smith did okay. It really hurt to have Noel Devine injure his foot. He just wasn't himself. Take him out of the equation and things get a lot tougher for the Mountaineer offense. When you only rush for 58 yards, you're not going to win. LSU had to work for this one.

Grade: West Virginia C+

Oklahoma 31, Cincinnati 29:

Will be the first to admit that we thought this would be a blowout. Give Cincinnati a LOT of credit, it could have won this game had it not been for the turnovers.

Bearcats moved the football, Zach Collaros three for 305 yards, three touchdowns and Isaiah Pead looked like he did last year. Ran for 169. So either Cincinnati isn't as bad as it has looked the past few weeks or Oklahoma is overrated, perhaps a combination of both.

Grade: Cincinnati B-

North Carolina 17, Rutgers 13:

Same ole, same ole for Rutgers—not enough offense. The Rutgers defense kept the Knights in this one but there wasn't enough happening offensively.

That may end up being the recurring theme for Rutgers this season. Tom Savage only threw for 150 yards, two interceptions. They keep throwing the wildcat in there with Mohamed Sanu but teams will get wise to that.

This was a must win for Carolina, Butch Davis may be in trouble with the problems going on at Chapel Hill.

Grade:  Rutgers C-

Syracuse 45, Colgate 7:

No surprises here. Syracuse was supposed to win big and did. Delone Carter ran wild with 172 yards on only 14 carries. Ryan Nassib didn't need to throw much.

It will be interesting to see how well the Orange does as the schedule presents more challenges.

Grade:  Syracuse A

UConn 45, Buffalo 21:

Maybe, just maybe Randy Edsall has figured it out. He replaced Zach Frazer with Cody Endres. Good move. Endres goes 7-for-11, 139 yards and two TDs. Robbie Frey runs for 112 with D.J. Shoemate adding 60. It's still too early to tell much about the Huskies.

Grade:   UConn A-

South Florida 24, Western Kentucky 12:

Skip Holtz said afterward that there's no such thing as an ugly win. Oh really? Well, this one would never win a beauty contest.

USF's defense held Bobby Rainey to just 64 yards.

USF had better find a passing game before Big East play starts. B.J. Daniels threw for 57 yards and it's a combination of no wide receivers and the coaching staff not trusting Daniels after the four picks he threw in the Florida game.

Demetrius Murray has emerged, and rushed for 115 against the Hilltoppers. USF was favored by nearly four touchdowns in this game.

Grade:  USF C-

There you have it. Not a great week. Improvement is needed. See you on Thursday for some entrees, appetizers and a rundown of the weekend games.