Post by cviller on Sept 24, 2007 11:08:46 GMT -5
Courtesy: BIG EAST Conference
Release: 09/24/2007
The race for the 2007 BIG EAST championship began to take shape Saturday as two schools gained an early lead with impressive road victories.
Connecticut remained one of five unbeaten teams in the BIG EAST as the Huskies took advantage of six Pittsburgh turnovers to gain a 34-14 win against the Panthers at Heinz Field. The Huskies, who scored on five of their seven first-half possessions, are 4-0 for the first time since 1997.
Joining Connecticut at the top of the standings is Syracuse, which stunned No. 18/19 Louisville 38-35 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium to get its first win of the season and end the Cardinals’ 20-game home winning streak. Orange QB Andrew Robinson threw for 423 yards and four TDs in the winning effort, including scoring strikes of 79 and 60 yards to WR Taj Smith. Louisville, meanwhile, saw a record-setting day by QB Brian Brohm come up short. The game produced no fewer than eight BIG EAST records, including a 555-yard effort from Brohm, who completed 45 of 65 passes.
West Virginia improved to 4-0 in impressive fashion as the No. 5/5 Mountaineers rolled to a 48-7 win against East Carolina behind a four-touchdown performance by QB Patrick White. White ran for two scores and passed for two as West Virginia finished with 397 rushing yards against the Pirates.
The win for the Mountaineers sets up a terrific conference matchup Friday against No. 24/23 USF, which improved to 3-0 with a 37-10 win against North Carolina. The Bulls limited the Tar Heels to just 164 yards of offense as DE George Selvie registered three of USF’s four sacks on the day. USF will host West Virginia Friday at Raymond James Stadium in what figures to be the best-attended game in school history.
Not to be outdone, Cincinnati continues to demonstrate that it should be a factor in the BIG EAST title picture as the Bearcats stand at 4-0 following a 40-14 win against Marshall Saturday night. Cincinnati scored 26 straight points through the first and second quarters and got a combined three touchdown passes from two different quarterbacks. The Bearcat defense, meanwhile, continues to lead the nation in turnover ratio after it had two takeaways and scored a safety against Marshall.
Rutgers enjoyed a bye week as the No. 11/11 Scarlet Knights bring a 3-0 record into next Saturday’s game against Maryland — a game that will be televised on ABC.
