ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

I didn't come here to talk about the past.

Wait, scratch that. Let's review Week 8 in the Big East.

Team of the week: Connecticut. I never give this award to a losing team, but here is a special exemption for the Huskies. They gave everything they had after an unbelievably sad, trying week following the Jasper Howard homicide and came within a couple of minutes of beating West Virginia for the first time.

Team of the week, Part II: Cincinnati and Pittsburgh (tie). I had to create a second category to recognize the tremendous performances by the Bearcats and Panthers, who each scored 41 points in registering a blowout conference victory. Cincinnati did it despite not having Tony Pike. Pitt destroyed a team that was in the Top 25 earlier this month.

Best game: The UConn-West Virginia game was the only non-blowout of the weekend, and it had enough story lines to spare. From the pre-game tributes to Jarrett Brown's return to Kashif Moore catching a touchdown pass a week after holding a dying Howard in his arms to fourth quarter heroics, this 28-24 game had it all.

Biggest play: Noel Devine's 56-yard touchdown run with 2:10 left made the difference against UConn. It was classic Mountaineers football, with Devine taking a zone-read handoff from Jarrett Brown and zipping around the corner past defenders. His biggest challenge was staying in bounds as he tiptoed the sidelines on his way to pay dirt.

Best call: To Brian Kelly for not playing Pike. It had to be tempting for Kelly to go with his star quarterback in a conference game, especially since Pike had practiced during the week and proved last year he could play through a broken left arm. But there was no need to endanger Pike for the rest of the year with BCS title hopes attainable. And Zach Collaros made sure Pike wasn't missed against Louisville.

Big Man on Campus (Offense): Pitt's offensive line. I'm breaking a lot of rules this week, including the bestowing of this award on an entire unit instead of one player. But the Panthers' offensive front was simply outstanding against a South Florida defensive line that had been terrorizing everybody. Offensive linemen don't get enough credit anyway. So, mad props to Jason Pinkston, Lucas Nix, Robb Houser, John Malecki and Joe Thomas, plus tight end Nate Byham and the running backs, for building a fortress around quarterback Bill Stull.

Big Man on Campus (Defense): Syracuse's Derrell Smith had nine tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble as the Orange shot down Akron 28-14.

Big Man on Campus (Special teams): West Virginia true freshman Tavon Austin returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown against UConn. That proved to be a crucial play, as the Mountaineers won by just four points.

Worst hangover: South Florida. We need some fraud protection against this program. The Bulls have lost their last two games by a combined 41 points, killing any thought that this would be the year for a Big East breakthrough. At least the last two years the team had injuries to blame for its October free falls. This year's team appears to be relatively healthy. Physically, if not mentally.

Strangest moment: Louisville's leading passer against Cincinnati was walk-on Will Stein, who came in after both Adam Froman and Justin Burke got hurt and were ineffective. Stein, who's roster measurement of 5-foot-10 must have been taken in high heels, finished with 98 passing yards. Remember when the Cardinals were Quarterback U., with a long line of prolific passers including Brian Brohm, Stefan LeFors, Dave Ragone, Chris Redman, Jeff Brohm, Browning Nagle, etc? Now they can't even get a guy over 100 yards in a game.

Now let's change the channel to Futurama. Here's a quick preview of Week 9 (Games listed in descending order of importance and interest):

No. 21 West Virginia (6-1, 2-0) at South Florida (5-2, 1-2): The last time West Virginia came to Tampa on a Friday night, it limped home in defeat with an injured Pat White. South Florida is the one hobbling into this game. Still, this looks like the best game of a weak week.

No. 8 Cincinnati (7-0, 3-0) at Syracuse (3-4, 0-2): This the last road game until Dec. 5 for the Bearcats. Looking forward to seeing Brian Kelly's offense on the Carrier Dome turf. Last time there, Cincinnati scored 52 points.

Rutgers (5-2, 0-2) at Connecticut (4-3, 1-2): This is developing into a pretty decent Northeast rivalry. Both teams are fighting for a Big East bowl spot and need to win this swing game.

Arkansas State (2-4) at Louisville (2-5, 0-3): Let's just say that it's a good thing the expanded Papa John's Stadium isn't opening this week.

Bye: Pittsburgh

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Like the early seasons of "Lost," let's have a quick flashback:

Team of the week: Pittsburgh. It wasn't always pretty, but the Panthers overcame a 15-point deficit late in the third quarter to beat Connecticut 24-21 and become the first team to go 2-0 in the Big East.

Best game: The Pitt-UConn game had a field goal as time expired and a big comeback. Good enough in a light week.

Biggest play: Trent Guy's 64-yard kick return after Southern Miss had scored to go ahead with 2:14 left. That set up the game-winning field goal for Louisville and for at least a week, gave Steve Kragthorpe a reprieve from rumors. And good for Guy, who fumbled a fourth-quarter punt earlier this season at Kentucky as Louisville squandered a lead.

Best call: Connecticut offensive coordinator Joe Moorehead called for the fly route to Marcus Easley on first down after a Pittsburgh punt late in the first half. Easley burned cornerback Ricky Gary for a 79-yard touchdown to give UConn a 7-3 lead.

Big Man on Campus (Offense): Pitt receiver Jonathan Baldwin was the best player at Heinz Field much of the day. He finished with eight catches for 104 yards and a touchdown and could have three scores with a couple of more accurate throws.

Big Man on Campus (Defense): UConn safety Robert Vaughn had 10 tackles and two interceptions, one of which he returned 20 yards for a score, in the losing effort.

Big Man on Campus (Special teams): Pitt kicker Dan Hutchins had three field goals, including the game-winning 18-yarder with no time left.

Worst Hangover: Connecticut. How do you blow a 15-point lead with a little under 19 minutes left? By producing seven total yards the rest of the way. The Huskies are two fourth-quarter collapses away from being 5-0.

Strangest moment: Doug Marrone's explanation for why he pulled Greg Paulus for the second half against West Virginia, when Syracuse trailed 27-0: "During the course of the game, I was concerned about some of the questions I and some of the coaches were asking and how he was responding to it. ‘Why would you do this? Why would you do that?’ It’s just not characteristic of how my experience with Greg has been in the past, therefore I felt uncomfortable about the situation and made the switch, knowing that Greg will still be our starting quarterback."

Marrone said Paulus wasn't hurt and that there was no quarterback controversy, so was Paulus just having a bad day or what?

Now, like the later seasons of "Lost," here's a flash forward (Games listed in descending order of importance and interest):

No. 8 Cincinnati (5-0, 1-0 Big East) at No. 21 South Florida (5-0, 1-0): I don't know how to put this, but this game is kind of a big deal. People know this game. It has many leather-bound books and its apartment smells of rich mahogany. (7:30 p.m. Thursday, ESPN).

Pitt (5-1, 2-0) at Rutgers (4-1, 0-1): The Scarlet Knight will try to run their winning streak to five against the Panthers. (8 p.m. Friday, ESPN)

Louisville (2-3, 0-1) at Connecticut (3-2, 0-1): The Huskies have won two straight over Louisville and need to make it three to have any chance of competing for the Big East title.

Marshall (4-2) at West Virginia (4-1, 1-0): The Mountaineers have owned "The Friends of Coal Bowl" with a perfect 8-0 record.

Bye: Syracuse

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Put some backspin on it.

Team of the week: South Florida. The Bulls won a Big East road game and cracked the polls for the first time this season, joining Cincinnati as the only league teams to be ranked in 2009.

Best game: Slim pickings from a short week. I guess the honor will go to West Virginia's 35-24 win over Colorado, which at least featured a lot of big plays.

Biggest play: For the second week in a row, it's a Cincinnati interception in the red zone. This time JK Schaffer saved the Bearcats from having a really tight game on their hands by picking off a Miami pass in the end zone late in the third quarter.

Best call: And for the second straight week, it's a pass play dialed up by South Florida's Mike Canales. This time, he opened the second half with a play action bomb that resulted in B.J. Daniels' 85-yard touchdown pass to Carlton Mitchell. That set the tone for the rest of the game.

Big Man on Campus (Offense): Noel Devine, RB, West Virginia. He was nearly unstoppable against Colorado, running for 220 yards on 22 carries, including a 77-yard score.

Big Man on Campus (Defense): Nate Allen, S, South Florida. He had eight tackles and a pair of interceptions at Syracuse to continue his strong season.

Big Man on Campus (Special teams): Scott Kozlowski, P, West Virginia. Kozlowski averaged 48 yards on four kicks, including a 56-yarder.

Worst Hangover: Louisville. The Cardinals were geeked up to beat Pitt, breaking out new uniforms and staging a black-out in front of a sold-out crowd. The fans wished they could black out the second half, in which the Panthers outscored Louisville 28-0.

Strangest moment: On two separate occasions in the first quarter of the Syracuse-South Florida game, one team turned the ball over only to have the other team give it back on the very next snap.

OK, time to pay it forward. (games listed in descending order of interest and importance):

Connecticut (3-1) at Pittsburgh (4-1, 1-0 Big East): Could be an early contender elimination game. We'll found out which of these teams is a serious threat in the league race.

West Virginia (3-1) at Syracuse (2-3, 0-1): The Mountaineers have owned Syracuse the past several years, but the Orange are a bit feistier these days.

Southern Mississippi (3-2) at Louisville (1-3, 0-1): Two old-school rivals meet, and that's appropriate because Louisville has been playing like it's back in the mid-1980s again.

Texas Southern (1-4) at Rutgers (3-1, 0-1): I will pay attention to this game because it's part of my job. Anyone else doing so will need a similar excuse.

Byes: Cincinnati, South Florida

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Like Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy, let's embark on a retreat to move forward. Rewind time ...

Team of the week: Cincinnati. For the second time in two weeks, the Bearcats take this honor. And who could argue after the Bearcats broke Oregon State's 13-year nonconference winning streak at home with a wildly impressive 28-18 victory in Corvallis.

Best game: Syracuse 37, Northwestern 34. It had all the requisite drama, big plays on both sides and a field goal to end it. Plus, it was the Orange's first win under Doug Marrone.

Biggest play: Max Suter's interception of Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka in the final minute not only prevented a potential winning Wildcats drive, but his return to the Northwestern 39 set up his team for the game-winning field goal.

Best call: Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike spotted an advantageous coverage and changed the play at the line of scrimmage on second and nine from the Oregon State 19 in the fourth quarter. The result: a touchdown pass to Mardy Gilyard. That stopped an Oregon State rally that had cut the score to 21-18.

Big Man on Campus (Offense): Pike. With apologies to Mike Williams and Greg Paulus of Syracuse, Pike just had more to deal with, including the crowd noise at Reser Stadium and Oregon State's pressure package. He calmly directed the Cincinnati offense while passing for 332 yards and two touchdowns and even running for a score.

Big Man on Campus (Defense): Dan Mason, LB, Pittsburgh. The true freshman stepped in at middle linebacker when Adam Gunn was a late injury scratch, and Mason collected a team-high 11 tackles and two sacks against Navy. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt raved about this kid in the preseason, and we found out why.

Big Man on Campus (Special teams): Ryan Lichtenstein, K, Syracuse.The true freshman was a walk-on until the final week of fall practice, when Marrone awarded him a scholarship. Lichtenstein earned his tuition money by making four field goals, including the 41-yard game winner with no time left, against Northwestern.

Worst Hangover: West Virginia (six turnovers in loss at Auburn) and South Florida (losing Matt Grothe) have bitter feelings this morning. But I'm going to go with Louisville, which had every chance in the world to end its losing streak to arch rival Kentucky but still found a way to come up short. Steve Kragthorpe let the frustration show in his postgame news conference, saying he was "freaking sick" about the loss, warning reporters not to blame Trent Guy for his muffed punt or he wouldn't talk to them and using a three-letter synonym for donkey several times. That's a coach and a program that badly needed a win.

Strangest moment: Navy punter Kyle Delahooke bobble a snap at his own 38-yard line, then for some reason tried to kick the ball while it was on the ground. That's a 15-yard penalty for illegal kicking. Pitt got the ball on the 15 and needed four more plays to score for a 21-7 lead.

OK, now let's do some forward-thinking. Some of these games don't look as interesting as they did in the preseason, but the Big East still has three dates against the ACC and has a chance to gain a little more respect. Games listed in descending order of interest and importance:

South Florida (3-0) at Florida State (2-1): It sure looked like the Bulls would have a chance to win this first-ever meeting just a week ago, before Grothe's injury and after the Seminoles struggled to escape against Jacksonville State. Then FSU blew the doors off BYU and now will face a first-time starting quarterback for USF.

Pitt (3-0) at NC State (2-1): The Wolfpack have beaten two FCS teams since their opening loss to South Carolina. NC State lost to both Rutgers and South Florida last year, and Pitt will look to keep that Big East winning streak going.

Rutgers (2-1) at Maryland (1-2): The Terrapins lost to Middle Tennessee State a week after needing overtime to get by James Madison. Rutgers hasn't put it all together yet, but this is one the Scarlet Knights should be able to win.

Fresno State (1-2) at Cincinnati (3-0): You have to wonder how much the Bulldogs have left in the tank after consecutive tough losses to Wisconsin and Boise State. Cincinnati won't show much mercy, but Ryan Matthews could give Fresno State a chance.

Louisville (1-1) at Utah (2-1): It's a very difficult assignment for the Cardinals, but the Utes haven't looked nearly as imposing in 2009 as they did in 2008. Still, they'll be hungry to break their first losing streak in over a year.

Maine (2-1) at Syracuse (1-2): The Orange gun for their first two-game winning streak since 2006. Wait, is that a typo? 2006?!

Rhode Island (1-1) at Connecticut (2-1): Rhode Island's starting quarterback is Rutgers transfer Chris Paul-Etienne. If that doesn't get you excited for this matchup, I don't know what will.

Bye: West Virginia (2-1)

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Let's look back (not in anger) before we look forward:

Team of the week: West Virginia. The Mountaineers scored the revenge they so desperately wanted against East Carolina and notched the Big East's best nonconference win to date.

Best game: Not a lot of instant classics in Week 2. North Carolina's 12-10 defeat of UConn had the late drama, though it wasn't pretty most of the time.

Biggest play: Dan Ryan's holding call in the UConn end zone with 1:32 left proved the difference in the North Carolina game. Two things to remember about that, though. One, Moe Petrus's bad snap put the offense in a bad position to start with. And two, the way UConn's offense had been playing, it's quite likely the Huskies would have still lost that game, either in overtime or after punting in regulation. To his credit, Ryan owned up to the mistake after the game.

Big Man on Campus (Offense): Jarrett Brown, West Virginia. The Mountaineers quarterback was marvelous against East Carolina, throwing for 334 yards and four touchdowns. His 58-yard scoring strike to Tavon Austin between three defenders might have been the prettiest play of the week.

Big Man on Campus (Defense): Lindsey Witten, Connecticut. The defensive end claims this award for the second straight week. He was credited with three sacks for the second game in a row against North Carolina, though his official stats now only give him five on the year. Regardless, he's among the nation's leaders in the category.

Big Man on Campus (Special teams): Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati. Gilyard was known for his kickoff returns for touchdowns last year. This season, he added a punt return for a score, bringing one back 53 yards against Southeast Missouri State. It was Cincinnati's first punt return touchdown since 1997. That was part of a four-touchdown day for Gilyard.

Worst Hangover: UConn. It was a crushing loss, at home, and now the Huskies have to go on the road to Baylor without injured starting quarterback Zach Frazer.

Strangest moment: Rutgers tried -- and executed -- a fake PAT after going up 23-0 on Howard. I guess the Scarlet Knights thought that extra point would come in handy during the 45-7 win.

Now let's look ahead to Week 3, which is by far the most interesting week in the Big East thus far. Six games that bring at least some intrigue. Here's what's on tap, in descending order of interest and importance:

Cincinnati (2-0, 1-0) at Oregon State (2-0): The Bearcats are all the way up to 17th in the AP Top 25, and going cross country to beat a good Pac-10 team would only improve their rep. This should be an entertaining game filled with playmakers on both sides, including Gilyard and the Rodgers brothers.

West Virginia (2-0) at Auburn (2-0): Both teams have looked pretty good offensively early on, and it's a chance for the Big East to get another win in SEC country. The last time a Big East team went to the Plains, South Florida won. And of course the Mountaineers beat the Tigers last year in Morgantown.

Navy (1-1) at Pittsburgh (2-0): The Panthers steamrolled Navy in Annapolis last year, but the Midshipmen looked good against Ohio State in Week 1 and should never be underestimated.

Northwestern (2-0) at Syracuse (0-2): Last chance for the Orange to get a Big Ten conference victory. Wait, they're not in the Big Ten?

Connecticut (1-1) at Baylor (1-0): Robert Griffin put on a show last year at UConn, but the Huskies got the win. Baylor might have the edge this year at home.

Louisville (1-0) at Kentucky (1-0): Means a lot to people within the state, but not much elsewhere this year. Steve Kragthorpe looks to avoid going 0-3 against his chief rival.

Florida International (0-1) at Rutgers (1-1, 0-1): Former Greg Schiano assistant Mario Cristobal will bring the Golden Panthers to Piscataway. Hey, we're stretching for storylines here.

Charleston Southern (0-2) at South Florida (2-0): South Florida beat Wofford 40-7 in the opener. Charleston Southern lost to Wofford 42-14 on Saturday. This is not going to be pretty.