ESPN College Football

Syracuse offensive tackle Jonathan Meldrum will not be able to return for his senior year because of arthritis in his right knee, the team announced Tuesday.

Meldrum enrolled at Syracuse in January 2007 after having surgeries on his right knee in 2003 and 2004. He underwent surgery in December 2007 to address the arthritis after experiencing discomfort during the 2007 season.

Meldrum remained symptom-free for nearly two years, but began experiencing arthritic symptoms again in October. He suffered a season-ending injury to his left knee against Pittsburgh on Nov. 7. Further inspection into his right knee led team doctors to rule out Meldrum returning to football.

He played in 28 games for the Orange, including nine starts this season.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Stock up

1. Pitt: At 8-1 and a Top 10 ranking in November for the first time since 1982, the Panthers are at their highest point in a quarter-century. And Notre Dame is coming to town for a sold-out game at Heinz Field. Can the Panthers continue their climb?

2. Julian Miller: The West Virginia defensive end was named Big East defensive player of the week for his three-sack performance against Louisville. The Mountaineers weren't sure about their defensive line outside of Chris Neild and Scooter Berry going into the year (remember the Tevita Finau saga?) Miller has shored that up with team bests of 11.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.

3. UConn's grit: We knew the Huskies were tough the way they hung in there after the Jasper Howard death. To come back from 20 points down in the second half on the road against a Top 5 team and nearly pull off the victory was an amazing feat.

4. Darius Ashley: The Louisville freshman running back wasn't used much early in the season, then hurt his shoulder against Pitt. With Vic Anderson and Bilal Powell sidelined Saturday, Ashley carried the ball a whopping 33 times for 164 yards.

5. Adrien Robinson: With Ben Guidugli still slowed from a concussion at Syracuse, Robinson took on a bigger role as Cincinnati's tight end against UConn. He had two catches for 74 yards, including a ridiculous 54-yard grab off a batted ball that set up an important field goal at the end of the first half.

Stock down

1. Syracuse's depth: Already battling roster problems -- the Orange had just 55 scholarship players available for the Pitt game -- Syracuse lost star defensive lineman Arthur Jones and starting offensive lineman Jonathan Meldrum to season-ending knee injuries this week. It could be a struggle to find enough bodies to finish the season at this point.

2. UConn's defense: Credit the Huskies for never quitting, but they should use the bye week to figure out what's wrong with the defense. They have given up big plays at the end of games to lose and got stomped for 711 total yards by Cincinnati. The secondary is a major question mark.

3. Noel Devine: Stock is down only relevant to where he was two weeks ago, when we were calling Devine a Heisman Trophy contender. Since then, Devine has run for 42 yards at South Florida and 56 versus Louisville before being sidelined with an ankle sprain. The Mountaineers must have a vintage Devine performance on Friday at Cincinnati.

4. Cincinnati's defense: From third in the country in scoring defense, allowing an an average of a little more than 12 points a game, to surrendering 45 to a Connecticut team not known for being explosive. Yep, that stock has gone down. Is it a one-week blip in the market, or a more problematic long-term concern?

5. The Big East's bowl hopes: Notre Dame's loss to Navy took the Irish off the BCS table, which means the Irish are firmly pointing toward taking the Big East's spot in the Gator Bowl and moving the No. 2 league team to the Meineke Car Care Bowl. The Big East should root for Pitt and UConn to beat Notre Dame the next two weeks, and then hope Stanford takes care of business Thanksgiving weekend to make the Irish ineligible at 6-6.

Player of the year race: Offense

1. Dion Lewis, RB, Pittsburgh: The Big East's leading rusher at 1,139 yards on 203 attempts, with 12 touchdowns.

2. Mardy Gilyard, WR, Cincinnati: The Big East's leader in receiving yards, with 65 catches for 908 yards and eight touchdowns.

3. Bill Stull, QB, Pittsburgh: The Big East's leader in passing yards and pass efficiency; he's has completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 1,879 yards and 17 touchdowns, with four interceptions.

4. Noel Devine, RB, West Virginia: Fallen back a bit after the past two games. He has rushed for 1,010 yards on 167 attempts this season, with 10 touchdowns.

5. Zach Collaros, QB, Cincinnati: Yes, that's right. Collaros not Pike. If you credit Collaros with the South Florida win -- the game was very much in doubt when he came in after Pike's injury -- Collaros has won four Big East games and will start a fifth this week. For the season, he has completed 76 percent of his passes for 1,229 yards and 10 touchdowns, with only one interceptions. He's also run for 288 yards and four scores.

Player of the year race: Defense

1. Mick Williams, DT, Pittsburgh: Leads the league with 13 tackles for loss, has three sacks and has forced three fumbles.

2. Kion Wilson, LB, South Florida: Leads the Bulls with 61 tackles. Had some strong comments before the Rutgers game and needs to back them up Thursday night.

3. Julian Miller, DE, West Virginia: See above.

4. Aaron Webster, S, Cincinnati: Has three interceptions and 42 tackles.

5. Greg Romeus, DE, Pittsburgh: Has 7.5 sacks and and an interception.

Newcomer of the year

1. Dion Lewis, RB, Pitt: See above.

2. Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, South Florida: Has 9.5 sacks, and interception and a forced fumble.

3. Tom Savage, QB, Rutgers: Has completed 56 percent of his passes for 1,341 yards and and eight touchdowns with one interception.

4. Mohamed Sanu, WR, Rutgers: has 32 catches for 291 yards and has run 10 times for 55 yards.

5. Darius Ashley, RB, Louisville: See above.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

How much more can go wrong for Syracuse?

	Marc Squire/Getty Images
	Nose tackle Arthur Jones has played his last down with the Orange.

The Orange lost its best offensive weapon when receiver Mike Williams abruptly quit the team last week. And now they will be without their best defensive player, nose tackle Arthur Jones, for the rest of the season. Jones, along with starting offensive lineman Jonathan Meldrum, suffered a torn mensicus in his left knee against Pitt last week.

Though constant double teams limited his production this year, Jones was arguably the best interior defensive lineman in the Big East. He memorably wreaked havoc on Notre Dame last year in an upset victory at South Bend.

Jones could have turned pro at the end of last season, and no one would have blamed him after three years of losing. Some analysts had even projected him as a first- or second-round pick. Instead, he came back to help the rebuilding project with Doug Marrone and to play alongside his brother, freshman defensive end Chandler Jones. His senior year got off to a bad start when he tore a pectoral muscle lifting weights in the winter, which forced him to miss all of the spring. But he hurried back and made it for the start of the year.

Jones -- who's a bright, engaging guy -- was the subject of my Friday Q&A last week and spoke about how he had no regrets on his decision to return to school. You just have to hope now that his injury doesn't knock down his NFL draft stock.

Losing two more starters -- Meldrum had started at right tackle all year -- was the last thing Syracuse needed. The Orange took only 55 scholarship players to Pitt because of injuries, dismissals and player defections. Roster turnover usually happens during a coaching change, but Doug Marrone has been hit hard by upheaval.

"Here we are we're trying to create a foundation for this program that's going to last a long time," Marrone said. "I feel very comfortable with the direction we're going in. People need to step up. Granted, there may not be the same production right now because of our numbers. That's a problem this year, but it won't be a problem in the future."

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Before the Orange even put the pads on, Syracuse's offensive line underwent a major shakeup, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Sophomore Josh White is now the starting left tackle, while junior Jonathan Meldrum takes over at right guard, with redshirt freshman Nick Speller going from left to right tackle. The line was a source of concern in the spring.

• Pitt's offensive line is counting on a pair of talented sophomores, Paul Zeise writes in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

• The Sporting News names Cincinnati's Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard as one of the most dangerous quarterback-receiver combos in the nation.

• Kicker Josh Lider, who transferred to West Virginia after his Division II school dropped football, is adjusting to the big time, Dave Hickman

• Receiver Sterling Griffin is one of the many freshmen who have impressed at South Florida camp, Greg Auman says in the St. Petersburg Times. Also of note in this story is Jim Leavitt's quote about junior college defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who should make it to campus in a few days

"Will he be in shape? No, we know that. Will he be ready to go in the first game? That's pretty hard to do that, but hopefully he'll get ready sometime during the year, hopefully as fast as he can. He's got a lot of talent, but you have to get here, and it's a different world here. It takes an adjustment."

• Information was in short supply as Steve Kragthorpe spoke at a Louisville football kickoff luncheon, C. Ray Hall writes in The Courier-Journal.

• Rutgers offensive lineman Caleb Ruch is playing with confidence now after being mysteriously afraid of cameras during practice last year, Tom Luicci reports in The Star-Ledger.

• Scarlet Knights walk-on Billy Anderson does some of his best work off the field, Keith Sargeant writes in the Home News Tribune.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

My colleague Ted Miller out in the wild, wild west of the Pac-10 had a really fun post earlier this week. He looked back on that conference's 2006 recruiting class. Players who signed that year should be seniors or redshirt juniors now, so it's a perfect time to judge the class on actual results, not promise.

And so, I figure that's a good idea to steal and apply to the Big East. Pittsburgh had the 16th-best recruiting class in the nation that season, according to our Scouts Inc. experts, while Louisville ranked 21st. No other Big East team cracked the top 25.

Let's take a look back and see how things have turned out, shall we?

Cincinnati

Class: 22

ESPNU top 150 players: 0

Expected major contributors in 2009: 7 -- LB John Goebel, LB Robby Armstrong, CB Marcus Barnett, TE Ben Guidugli, DL Ricardo Matthews, RB Jacob Ramsey, S Aaron Webster

Misses: DT Oren Wilson

Verdict: Mark Dantonio's final full class contained some players who have already contributed, like Ramsey, Guidugli, Barnett and Webster, and some who should assume bigger roles this year, like Armstrong and Matthews. But overall, this lacked the quality of the deep '05 bunch that formed the core of last year's Orange Bowl squad. Receiver Jamar Howard, who was part of the '06 class but didn't qualify in 2006, is back this year after a stint in junior college.

Connecticut

Class: 24

ESPNU top 150 players: 0

Expected major contributors in 2009: 11 -- WR Brad Kanuch, S Robert Vaughn, K Desi Cullen, OL Zach Hurd, LB Scott Lutrus, CB Robert McClain, LB Lawrence Wilson, DE Lindsey Witten, OL Mathieu Olivier, DT Alex Polito, DE Mike Cox

Misses: CB Jamie Nixon

Verdict: As usual, Randy Edsall's '06 class didn't draw much attention nationally. But he found a whole bunch of players who exceeded their star rankings and became key pieces for the Huskies. Lutrus is one of the best linebackers in the Big East, while Vaughn is a top safety and Witten has NFL potential. UConn could use a breakthrough from the oft-injured Kanuch.

Louisville

Class: 30

ESPNU top 150 players: 2

Expected major contributors in 2009: 7 -- DE Rodney Gnat, DT L.T. Walker, LB Brandon Heath, WR Josh Chichester, CB Johnny Patrick, WR Troy Pascley, OT Jeff Adams

Misses: DT Aundre Henderson, DT Kareem Crowell, QB Emmanuel Francis

Verdict: Bobby Petrino's final class at Louisville looked great on paper but was hit hard by attrition and misevaluations, which is part of the reason why the Cardinals have been so thin the past two years. Some problems were unforeseen; promising defensive end Peanut Whitehead had his career ended after just a season by a back injury. Henderson decided he didn't like football and quit. Running back Anthony Allen transferred. Several others were dismissed for disciplinary reasons or never panned out.

Pittsburgh

Class: 27

ESPNU top 150 players: 2

Expected major contributors in 2009: 9 -- TE Nate Byham, OT Jason Pinkston, CB Aaron Berry, OL John Malecki, CB Jovani Chappel, OL Joe Thomas, S Elijah Fields, DE Greg Romeus, CB Ricky Gary

Misses: QB Kevan Smith, CB Aaron Smith, DT Scott Corson

Verdict: Overall, this was a deep, solid class that will form the backbone of this year's team. Add in the fact that star left tackle Jeff Otah was part of this group as a junior college transfer, and it becomes all the more impressive. Byham, Pinkston, Berry and Romeus are All-Big East-caliber players with pro futures. Pitt hasn't seemed able to figure out what to do yet with once highly-rated prospect Dorin Dickerson. Running back Kevin Collier could contribute this year.

Rutgers

Class: 27

ESPNU top 150 players: 0

Expected major contributors in 2009: 9 -- RB Kordell Young, WR Tim Brown, LB Antonio Lowery, DT Blair Bines, LB Ryan D'Imperio, DB Zaire Kitchen, TE Shamar Graves, FB Jack Corcoran, DT Charlie Noonan

Misses: TE Jeff Minemeyer, LB Sorie Bayoh

Verdict: The best player from this class, Kenny Britt, was a first-round NFL draft pick in April. Combine that with a high number of contributors, and Greg Schiano had a pretty good batting average with this class.

South Florida

Class: 30

ESPNU top 150 players: 0

Expected major contributors in 2009: 11 -- WR Carlton Mitchell, OL Zach Hermann, S Nate Allen, DB Jerrell Young, OL Jeremiah Warren, LB Sabbath Joseph, DL Aaron Harris, DL Craig Marshall, K Delbert Alvarado, WR Ed Alcin, OL Kevin McCaskill

Misses: DT Leslie Stirrups, WR Jason Sherman, DE Joseph Jackson

Verdict: Surprisingly, some of the Bulls' highest-rated recruits in the 2006 class are the ones who didn't pan out, while the lesser-regarded names have gained regular playing time. The best player so far of this group is Allen, who should have an NFL future. This is a good class that just needs a little more star power.

Syracuse

Class: 22

ESPNU top 150 players: 1

Expected major contributors in 2009: 9 -- TE Andrew Robinson, RB Delone Carter, OL Jim McKenzie, OL Ryan Bartholomew, OL Tucker Baumbach, OL Jonathan Meldrum, DE Jared Kimmel, LB Derrell Smith, WR Mike Williams

Misses: WR Andrey Baskin, S Derek Hrinya

Verdict: Several players from the '06 batch will start this year, including nearly all of Syracuse's offensive line. But this class, like most of Greg Robinson's efforts, is short on all-conference caliber players. Baskin was the Orange's biggest recruit, but he failed to qualify and never made it to campus. Robinson was the starting quarterback two years ago before switching to tight end this spring.

West Virginia

Class: 16

ESPNU top 150 players: 0

Expected major contributors in 2009: 6 -- DT Chris Neild, WR Wes Lyons, LB Anthony Leonard, C Eric Jobe, S Franchot "Boogie" Allen, LB J.T. Thomas

Misses: S John Maddox, CB Robert Williams, OL Eric Rodemoyer, CB Greg Davis

Verdict: The Mountaineers had a small class in '06, and they could have handed out half the scholarships and gotten the same results. Only eight 2006 signees are on the current roster. Several from that class are expected to take a step up this year, including Neild, Lyons and Allen. Still, only getting six major contributors from any class is a hard pill to swallow.