Big East Week 8 Report Card: Syracuse and Other Stunners

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Big East," The football gospel according to Syracuse.

Shocking, simply shocking. With all due apologies to James Bond's quotable quote in the movie Goldfinger, it was a shocking weekend in the Big East.

It's Monday morning, it's time for the grades, let's get right to it:

Syracuse 19, West Virginia 14

The shock of shockers. How was that homecoming, Mountaineer fans? Guess it was like walking into the homecoming dance and finding about a thousand pounds of fresh cow manure in the middle of the floor.

You have to give it to the Syracuse defense. Tougher than tough, mightier than mighty. Some Syracuse fans were really down on their team after that blowout loss to Pittsburgh, but now they might want to kiss and make up. No two ways around this one, West Virginia laid one giant homecoming egg. Syracuse got a great road win at USF, and now it got an even better one in Morgantown. You know they're grumbling up there this morning.

Way to go Orange. This one was pulsating, exciting and fun to watch those last few minutes.

Grades: Syracuse A+, West Virginia F

South Florida 38, Cincinnati 30

Not sure anyone saw this coming. USF had not scored an offensive touchdown in its Big East losses to Syracuse and West Virginia, but this is what Skip Holtz does. For those of you who do not follow East Carolina football, Skip was the master of winning some games that he had no business winning, and that's what happened in Cincinnati Friday night.

B.J. Daniels finally took care of the football, got some run game support and ran at the right times. He threw for two scores, ran for two and credit the defense for getting Zach Collaros out of the game when he was needed most on that final drive.

Huge road win and Skip Holtz's first Big East victory at USF.

Grades: South Florida A, Cincinnati C-

Louisville 26, Connecticut 0

Louisville was lying in wait for UConn, a team disrupted by the abrupt dismissal of former starting quarterback Cody Endres from the team and the school. The Huskies weren't ready for this one. They got a huge dose of Louisville's offense and defense.

If you're talking about the meek inheriting the Big East, you might want to put Louisville in there. The Cardinals could be for real.

Grades: Louisville A, UConn F

Pittsburgh 41, Rutgers 21

Not great surprises here. Pittsburgh may be starting to play to its preseason potential, while Rutgers no doubt is still hurting from the play that paralyzed Eric LeGrand.

Pittsburgh, the preseason favorite in the Big East, now sits atop the standings but will have to prove itself in some big games coming up.

Grades: Pittsburgh A, Rutgers C-

There you have it, the first full weekend of Big East games and you can't help but admire that big Syracuse win over West Virginia. Congrats, Orange!  We'll see you on Thursday for some entrees and appetizers for your weekend football consumption.