ESPN College Football

1. Pat White and Noel Devine vs. the UConn defense: It's no big secret how the Mountaineers have hammered the Huskies the past few years. Their skill players have sliced and diced through the Connecticut defense, doing so last year to the tune of 517 rushing yards. Obviously that can't happen again if UConn wants to register its first win over West Virginia. The problem for the Huskies is the Mountaineers' offense looks like it finally put things together in its last game against Auburn.

2. The Huskies' quarterback situation: Coach Randy Edsall is now saying it will be a game-time "announcement" rather than a game-time decision over whether Cody Endres or Zach Frazer starts. That seems to indicate he has known for some time who will be under center. Whoever starts might determine the offensive game plan. Against Cincinnati last week Endres passed 42 times, but most of them were manageable throws at safe distances. Frazer could help the Huskies stretch the field more with his big arm. One or the other needs to play well.

3. Donald Brown: How will the nation's leading rusher fare against West Virginia's 3-3-5 defense? The Mountaineers lead the Big East in scoring defense and have only allowed two 100-yard rushers this season. But they haven't seen anyone quite like Brown, who hasn't failed to go over 100 yards this season. Running the ball effectively will be UConn's best bet for keeping White and Devine off the field.

4. "Rent" control: Connecticut can't afford to repeat last year's performance when it lost three fumbles in a 66-21 loss in Morgantown. West Virginia can't be nearly as sloppy as Cincinnati was last week when it had six turnovers at Rentschler Field and fell 40-16 to the Huskies. UConn has created the most turnovers in the Big East with 17, while West Virginia has coughed it up the fewest times (8). Turnovers are always big, of course, but in this game and in this league, they can make all the difference between a close game and a blowout.

5. Jimmy Clausen vs. the Pittsburgh pass defense: Another obvious matchup, one so obvious that Notre Dame will surely try to exploit it as much as possible. The Panthers gave up six touchdown passes to Mike Teel last week in a loss to Rutgers. How many can golden boy Clausen throw? Expect Pitt to change up its personnel and scheme significantly this week. It has to.

6. LeSean McCoy vs. Notre Dame's defense: The Irish have been mediocre at best against the run this season. Michigan State's Javon Ringer rang up 201 yards against them earlier this year. McCoy has been brilliant his last four games and has been especially good on the road. The bigger question may be how Pitt's offensive line, reshuffled after the loss of center Robb Houser, clears lanes for him.

7. Pat Bostick: After Bill Stull suffered a concussion last week, it appears Bostick will start at quarterback for Pittsburgh. Bostick was thrust into a starting role last year as a true freshman, and the Panthers had to dumb down the offense for him. Until two weeks ago, the plan had been to redshirt him this season. He threw a momentum-killing interception in the Rutgers loss. There will be a lot of pressure on Bostick going on the road to South Bend, and Pitt probably can't win without some semblance of a passing attack.

8. Louisville's mental state: The Cardinals had a big, emotional win over South Florida last weekend and then absorbed the loss of their top wide receiver, Scott Long, to an ACL injury. Now they're going on the road for the first time in conference play. You would think Louisville has to be motivated to avenge last year's loss to Syracuse, and the Carrier Dome is hardly an intimidating environment any more. But if the Cardinals -- who have been a slow-starting team this season in the best of circumstances -- come out flat, they'll only give the Orange more reason to believe.

9. Cam Dantley: The Syracuse quarterback maintains a slippery grip on the starting job and was nearly pulled in favor of Andrew Robinson during a brutal second half at South Florida. If he can't get things going early, don't be surprised to see the Orange turn to Robinson, who engineered last year's upset at Louisville.

10. Greg Robinson: The other Syracuse Robinson remains on this list, and might this be the weekend for some resolution to the coach's status? The Orange have had two weeks to prepare for the one Big East team they beat last season, and a loss would officially guarantee another losing season. With Clemson and Washington already on the hunt, how much longer can Syracuse AD Daryl Gross wait to get his next coaching search started?