ESPN College Football

Want to know a position of sneaky strength for the Big East this season? Try center.

Three of the league's snappers made the 37-player preseason watch list for the Rimington Award, which is given to the nation's top center. The nominees are (drumroll, please):

• Ryan Bartholomew, Syracuse
• Mario Benavides, Louisville
• Moe Petrus, Connecticut

Consider that South Florida's Sampson Genus was a second-team All-Big East performer last year, that Kevin Haslam should be solid for Rutgers and that Evan Davis played well for Cincinnati this spring while replacing Chris Jurek. Center should be a position of strength in the Big East in 2010.

Not getting drafted doesn't necessarily mean the end of one's football career. Once the draft finishes, there's a scramble for players and teams to sign free-agent deals. Here's a list, compiled from various media and team reports, of undrafted Big East players who have signed with NFL teams (list will be updated as new information rolls in):

Cincinnati

Jeff Linkenbach, OT, Indianapolis

Aaron Webster, S, Houston

Mike Windt, LS, Cincinnati

Connecticut

Lindsey Witten, DE, Pittsburgh

Louisville

Joe Tronzo, FB, Cincinnati

Scott Long, WR, San Francisco

UPDATE: Trent Guy, WR, Oakland

Pittsburgh

Bill Stull, QB, Kansas City

John Malecki, OG, Tennessee

Mick Williams, DT, New York Jets

Aaron Berry, CB, Detroit

Rutgers

Kevin Haslam, OT, Jacksonville

Jack Corcoran, FB, Houston

UPDATE: Tim Brown, WR, New York Giants

South Florida

Kion Wilson, LB, San Diego

Delbert Alvarado, K, Dallas

West Virginia

Jarrett Brown, QB, San Francisco

Alric Arnett, WR, Denver

If you need a football fix, you can watch former Rutgers players work out for the NFL scouts today.

The Scarlet Knights' Pro Day will be broadcast live on Scarlet Knights.com beginning at 1:50 p.m. Here is the list of players who are participating:

Blair Bines

Ryan Blaszczyk

Pat Brown

Tim Brown

Jack Corcoran

Anthony Davis (will not participate in every drill)

Andrew DePaola

Ryan D’Imperio

Shamar Graves

Kevin Haslam

George Johnson

Stephante Kent

Zaire Kitchen

Jabu Lovelace

Devin McCourty (will not participate in every drill)

Damaso Munoz

McCourty and Davis each worked out at the NFL combine and are considered potential first-round picks.

• Skip Holtz commended Mike Ford for the way he handled his dismissal and pledged to help him find another school, Greg Auman notes in the St. Petersburg Times.
• Speaking of the Bulls, Jim Leavitt is at the NFL combine as a guest of the St. Louis Rams.
• Anthony Davis is eager to prove himself at the NFL combine, Keith Sargeant writes in the Home News Tribune.
• Here's a Q&A with another Rutgers draft hopeful, Kevin Haslam.
• A Wilkes-Barre columnist advocates Pitt for the Big Ten.

ESPN.com's Scouts Inc is breaking down all the East-West Shrine game practices this week. The all-star showcase for seniors will be held Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

West Virginia receiver Alric Arnett was one of the early standouts this week in practice. Check out this evaluation from Day 1:

"Practice is about half-way through and West Virginia WR Alric Arnett is looking like the best receiver on the East team. We love the way he's catching the football, both in terms of focus and hands. He's snatching the ball out of the air and doing a good job of looking it in before heading up the field. He's the most impressive receiver on this team so far.

... Alric Arnett continues to impress today. He got behind South Carolina DB Darian Stewart, but QB John Skelton overthrew him. But the good thing about this is it showed Arnett has the ability to stretch the field."

Analyst Todd McShay named UConn's Lindsey Witten as one of the top five players to participate this week:

"Witten's senior season couldn't have gone much better, as he had his best year at UConn and finished tied for ninth in the nation with 11½ sacks. At 6-foot-4, 248 pounds, Witten is an undersized end and might be asked to move to linebacker in the NFL. He needs to prove this week that he's strong enough to hold his ground against the run and fluid enough to drop into underneath coverage. A strong showing in Orlando could land Witten a spot in the third round of April's draft."

And McShay said Rutgers tackle Kevin Haslam, a late invitee, was among those with the most to prove.

"Haslam is not nearly as physically gifted as teammate Anthony Davis, a LOT who could be a top-five pick in April, but he moves his feet well enough to develop into an effective right tackle. In addition, Haslam has experience lining up at guard and enough room on his frame to bulk up, which would give teams the option to kick him inside if he does not pan out as a tackle."

West Virginia quarterback Jarrett Brown was scheduled to participate in the East-West game but got a late invitation to the more prestigious Senior Bowl.

The rosters for postseason all-star games are fluid and will continue filling up in the coming days. But here are the players from the Big East who we already know have been invited to one of the two big showcase games ...

Senior Bowl

Nate Allen, S, South Florida

Jerome Murphy, CB, South Florida

George Selvie, DE, South Florida

East-West Shrine Game

Kevin Haslam, OL Rutgers

Andre Dixon, RB, UConn

Lindsey Witten, DE, UConn

Nate Byham, TE, Pitt

Kion Wilson, LB, South Florida

Alric Arnett, WR, West Virginia

Jarrett Brown, QB, West Virginia

Quick glance at Saturday night's St. Petersburg Bowl matchup between Rutgers (8-4) and Central Florida (8-4):

WHO TO WATCH: Rutgers wide receiver/occasional quarterback Mohamed Sanu. With Tim Brown either out or very limited in this game, Sanu becomes the team's No. 1 big-play weapon. He was very effective late in the season operating out of the Wildcat formation, and look for a lot more of that on Saturday night. He could also be quarterback Tom Savage's main option in the passing game. The true freshman had an outstanding regular season and needs to come up big in the postseason for Rutgers to win this game.

WHAT TO WATCH: It should be strength versus strength on the edge when Rutgers' offense lines up against the Central Florida defense. UCF defensive ends Bruce Miller -- who was the Conference USA defensive player of the year -- and Jarvis Geathers combined for 23 sacks and 30 tackles for loss this season. While the Scarlet Knights' offensive line didn't live up to expectations this season, they still have two excellent tackles in Anthony Davis and Kevin Haslam. It's most likely Davis' last game in a Rutgers uniform as the junior is expected to declare for the NFL draft. Davis and Haslam need to hold off the pass rush and try to create some running lanes against the Knights, who ranked fourth in the FBS in rush defense this season.

WHY TO WATCH: Because it's the first night of bowl season, and haven't you missed football? Plus, Central Florida wants to impress the Big East as a potential future member, and this could be a good audition. This game could also serve as a springboard to next year for the Scarlet Knights.

PREDICTION: Neither team will find it easy to score, but Rutgers has more athletes across the board and will create field-position advantages with its defense and special teams. Scarlet Knights over regular Knights, 21-17.

• The members of Dave Wannstedt's first full recruiting class can fulfill a goal by winning the Big East championship on Saturday, Paul Zeise writes in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• Dorin Dickerson says the bye week hurt Pitt before the West Virginia game, Kevin Gorman writes in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
• West Virginia isn't even thinking about a bowl game yet after its November to remember, Mike Casazza writes in the Charleston Daily Mail.
• Andre Dixon has gone from the doghouse to team leader for UConn, Neill Ostrout writes in the Connecticut Post.
• The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Notre Dame has gauged the interest of Randy Edsall.
• South Florida might not have leading tackler and linebacker Kion Wilson this week because of an ankle injury, Greg Auman writes in the St. Petersburg Times.
• A quick coaching hire could help Louisville's recruiting, C.L. Brown says in The Courier-Journal.
• Rutgers offensive lineman Kevin Haslam has proved doubters wrong, Tom Luicci writes in The Star-Ledger.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

All teams are not created equal. And not all positions on a given team are on a level playing field.

There are some position groups that are much stronger than others. Today, we take a look at the areas where some Big East teams are simply loaded:

• South Florida's defensive line: Probably the most impressive-looking group, physically speaking, that I saw all spring. The Bulls' D-line is full of tall, rangy, athletic specimens. There's George Selvie, of course, but don't forget about Terrell McClain and Aaron Harris. And when Jason Pierre-Paul and Ryne Giddins come in this summer, the defensive line is going to be even more loaded.

• Pittsburgh's defensive line: The Panthers defensive front is just as strong as South Florida's, but in a different way. Dave Wannstedt prefers undersized, hyper-athletic players up front, and he's got them in spades with Greg Romeus, Jabaal Sheard and Mick Williams, among others.

• Rutgers' offensive line: The Scarlet Knights return all five starters from their offensive front, the only team in the Big East to do so. But this is more than just a collection of veterans. There are real stars on this unit in left tackle Anthony Davis and Rimington Trophy candidate Ryan Blaszczyk at center. Throw in improving right tackle Kevin Haslam, and you've got one loaded line.

• Connecticut's linebackers: All three of the Huskies' starting linebackers -- Scott Lutrus, Lawrence Wilson and Greg Lloyd -- are back, as well as the top three backups. And one of UConn's top recruits, Mike Osiecki, also plays linebacker. This is one position that's in extremely good hands for Randy Edsall.

Others considered: Cincinnati's wide receivers, Connecticut's safeties, Louisville's wide receivers, Rutgers' linebackers, South Florida's wide receivers, Syracuse's running backs and West Virginia's defensive line.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Rutgers football was a wasteland for decades. Until Greg Schiano took over.

Schiano has built the Scarlet Knights into something more than just a respectable program. He has it seemingly on the cusp of becoming a powerhouse. Even after a disastrous 1-5 start a year ago, Rutgers rebounded to finish with seven straight wins, including its third straight bowl victory. With recruiting on an uptick, it only seems like a matter of time before Schiano has the Scarlet Knights in a BCS game.

	Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger/US Presswire
	Coach Greg Schiano hasn't settled on a starting quarterback yet.

I caught up with Schiano last week before his team finished out spring practice for our weekly spring Q&A series.

How has the spring gone for you guys?

Greg Schiano: I think we've improved. We're young in some areas, so that improvement isn't always as fast as you'd like it to be. And in some areas, I think we've made substantial strides. So I think we've put ourselves in position to give ourselves a chance to have a real good summer and come back and have a real good camp. And from there, who the heck knows?

You've expressed disappointment with how the passing game has developed, particularly with the wide receivers. How big of a concern is that for you?

GS: We had some injuries at the wide receiver position. And two of the three quarterbacks that are working this year are redshirt freshmen. So my expectation levels weren't that high. And then we get a few receivers bumped, and it really affects it. We've had some wind affect some things. I think it's a combination of things. We're better at throwing and catching than we've shown, but you've still got to play in the elements that you're dealt and you've got to play with who's healthy. We didn't perform up to our potential in that area, but we just need to make sure we have a real good summer throwing and catching -- our kids do a great job of doing that on their own -- and then come back and have a great preseason camp. I have confidence our guys will do that.

Dom Natale separated himself a little bit at quarterback this spring, but do you see that as an open competition again this fall?

GS: Yeah, it'll be an open competition. Jabu Lovelace was our backup QB until he hurt his ankle, and he will be healthy and ready to go this summer. I think there's going to be a good competition there. I think D.C. Jefferson will get more and more comfortable with what we're doing and Tom Savage is coming in. I think we'll have some good competition there. We'll get about 10 days out, and if it doesn't declare before then, you're almost forced to make a decision because you've got to lock in your game plan.

You're the only Big East team to return all five offensive line starters from a year ago. How much of a boost does that give you?

GS: We have a chance to be better on the offensive line. Our two guards, one of them will be a true sophomore and the other one will be a redshirt sophomore. We're still young on the inside. [Center Ryan] Blaszczyk is obviously an experience senior, and one of our tackles is an experienced guy in Kevin Haslam. Anthony Davis has been playing a lot; he's only going to be a junior but he's played a lot. So I think we have a good mix of experience and youth and we have a chance to be good. I think this summer is going to be critical for this whole group.

Defensively, you lost some good players but return a solid core. How good do you feel about that side of the ball?

GS: We've got a chance. It's going to depend on if we can stay healthy and then have some guys step up, primarily in the secondary. You know, we lose Courtney Greene and Jason McCourty, two guys that played a ton of football around here. Up front, I feel good that we finally have a little bit of depth. Anytime I've been part of a good football program, there's been a good defensive line. So hopefully that will carry through.

You had a highly ranked recruiting class, especially with a couple of top-flight defensive linemen. How many of those guys do you think can play right away?

GS: I hesitate to ever comment on that because you never know how they're going to adapt to college. They're leaving home and they're doing so many things for the first time, going to a much tougher academic environment and maybe being homesick. Athletically, I think all of them are physically developed enough guys that they can step on the field and in some way contribute. It's just going to be a matter how focused they are, how committed they are this summer, how committed they are right now even. The good thing is that, as I've mentioned, we have now some depth that is staggered within all age groups. We have some senior leadership up front, some real good juniors and some talented young guys, and these recruits will be part of that young group.

Is the talent level at Rutgers where you'd hoped it would be at this point?

GS: I don't know if I ever put a timeline on where it would be, but I think we're getting better and better players every year. Incrementally, that increase change isn't as much now because we do have real good players, but we still have a lot of upside here. When we're getting every great player within a three-hour radius of Rutgers, that's when we will have arrived.

What will playing in the newly expanded Rutgers Stadium mean for you this year?

GS: It's not done yet, and they're busting their tails to get it done for the opening game but it will be done. It will be neat. It's going to be great for our fans and it's really going to change the dynamics of our stadium. That end zone had a real collegiate feel, and now that's going to be all closed. It was a loud stadium as it was, and it's really going to be deafening now. That end zone is right on top of the field -- it's literally maybe 30-something feet from the back line of the end zone. So it's going to be an intimidating place.

For forever, people said that college sports and college football in particular wouldn't take off here because of the pro markets, but that's been proven wrong. We had a waiting list for season tickets of 12,000 people. So hopefully this expansion will fill that need and we'll start a new list.

This was the second straight year that you had trouble finding a 12th game for the schedule and had to go all the way to the spring before you filled it out. What has been the problem in finding opponents?

GS: People dropped us. We did some great scheduling in advance, but one of the downsides of that is, the price tags of guarantees went way up. And fiscally, for some schools it made sense for them -- even though they were still breaking a contract -- it made sense to break the contract and go out and g
et a higher value. Plus, when they contracted those games years ago with Rutgers, a lot of teams were counting on that as a win. But all of a sudden you've got to go there and risk something, and that wasn't the original plan.

So many of those things are done so far in advance. We had two or three teams cancel on us, one as late as last season canceled for this season. It's not easy. And the issue we've had now with selling the stadium out -- I think we've had 18 or 19 straight sellouts -- is we need seven home games. That's what pays the bills. So we can't go on the road. We tried our rear ends off to get teams to come here, but it's just not an easy prospect, especially this late in the process.

We're set up now for a while going forward now, knowing what happened. We have guarantees that I think will certainly serve as a deterrent for people to just walk away from a game or a series. So I think we're going to be in good shape moving forward. We just kind of had to get through these two years. But I like where we're headed schedule-wise.

You gave up your defensive coordinator role this year and have installed co-coordinators there. How is that going, and what led to that decision?

GS: So far, so good. I had some guys in Bob Fraser -- who's been with me a few years, we go way back -- and Ed Pinkham, and those two guys worked together for a number of years. I just felt like they could do a better job than I would and I could do better things for the program in other ways and not be so focused on one area. And really I wasn't. That was one of the tough things because as you know there are only 24 hours in a day. I think the best thing I can do right now for this program is just be the head coach.

You also have co-offensive coordinators. How is that working out this spring?

GS: It's going very well. Again, as I said when we did this, I don't think you can do this kind of thing very often, just by human nature. It just so happens that we have two guys on this side of the ball that have worked together and have great understanding and respect for one another and have complementary skill sets. I've never done it before or been part of it as a coordinator, and I have no idea if it will work or not. I just did what I felt was best.

You've accomplished a lot here in your time. Is winning the Big East the next step for this program?

GS: Certainly if you're in a conference, you try to win the conference championship and we have not done that yet. We need to do that. I don't know any team in the league that doesn't start the year off thinking that. But like you said, we've built this thing from, some would say scratch but I'd say below scratch because we took over a place that had some pretty bad habits. We've moved it forward. But we've got to keep moving it forward and moving it forward from where we are now -- four straight bowl games, three straight bowl wins -- is to win a league championship and get into the BCS.

And you get the start off the season with defending Big East champion Cincinnati at home.

GS: How about that, right? Hey, if you want to compete for the championship, play the champion.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

If Rutgers can pull out a victory Saturday at South Florida, it will step closer to achieving a feat that's extremely rare, if not unprecedented, in recent football history.

The Scarlet Knights got off to an abysmal 1-5 start. Yet thanks to their three-game winning streak, they can even their record this week. And with Army and Louisville left at home, bowl eligibility is a real possibility.

Since 2003, which is as far back as my trusty Phil Steele yearbook takes me, no team from a BCS conference has ever started out 1-5 and rebounded to make a bowl. Among all FBS schools, only one other team has gone that route. The 2006 Rice Owls won six of their final seven regular-season games and earned a bid to the New Orleans Bowl against Troy, which itself rebounded from a 1-4 start. (And who among us will ever forget that 41-17 Troy victory in the 2006 New Orleans Bowl?)

Among major-conference teams, the closest parallels for Rutgers from the past five seasons would be the 2004 Oregon State Beavers, which climbed back from a 1-4 hole to beat Notre Dame in the Insight Bowl; the 2003 West Virginia Mountaineers, who went from 1-4 to the Gator Bowl; the 2006 Minnesota Golden Gophers, who were 2-5 before punching an Insight Bowl ticket.

Of course, the Scarlet Knights still have to win some games to complete their amazing turnaround. And that starts at South Florida. Offensive lineman Kevin Haslam told The Star-Ledger earlier this week that, " this is probably the biggest game I've played in because of the stakes."

The obvious place to look for a turning point for this team would be the Connecticut game, when Rutgers got a break when the Huskies missed three field goals, including a possible game-winner, in a 12-10 victory. But linebacker Kevin Malast said there was no real moment he can pinpoint when things began to turn.

"I think we just kept getting better as the season went along," he said.

Credit coach Greg Schiano for not getting caught up in the negativity and calls for sweeping change after the terrible start. Sometimes it's better to not look at the big picture. Schiano kept insisting that his team wasn't far off, and he stuck by starters like quarterback Mike Teel even as they struggled.

The one-game-at-a-time cliche became this team's motto out of necessity because there didn't seem to be much reason to look forward. Now that bigger goals are attainable, the players say they're sticking with what got them here.

"It's become an instinct for us to take it one game at a time," Malast said. "This teams knows what it has to do."

If it does what is possible the next three games, this team will have authored one of the great turnarounds in recent college football history.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Rutgers: Looking to spark his slumping offense, coach Greg Schiano made several changes to his offensive line last week at West Virginia. Only two starters, left tackleAnthony Davis and center Ryan Blaszczyk, remained at their original positions. Kevin Haslam moved from left guard to right tackle, Mike Gilmartin switched from right tackle to right guard and split snaps with true freshman Art Forst, and Kevin Haslam went from right tackle to left guard. Schiano was non-committal this week when asked if we would use that alignment again after the Scarlet Knights mustered only 72 yards rushing in Morgantown.

West Virginia: With senior Reed Williams shutting it down and planning for a medical redshirt, the Mountaineers have turned to sophomore Anthony Leonard at middle linebacker. Leonard made his first career start last week versus Rutgers and recorded a team-high nine tackles. He is the fourth different player to start at that position in five games for West Virginia. Meanwhile, a handful of Mountaineers are dealing with head injuries, including quarterbackPat White, center Mike Dent and defensive lineman Pat Liebig.

Louisville: The competition is on again for the Cardinals' backup quarterback spot. Matt Simms, son of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, has returned from his four-game suspension and split reps this past week withTyler Wolfe . Head coach Steve Kragthorpe said he would decide on a No. 2 signal-caller the day before Friday's game at Memphis. Although starter Hunter Cantwell has recovered well from his ankle injury against Connecticut, Louisville would like the peace of mind of having a reliable backup.

Connecticut: After Bruce Carter blocked three straight punts against UConn on Saturday, North Carolina coach Butch Davis said his team exploited the Huskies' new personal protector. That would be linebacker C.J. Marck, who filled in for injured tight endSteve Brouse . But Connecticut coach Randy Edsall said after watching the film that Marck wasn't to blame, and that it was another player who failed to execute his technique. He declined to identify which player was at fault. With Brouse out several weeks,Martin Bedard has moved into a starting role, and backup offensive lineman Dan Ryan has switched to No. 88 to play tight end in some packages.

Pittsburgh: One reason for the Panthers' resurgence this season is that they have avoided a rash of injuries that's plagued the program in recent years. Linebacker Adam Gunn (neck) is the only serious, season-ending injury that has struck the team through five games. Linebacker Shane Murray, who hurt his knee in preseason, hasn't played a lot of snaps this season but is nearing full strength. With a bye this week, Pitt should be close to full health as it heads into the final seven games.