ESPN College Football

Big East play arrives this weekend with an intriguing matchup on Friday and then a game involving Syracuse on Saturday. South Florida gets its last nonconference test, while West Virginia, Cincinnati and Rutgers should roll to easy wins. If, you know, there was such a thing in this league.

Tonight

Louisville 23, Connecticut 20: The Cardinals seem to have rediscovered their mojo, and they've been looking forward to this rematch ever since last year's loss in East Hartford. Donald Brown will get his yards, but the Louisville defense has been burned lately by the passing game, not on the ground. The Huskies and Tyler Lorenzen simply won't be able to win the game through the air.

Saturday

Pittsburgh 28, Syracuse 17: Panthers quarterback Bill Stull said after the Iowa win: "We're Pittsburgh. It's never going to be easy." Very true. This Pitt team isn't built to blow people out with its methodical, ball-control style. So expect this one to be close for a while, especially since the Orange got a small shot of confidence from their first win last week at Northeastern. In the end, though, LeSean McCoy will be too much for the soft Syracuse defense to handle.

South Florida 21, NC State 14: The Wolfpack won't have quarterback Russell Wilson, who engineered last week's upset over East Carolina. The Bulls have their own injury problems defensively, with linebacker Brouce Mompremier out and George Selvie not 100 percent. South Florida still has enough defensive playmakers to harass Harrison Beck into turnovers. It'll be close, because the Bulls always like to make things exciting.

West Virginia 27, Marshall 13: Quick thought on the Friends of Coal Bowl. Wouldn't it be hard to be friends with coal? I mean, you wouldn't want to hang out at coal's place because of the whole black-lung thing. And then there'd always be the temptation to pressurize him into a diamond, which really drives a wedge through any friendship. Anyway. The Mountaineers will benefit from being back home after two road losses, and while the offense will still sputter at times, they'll take any kind of win right now.

Cincinnati 37, Akron 16: Yes, the Zips beat Syracuse. Cincinnati is no Syracuse. This will be Tony Pike's first start on the road, but he handled himself so well against Miami of Ohio last week that there are no worries here. The Bearcats defense, coming off a lackluster performance, will show some pride and get a couple of turnovers.

Rutgers 28, Morgan State 3: This is a volatile situation. Who knows where the Scarlet Knights' heads are after an 0-3 start and all the turmoil with quarterback Mike Teel. Who knows how the home crowd will react, or if they'll even show up. Luckily, Morgan State from the MEAC won't put up too much resistance. The interesting thing to watch will be if coach Greg Schiano brings in a new quarterback after the score gets out of hand, or just to give someone else a look. Backup quarterbacks are always the most popular guys on campus, and whoever relieves Teel might be named the mayor of Piscataway.

Last week: 4-3
Season results: 17-9 (65 percent)