ESPN College Football

Don't ask me. Ask the ministry.

Oh, OK, ask away:

Grant from Nashville writes: Can you see Charlie Weis in the Big East, at Louisville or as an A.D. somewhere? We know he loves Rutgers ... is there room for him on Greg Schiano's staff?

Brian Bennett: Uh, no. Weis is almost certainly headed back to the NFL to be a coordinator, which is what he does best. His Notre Dame time proved that he's not exactly suited to be a college head coach. And an athletic director? That's mighty far-fetched.

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Kainan M. from Breeden, W. Va., writes: If West Virginia goes to the Gator Bowl (assuming that we beat Rutgers and Pitt loses) who do you see us playing? And do you think that the Gator Bowl will take WVU into better consideration because of the fan base? And if all that happens,would Pitt go to the Meineke Car Care Bowl?

Brian Bennett: There are still so many possible bowl scenarios out there for the Big East, and I hope to address as many as possible in a blog post soon. But to answer your question: I think there's a good chance West Virginia goes to the Gator Bowl if it beats Rutgers regardless of what happens in the Cincinnati-Pitt game. Yes, that's right -- I think a 9-3 Mountaineers team could go to Jacksonville ahead of an 11-1 Bearcats squad.

The reason: ticket sales. West Virginia travels better than any team in the Big East, and the Gator -- which is in its last year of a deal with the league and is miffed that it won't get Notre Dame -- wants to fill the stadium. I'm hearing of two possible matchups: West Virginia vs. Florida State, which would match Bobby Bowden's first and last schools where he was head coach; or West Virginia-Virginia Tech, which would be big for obvious reasons.

There's a chance a Pitt loss could knock the Panthers way down the pecking order because of the Panthers' reputation for poor traveling fans. Remember, bowl games are businesses. They don't care which team is more deserving.

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John from New Market, Tenn., writes: I wanted to let you know a little info about the empty seats at Mountaineer Field during the Pitt game. The empty seats were in the student sections, and the dorms were closed all week. Morgantown is not an easy place to find overnight housing in, and not many students have money to pay for a hotel room and/or gas to drive up, then back home, then back to Morgantown again on Sunday.

Brian Bennett: I understand that and appreciate the situation over Thanksgiving weekend. My questions are: Couldn't the students have found other people who could have taken their tickets? And why didn't Pittsburgh take its full visitors' allotment? The bottom line is that you don't see empty seats at other big rivalry games over Thanksgiving weekend, when I'm sure some schools have the same situations. If this is the Big East's best rivalry, then there shouldn't be an empty seat in the house.

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Henry N. from Nashville writes: I haven't seen anyone mention former Louisville offensive coordinator (and ex-Rams coach) Scott Linehan yet for the Cardinals' opening. Is he a viable candidate? I would think that would be a home-run hire. As an aside, I can't see why UL would even consider hiring Philip Fulmer. He has proven that all he knows how to do is recruit to a name school. It's only when he's had good assistants (ie-Cutcliffe on O, Chavis on D) that he has fared reasonably well from an Xs and Os standpoint on either side of the ball.

Brian Bennett: I do think Tom Jurich will at least consider Linehan, who did a great job as offensive coordinator at Louisville. The big question would be whether Linehan has any real recruiting ties after being in the NFL for so long. I don't see him as one of the top candidates at this point.

And while Fulmer would like the Louisville job, I don't think he'll be considered for it.

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Joe from Bridgeport, Conn., writes: I have heard some talk about Randy Edsall's fourth down call in the waning seconds of the Syracuse game. What else can he do in that situation? Inside the 30, he can either go on 4th (which he did) or kick a FG which he then would have been accused of running up the score also ... at least with a 4th-and-10 the Syracuse 'D' had a chance to stop them without more points going up. You are not going to punt inside the 30. I really don't think he was piling on as others have said.

Brian Bennett: I have no problem with Edsall's decision. UConn had an 11-point lead with under a minute to go. Yes, it would have been hard for Syracuse to score, get an onsides kick and score again in that time frame, but you can blame the Huskies after all their tough losses this season? Edsall could have opted for a field goal, but it would have been a long one and it was a very windy day. It was a good call and the right call in that situation. If Syracuse didn't like it, the Orange should have stopped it.

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Barrett N. from Atlanta writes: I always enjoy reading your articles and insight; however, isn't it time that the media stops trying to blame Bobby Petrino for anything having to do with the Steve Kragthorpe era? The guy took a step back every season ... how does this have to do with Petrino misses? The guy proved without a doubt that he couldnt coach with talent or without talent. Leave anything about Petrino at the door and focus on what happened. He was a failure from the start and he did it on his on accord.

Brian Bennett: I agree to a point. There's little doubt that Petrino didn't recruit well in his last year or so at Louisville, probably knowing he wasn't coming back. That left huge gaps in the Cardinals' classes and made it hard to field a competitive team in the past two years after injuries, transfers and dismissals took their toll. However, Petrino left a pretty loaded team for Kragthorpe in 2007, with 18 returning starters coming back from the Orange Bowl win. And Kragthorpe went 6-6. Kragthorpe and others have hinted that they had to clean up Petrino's messes inside the program, but no one has ever publicly said what those messes were or why they weren't addressed earlier.

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Ben B. from Newark, N.J., writes: What's the justification for UConn over Rutgers in the power rankings? RU has the better overall record, the better conference record and won the head to head matchup. Is your ranking solely based on the Rutgers-Syracuse game?

Brian Bennett: These are subjective rankings, of course, but I feel like UConn has had a better body of work and has been more consistent. They've been incredibly competitive in every game and have done so against a strong schedule. Rutgers has gotten blown out twice and has two decent wins: over South Florida and over UConn on a last-second play. I think if you asked coaches which team they'd like to play less right now, they'd say UConn.

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Daniel J. from Colorado Springs, writes: First off Brian. I would like to thank you on an excellent year with many great blogs. I happen to be a huge Bearcats fan and though it seems very unlikely I think there still might be a chance for UC to make the national title. The only way this can happen is if Texas loses, of course. and hopefully Alabama will get beat down badly, or Florida. The toughest part though will be TCU, which is where Oregon State comes in. We beat Oregon State Corvallis, and that win has been looking better and better ever since.

Say they beat Oregon and we beat Pitt and Texas and Alabama lose, do you think all of that would be enough to boost the Bearcats to the national championship game?

Brian Bennett: Thanks for the kind words, Daniel. First of all, I don't think the SEC title game matters. I don't see a rematch happening, not with so many deserving unbeaten teams. Cincinnati needs Texas to beat Nebraska and should hope Oregon State beats Oregon and Georgia Tech beats Clemson. Remember that Clemson is one of TCU's best wins, and the Tigers just lost to a mediocre South Carolina. Cincinnati would have a better résumé if all that happened, and I think the Bearcats would go to Pasadena.

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Ben from Pittsburgh writes: Earlier this season, especially against Rutgers, Cincinnati ran Tim Tebow-esque plays with Travis Kelce out of the "Bearcat" formation. This seemed to be pretty darn effective in short yard and goal line situations. Do you know if coach Brian Kelly will bring this back against and a stingy Pittsburgh defense? If so ,why, and if not, why not?

Brian Bennett: It's interesting that Cincinnati did that in Game 1 and not once since. Wouldn't it be funny if we saw it again in the last game? My understanding of why Kelce hasn't come in for that play is that he has had trouble fumbling in practice. And when Zach Collaros was playing, the Bearcats didn't really need that formation to have a running threat at quarterback.

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Jason from Cincinnati writes: If Cincy loses at Pitt; explain to me why they are less deserving of at at-large bid to the BCS than an undefeated non-BCS school, or a Big Ten retread like Iowa?

Brian Bennett: Repeat after me: Deserve's got nothing to do with it.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Connecticut has done the Big East a favor and possibly ended Charlie Weis' career at Notre Dame.

Andre Dixon scored from four yards out in the second overtime as UConn beat Notre Dame 33-30.

The win puts the Gator Bowl very much back in play for the Big East, as the Irish will have to win at Stanford next week to avoid going 6-6. UConn evened its record at 5-5 and finally won a close game.

Great win for the Huskies, more bitter disappointment for Notre Dame and Weis.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Greetings from Notre Dame Stadium, where it's sunny and 50 degrees -- a beautiful day for football.

It's Senior Day here at Notre Dame, but there's a decided lack of a buzz around the stadium. A 6-4 record and rampant speculation will do that. I talked to a lot of people in the press box, and nobody thinks Charlie Weis will be back next year, for whatever that's worth. Losing to UConn would almost assuredly seal his fate; beating the Huskies wouldn't do much to convince his detractors.

As for today's game, it should be a pretty good matchup. The stats, believe it or not, are pretty even between the two teams. UConn is averaging 29.7 points and allowing 23.6 per game, while the Irish are scoring 29.3 points per game and giving up 23.3. (And who would have guessed the Huskies would have a higher-scoring offense than Notre Dame?) Both teams, of course, have played just about every game on a tightrope.

UConn sold 3,800 tickets to this game out of a possible 5,000. It's the first time the Huskies have ever played Notre Dame. They are the 137th different opponent for the Irish all time.

It's hard to tell which team needs a victory more in Saturday's Notre Dame-Connecticut game. It's not hard to predict that it will be close.

The Fighting Irish are going through a tumultuous week filled with speculation over the future of head coach Charlie Weis, thanks to consecutive losses to Navy and Pittsburgh. The team's 6-4 record is a product of living on the edge from week to week; eight of Notre Dame's games have been decided by seven points or less, and not surprisingly, it has a 4-4 record in those coin-toss finishes.

Still, all that is child's play compared to the Huskies' season.

"We can talk about having hard luck and tough losses," Weis said. "UConn's had it even tougher than us."

Connecticut's five losses have come by a combined 15 points, and the Huskies have led in the fourth quarter of four of those games and were a missed two-point conversion away from tying Cincinnati in the waning minutes last time out. Perhaps no team in the country needed a bye week more than UConn did last week; the team suffered three straight close losses after cornerback Jasper Howard was slain on campus.

"The time away was definitely much needed, emotionally as well as physically," receiver Marcus Easley said.

What both teams need now is a win, Notre Dame to give Weis any shot at returning and the Huskies to keep alive their postseason hopes.

It's Senior Day at Notre Dame Stadium, and the Irish bitterly recall last year's loss to another Big East team -- Syracuse -- in a snowball-pelted home finale. They are trying to avoid repeating that history.

"Just seeing those guys walk out of there with a loss was awful," quarterback Jimmy Clausen said. "I don't want that to happen to any of the seniors this year."

This is UConn's first-ever meeting with Notre Dame, and the trip to the historic grounds in South Bend is a treat for the fans of this young FBS program. While Easley said it's a game the players have looked forward to all season, coach Randy Edsall doesn't expect his team to come in wide-eyed and awed by the tradition.

"A lot of fans still have that, 'Pinch me, is this really happening' feeling," Edsall said. "For the players, they have to treat it like any other game. Some of these kids, they don't remember back to some of those days and some of those great players Notre Dame had, because these guys weren't even born."

The two teams have many contrasts, apart from their wildly different histories.

While Connecticut's passing game has improved this year, it's still a run-oriented team with a strong tailback tandem in Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon and a bruising offensive line. The Huskies will try to barrel through the Notre Dame defensive front like Navy and Pitt did.

The Irish have one of the nation's top passing games, and UConn's secondary has looked shaky since the Howard tragedy. The Huskies surrendered 480 passing yards (and 711 total yards) in a 47-45 loss to Cincinnati two weeks ago.

UConn has given up big plays late to lose games, while Notre Dame doesn't seem to get going until the final few minutes. The Irish did not score a touchdown until the fourth quarter at Pitt and were blanked until the third quarter against Navy. They seem to like waiting until it's desperation time to mount a furious charge.

"I guess it's just a matter of trying to come out with the same urgency as in the beginning," center Eric Olsen said.

The urgency should be there this week. Both teams badly need a win, and it will probably be close.

Zach Frazer always envisioned himself starting games at Notre Dame Stadium. Just not as the Connecticut quarterback.

Life takes some funny twists sometimes. As UConn goes to South Bend this week for its first-ever meeting with Notre Dame, it will have a former Golden Domer under center.

Frazer was one of the nation's top recruits when he signed with the Fighting Irish in 2006. ESPN.com's Scouts Inc. had him rated as the No. 6 quarterback in the class, behind only Matthew Stafford, Mitch Mustain, Jevan Snead, Tim Tebow and Jake Locker. He was ranked ahead of Sam Bradford, Greg McElroy and Christian Ponder, among others.

But in the spring after his redshirt year, he was just one of several quarterbacks trying to impress Charlie Weis, including hotshot freshman Jimmy Clausen, Evan Sharpley and Demetrius Jones. After spring practice, Weis announced that Frazer would not be given a chance to compete for the starting job that fall.

Frazer saw the writing on the wall and decided to transfer. (Jones would follow after starting the year at quarterback; he's now a linebacker at Cincinnati).

"Things just didn't work out on the depth chart for him," Weis said this week about Frazer. "It was very cordial the way we handled it. I'm glad to see him playing. I just hope he doesn't play very well this week."

Is Frazer motivated to play well in front of Weis and his old school?

"Yeah, definitely," he said. "I'm definitely excited about it."

But Frazer insists he's not putting too much emphasis on this game. After all, in the bigger picture, the Huskies (4-5) are desperate for a victory.

"We're there to get a win," he said. "It's just another game, though a lot of people are going to be watching. I'm not letting that get to me."

Notre Dame surely has no regrets, since Clausen is playing at an extremely high level. Frazer has had his ups and downs at UConn, but he is back on an upswing right now.

His first significant action came last season, when he led the Huskies to victory at Louisville after starter Tyler Lorenzen got hurt. Frazer then split time at quarterback the rest of the season but threw six interceptions and only two touchdowns.

He beat out Cody Endres for the starting job this season but hurt his knee in the second week against North Carolina. When he healed, he remained the backup until Endres suffered a season-ending shoulder injury on Halloween against Rutgers. Frazer came in that game and threw three picks, giving him seven for the year in just three games. He blames some of that on rustiness.

"When you're away from throwing to the starting wideouts, it's difficult to jump right in and be on the same page," he said. "Having a pass be a little bit behind or a little bit in front can lead to interceptions."

Frazer rebounded to play his best game of the year in a 47-45 loss to Cincinnati. He completed 19 of 32 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown. Most importantly, he didn't have any turnovers.

"I saw a presence and a calmness in that game that we need to see from Zach all the time," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "When he just takes what defense gives you and goes through his progressions and reads, he's proven that he can be very, very good. When Zach has had some of the problems he's had is when he's gone outside what he's supposed to be doing."

The challenge this week, then, is for Frazer not to try and do too much against his old school. He says he doesn't keep in contact much with Clausen or Sharpley, but he still has friends who are Notre Dame offensive linemen and receivers. He'll say hello to them before or after the game, while hoping to whip his old teammates during it.

"I never thought it would play out like this," he said. "But it's exciting to be part of it."

It took until the fourth quarter for Notre Dame to score a touchdown.

But on the first play of the fourth, the Irish finally punched it in. Charlie Weis, fighting for his Notre Dame career, called for a deep pass play to Michael Floyd on fourth and one and it worked. But then Notre Dame missed the extra point and still trails 20-9.

Just a sloppy night overall for the Irish. But they are not out of this game, just as they haven't been out of any game all year.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

There's little room for patience in college football, where coaches and programs are declared to be booms or busts from week to week. But sometimes patience pays off, as in the case of Dave Wannstedt vs. Charlie Weis.

	Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
	Dave Wannstedt’s Pittsburgh team has improved greatly over his tenure.

The two men had a lot in common when they made their college head coaching debuts against one another on Sept. 3, 2005. Both had been Super Bowl-winning coordinators in the NFL -- Weis calling the offense for the New England Patriots and Wannstedt running the Dallas Cowboys' defense. Both left the pro ranks to come back and lead their alma maters.

Now, some five seasons later as the two meet again this week, one coach is feeling severe heat while the other has his program on fire. Tortoise has broken the tape, while hare has stopped to ask directions to the finish line.

Wannstedt took over a Pittsburgh team that had 18 returning starters from a Fiesta Bowl appearance. Weis inherited a Notre Dame team that had gone 6-6, leading to the ouster of Tyrone Willingham.

The first meeting between the two was no contest, as the Irish rolled to a 35-13 halftime lead and eventual 42-21 win at Heinz Field. Weis lived up to his reputation as an offensive mastermind, while Wannstedt looked lost. Weis would go on to make BCS bowl appearances his first two seasons; Wannstedt failed to record a winning record or reach a bowl in his first three seasons as fans grew restless.

Now fast forward to today. Wannstedt's Panthers are 8-1, ranked 12th in the BCS standings and in the Top 10 of the human polls for the first time in November since 1982. Pitt has won 18 of its last 23 games and is closing in on a potential Big East title.

Weis's Irish, meanwhile, are unranked and unloved after last week's loss to Navy, the second time in three years they fell to the service academy at home. Since 2007, Weis is just 16-18, and he could well be out of a job by the end of the month.

It took Wannstedt a lot longer to establish his program, but his steady climb has put the Panthers in great position going forward. Wannstedt -- who, unlike Weis had head coaching experience in the NFL with Chicago and Miami -- did not look for quick fixes when he arrived at Pitt.

"We took it a little bit slower than the majority of head coaches that take over a program," Wannstedt said. "We gradually made the changes that we felt we needed to make. I think the worst thing that you can do is make bad decisions. We have a lot of kids right now that four years ago it would have been really easy to give up on, or not give an opportunity to change, and we did."

	John Albright / Icon SMI
	Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis’ Irish have gone just 16-18 since 2007.

Both Weis and Wannstedt have had highly-rated recruiting classes during their tenures. Weis had the flashy, pass-heavy offensive scheme, while Wannstedt has always preferred a ground-oriented, defensive-minded conservative style.

The difference is that Wannstedt has filled out his roster with a complete team, one that's strong defensively and can score with anybody. The Panthers led the Big East in scoring in the regular season in 2008 and are averaging 34.6 points per game this year. Notre Dame, with stars like Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate, is averaging 30.1 points. And Weis's defenses have continually been overmatched by the better teams on the Irish schedule and even Navy.

Wannstedt received a contract extension the week before the final game of the 2007 season despite having a 15-18 record and plenty of fan dissatisfaction. Pitt went on to upset No. 2 West Virginia in the finale and has been on a roll ever since.

Notre Dame gave Weis a 10-year extension just seven games into his first season of 2005. That contract has been an albatross almost ever since.

One program overreacted, while the other practiced patience. And though it wasn't easy to see in 2005 or 2006, today it's clear which strategy was better.

Posted by ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach 

Connecticut and Notre Dame are hammering out the details of a new contract between the schools, which would pit the Fighting Irish and Huskies in six games from 2011-1017.

The Huskies have agreed to play three games at Notre Dame Stadium, but the Fighting Irish won't have to travel to Rentschler Field under the terms of the contract. Instead, UConn will "host" Notre Dame at either Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., or the new Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

The benefits are obvious for the Fighting Irish -- coach Charlie Weis can increase his program's exposure in the heavily populated areas of Boston or New York.

What are the Huskies gaining by losing three true home games?