ESPN College Football

One last regular-season stock report:

Stock up

1. Revolution No. 9: Whether the Big East does anything else after this, adding TCU as its ninth football member was a bold stroke that instantly enhances the league's reputation while concurrently crippling the Mountain West. The conference has forever been changed.

2. Bobby Eveld: How about a true freshman walk-on quarterback leading South Florida to victory at Miami? Amazing story, and I'll have more on Eveld later Wednesday.

3. Shawne Alston: The West Virginia running back is becoming more prominent as Noel Devine can't stay healthy, and Alston -- who had 71 yards on 16 carries at Pitt last week -- could be the featured ball-carrier for the Mountaineers next season.

4. Connecticut's turnover margin: The Huskies struggled with giving the ball away earlier in the season, but now they've flipped the script. In conference play, they lead the league with a plus-7 margin, including a Big East-best 14 takeaways. That's a major reason why the Huskies are in position to make a BCS game.

5. USF's tailbacks: Mo Plancher and Demetris Murray combined for 143 yards against Miami, and in three of the last four games one of them has eclipsed 100 yards. The Bulls' running game still doesn't blow you away, but it's vastly improved over last year. As a tandem, Plancher and Murray have combined for 1,153 yards this season.

6. Kick returners : Connecticut's Nick Williams got enough attempts to qualify for national rankings this week and took over as the No. 1 returner in the FBS. He's averaging an absurd 42.1 yards per attempt, aided by two long touchdowns. The Big East also has two other players in the top 13: Louisville's Victor Anderson (fifth) and South Florida's Lindsey Lamar (13th)

Stock down

1. Villanova's heel-dragging: Moving up to the FBS is a large undertaking and a difficult decision. But if Villanova doesn't make a call until April, that means the school will have taken seven months to give the league an answer. Throw in the three years before the Wildcats could actually join the Big East, and that's a long time to wait for a team that may or may not even be competitive right away.

2. Vidal Hazelton's Cincinnati contributions: You can't help but feel bad for Hazelton, the former USC transfer who had one year of eligibility with the Bearcats. The school has determined that he won't get a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA, so the receiver who tore his ACL in the opener will try to play this Saturday against Pitt. (He dressed but did not play at UConn). Hazelton's entire on-the-field contribution at Cincinnati could wind up being little more than half a game.

3. Pittsburgh's cornerbacks: Pitt's corners seemed to have regressed late in the year Antwuan Reed and Ricky Gary were called for four penalties in the South Florida game, and West Virginia decided to test them last week. It worked, as Geno Smith threw three touchdown passes and three completions of more than 35 yards on just 12 attempts.

4. Rutgers' sacks allowed: The Scarlet Knights have already given up 55 sacks on the season, and that's before facing the powerful West Virginia defense this week. The most sacks any team has allowed in a season the last five years is 59 by Miami of Ohio in 2009. Rutgers could shatter that this weekend.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- For Pittsburgh, thankfully, it's in with the new. For Syracuse, depressingly, it was on with the old.

Both teams came into Saturday's game in unexpected places. The Panthers, after being picked to win the Big East almost unanimously, were 2-3 and teetering on the brink of collapse. The Orange stood at a surprising 4-1 and had the Carrier Dome jumping at kickoff in anticipation of a breakthrough win.

Before halftime even arrived, roles had reverted back to normal. Pitt blasted Syracuse 45-14 in a game all too familiar to long-suffering Orange fans. Many of the 40,168 hopeful headed for the exits midway through the third quarter. By the final 10 minutes, the place looked like a ghost town from the Greg Robinson days.

It was the kind of lopsided result you might have expected before the season, but not after the way the Panthers bumbled through the nonconference portion of their schedule. They saved their most complete performance for the start of Big East play after coach Dave Wannstedt preached all week about beginning a new season.

"We knew it was a tale of two seasons all along," quarterback Tino Sunseri said. "We had a tough out-of-conference schedule, but we still have all of our goals ahead of us. The Big East championship is ahead of us. We wanted to come out fast today and let the Big East know that we can play."

Sunseri looked like one of the team's weak links earlier in the year, never more than when he struggled so badly against Miami that many fans called for backup Pat Bostick. But the sophomore has progressed since then, and on Saturday the game plan revolved around him.

Wannstedt said when he arrived in the team hotel on Friday night, he flipped on the TV and saw Syracuse coach Doug Marrone's show. Marrone, he said, "must have said the word 'physical' 10 times during the course of the show." Wannstedt also saw how the Orange brought pressure against South Florida last week, daring Bulls quarterback B.J. Daniels to burn them with big plays.

Daniels couldn't. But Sunseri could. He completed 17 of 24 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns. Pitt's first play from scrimmage was a short pass that Devin Street took 79 yards for a touchdown. Sunseri also made third-down touchdown throws to Ray Graham and Mike Shanahan as he stood in against the blitz.

"That was probably his most complete game," Wannstedt said. "He has showed little spurts, signs of getting better. But today I thought from start to finish, he maintained a consistency he had to have."

Pitt's improvement has coincided with its shuffling of the offensive line, moving Lucas Nix inside, Jordan Gibbs to tackle and replacing Greg Gaskins. Dion Lewis (15 carries for 80 yards) and Ray Graham (11 for 54) both found running room against a good Syracuse run defense. But neither went off, and Jon Baldwin finished with only one catch, yet the Panthers scored 45 points.

"Everybody thinks it's just Ray, Dion and JB," Graham said. "But Tino spread it out, and that's what is great."

The defense also played its best game, holding star back Delone Carter to just 38 yards before Syracuse was forced to throw nonstop in catch-up mode. The Panthers created four turnovers, including cornerback Ricky Gary's 80-yard pick-six, while moving pieces around. Shane Gordon got his first start at strongside linebacker, Dom DeCicco went back to safety and Tristan Roberts returned to start at the weakside linebacker spot.

Wannstedt was hesitant to use the "new season" theme, lest his team forget its mistakes of the past. But it was hard not to think that this looked like a different Pitt, one that could compete with West Virginia for the Big East title if it maintains this level of execution.

"We should be unstoppable," defensive end Jabaal Sheard said. "We have great athletes and tremendous talent everywhere on the field. If we play like we did today, with everybody stepping up to make big plays, we'll be all right."

If Pitt looked renewed, Syracuse appeared to relapse.

The Orange benefited from a soft early schedule, and now they face consecutive road games at West Virginia and Cincinnati that could turn that 4-1 start to a 4-4 crossroads. They don't have another home game until November, and by then the excitement they built up may have significantly eroded.

"What I feel bad about is for the people who came out to watch the game," Marrone said. "Their expectations were high, and so were ours. My expectations were high for these players to get over the this hump."

Not quite yet. What's old is new again, and vice versa.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse had a chance to make a statement and build some momentum in front of an excited home crowd.

But with six minutes left in the third quarter, the fans are heading for the exits en masses. That's because they've seen this particular story too many times before.

Pittsburgh leads 35-7, and the Orange can't get anything to go their way. They've had the two best drives of the second half by either team, but one resulted in an 80-yard pick six interception by Ricky Gary, and the last one just ended with a fumble by Alec Lemon inside the Pitt 25.

The Panthers aren't doing too much except trying to hold on defensively and keep this clock running, and though you'd like to see more aggression, that's all they need to do right now. The Orange aren't back yet, and they are laying an egg during this golden opportunity.

• Pitt cornerback Ricky Gary is finally living up to his talent level. Greg Romeus and Ray Graham missed practice again.
• West Virginia's Eain Smith is starting to emerge from the shadows.
• Rutgers' Mohamed Sanu is already the leader of the wide receiver group.
• UConn's Cody Endres should have known better than to mess up.
• USF linebacker Sam Barrington was released from jail after getting his license issues resolved. Here's a new Bulls depth chart.
• A walk-on is pushing to be in the mix at wide receiver for Syracuse.

It's time to get back to our post-spring rankings of each Big East position group. A lot of teams have question marks in their secondaries heading into this summer; let's look at how they stand in comparison to one another:

1. West Virginia: The Mountaineers play five defensive backs in their 3-3-5 alignment and should be well stocked for 2010. Safety Robert Sands should compete for league defensive player of the year honors if he continues his rapid development, while senior Sidney Glover is an experienced playmaker at one of the other safety spots. West Virginia needs Brandon Hogan to rediscover his form and for Keith Tandy to keep improving, and this could be one of the team's strongest units.

2. Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights lost the best cornerback in the Big East when Devin McCourty took his skills to the NFL, but I still like the group that's returning. Joe Lefeged should step up and assume McCourty's leadership role as a senior safety, while Khaseem Greene looks ready to become a front-line safety. David Rowe is a solid corner, and either Brandon Bing or Logan Ryan should fill the other spot. The Scarlet Knights have a lot of talented young players here to provide quality depth, as well.

3. Syracuse: The Orange officially have five returning starters in the secondary because of injuries last year, and several players gained valuable experience during 2009. There's a good mixture of veteran leadership with guys like seniors Mike Holmes, Da'Mon Merkerson and Max Suter as well as rising stars like Shamarko Thomas and Phillip Thomas.

4. Pittsburgh: Antwuan Reed helped answer a big question with a strong spring at cornerback. The other corner spot will likely be filled by either junior college transfer Saheed Imoru or Buddy Jackson, with Ricky Gary around to add depth. The safety position should be in good shape when Dom DeCicco and Andrew Taglianetti return from their injuries, while Jarred Holley established himself as a dependable safety last year.

5. South Florida: The Bulls lost a pair of draft picks in Nate Allen and Jerome Murphy and have some young players moving into key roles this season. The good news is those youngsters have talent. The key will be whether Quenton Washington and Kayvon Webster can hold down the cornerback spots.

6. Cincinnati: There's healthy competition in the secondary for the Bearcats, who increasingly gave up big plays in the passing game as the 2009 season wore on. Dominique Battle, Camerron Cheatham, Chris Williams and Reuben Johnson all vied for playing time at corner this spring. Drew Frey is a steady safety. The group needs to make more plays than it did a year ago but should embrace a more aggressive scheme this year.

7. Connecticut: The Huskies ranked last in pass defense last season and lost two senior stalwarts from the secondary. The defensive backfield was in disarray at times this spring. The return of Blidi Wreh-Wilson from his shoulder injury this summer should help out the cornerback spot with Dwayne Gratz. Jerome Junior should be solid at one safety spot, while Kijuan Dabney is trying to win the other job after moving from linebacker. The Huskies are counting on a lot of young players to improve quickly before the season begins.

8. Louisville: The Cardinals had so much trouble finding playmakers in the secondary this spring that running back Darius Ashley moved to corner to help out. Johnny Patrick is one of the league's better cornerbacks but needs help in the defensive backfield. The healthy return of safety Terence Simien would provide a boost, but this remains a trouble spot heading into the fall.

PITTSBURGH -- At times during Pittsburgh's practice on Tuesday, the safeties included a former punter, a former quarterback and a walk-on converted cornerback.

It's safe to say the secondary is a work in progress for the Panthers. Injuries, graduation and a dismissal have turned the spring into a scramble to find bodies in the defensive backfield. But there have been some success stories as well.

Start at cornerback, where Pitt is replacing senior starters Aaron Berry and Jovani Chappel from a year ago. Junior Antwuan Reed has emerged as a worthy successor. On Tuesday, he had an interception and played excellent coverage against All-Big East receiver Jonathan Baldwin.

"I go against him every day, and it helps me a lot because he's one of the better receivers in the country," Reed said.

Reed was a backup and a special teams player his first two years. He showed some toughness by defending Notre Dame's Michael Floyd on a deep ball after being thrust into the game against the Irish last year because of injuries. He's been so good this spring that head coach Dave Wannstedt said, "when I look back on it, I probably should have played him more."

Junior college import Saheed Imoru is getting a long look at the other corner spot. Coaches describe him as a strong, physical player who can cover and tackle. But he's still learning the system, as is to be expected. Former starter Ricky Gary and Buddy Jackson will also battle for playing time this fall.

Safety has been a patchwork position because injuries kept Dom DeCicco and Andrew Taglianetti from practicing this spring, and Elijah Fields was dismissed earlier this year. But the situation has helped sophomore Jarred Holley, defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley said.

"Last year, Jarred played in every game and he would look over at Dom or look over at Tags for instruction," Hafley said. "Now, he's the only one with any experience, and that's forced him to become a leader and make all the calls. He won't need to look over at Dom or Tags any more because he's got confidence and got the defense down, which is huge."

DeCicco and Taglianetti are expected to back for fall camp, which should create a pretty good competition for starting jobs. For now, Hafley is filling in with that converted punter (Pat Costello), an ex-quarterback (Kolby Gray) and a walk-on (Todd Gilchrist), among others. Hafley said he told them at the beginning of spring that expectations wouldn't be lessened despite their inexperience.

"This is going to make us a better team, because it's going to create depth," Hafley said. "You've got to look at the positive side."

Since we're going in reverse alphabetical order for this spring superlatives series, Rutgers should be up now. But there has been a lot of Scarlet Knights' content on here of late, so I'm going to flip flop and have Pittsburgh go today. Let's look at where the Panthers are strongest and weakest among position groups heading into spring practices:

Strongest position: Defensive end

Key returnees: Greg Romeus (eight sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss) and Jabaal Sheard (five sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss).

Key departures: None.

The skinny: Pitt has several strong groups, not least of which is running back with the return of Big East offensive player of the year Dion Lewis, plus Ray Graham and Henry Hynoski. But I'll give the slight nod to defensive end, where Big East co-defensive player of the year Romeus is back for his senior year, along with classmate and fellow standout Sheard. They give Pitt the best pair of ends in the league, and they're backed up by promising youngsters Shayne Hale and Brandon Lindsey.

Weakest position: Cornerback

Key returnees: Ricky Gary (16 tackles, one interception), Antwuan Reed (13 tackles, one interception)

Key departures: Aaron Berry, Jovani Chappell.

The skinny: Both starting corners from a year ago have moved on, and it wasn't exactly a position of great strength beforehand. Gary and Reed have playing experience, with Gary starting the final five games of '08 and once last season. But Pitt is counting on junior college transfer and midyear enrollee Saheed Imoru to claim one of the starting spots. If Imoru lives up to his billing, this could turn out just fine. If not, the Panthers may have to scramble to find answers in their pass defense.

It was just a couple of years ago when people wondered if Dave Wannstedt was the right guy to lead Pittsburgh back to prominence. You don't hear that much anymore now that Wannstedt guided Pitt to 19 wins in the past two years, including the school's first 10-win season in more than a quarter century in 2009. Wannstedt and his staff have turned recruiting into a well-oiled machine and could be favored to win the Big East in 2010.

That doesn't mean the team doesn't have question marks going into spring. I addressed some of these with Wannstedt late last week. Here is the first part of my conversation with the sixth-year coach. Check back Tuesday for Part II.

Before we get to looking ahead, let's look back for a second. What are your reflections on the 2009 season, when you won 10 games and came up just short of a Big East title?

Dave Wannstedt: We were [11] points away from being unbeaten and four points and 30 seconds or whatever it was away from being undefeated in the Big East. I think that our guys had a little bit of a meltdown at NC State, but for the rest of the season, our players and coaches did a great job of maintaining their focus and being ready to play each week. Even the two conference games we lost, West Virginia down there and obviously Cincinnati, we were in position to win both games.

Obviously, we've taken our expectations from a talk standpoint to another level. Our players now expect to win and expect to compete for the Big East championship. Three years ago, maybe four years ago as a head coach, you're standing up there trying to convince them of that. Now I don't think anybody needs to be convinced. They understand and they want it. We obviously accomplished a few things last year that we haven't done in a while, but we still have a long way to go and a lot of things to accomplish.

How big of a boost was it when Greg Romeus decided to come back for his senior year?

DW: Greg's a great player, and he and I had a lot of discussions. We did our homework, no different than we did with LeSean McCoy and Darrelle Revis. We went through the NFL evaluation process. I probably called 10 NFL head coaches and general managers and friends of mine around the league. And I think, after getting all the evaluations in and talking with Greg and his parents, he really believes -- and I agree -- that he can better his position. That he's going to have a great senior year, he's going to graduate, receive more recognition on a national level, and I think it's going to help his draft status a year from now.

Let's talk about the quarterback situation, which is always a big deal. Where does that stand going into the spring?

DW: We're better off than we've been in the past for a couple reasons. From a depth standpoint, we have Pat Bostick coming back, and I think the redshirt year has done wonders for him knowledge-wise, from a physical and mental standpoint. And the interesting thing with Tino Sunseri is, if you go back to last spring we opened up the competition between Billy Stull, Pat Bostick and Tino. So all three quarterbacks got equal reps throughout the spring. Then we got to training camp and made the decision to redshirt Pat. And Tino was alternating between first group/second group all through camp with Billy.

So, really we came out of camp where Billy was a little bit ahead of him, but Tino had gotten so much work with the first group on offense, as I look back on it, it was one of the better things we did to help his development. So he's ready to play now. He's a redshirt sophomore. He understands the offense and we've got a good feel for his abilities and what he can do. So we'll see what he can do. It's going to be a competition.

Then we have two really good freshmen coming in, and obviously you're not counting on them. But we like Anthony Gonzalez from Liberty (Penn.) and Mark Myers from (Cleveland) St. Ignatius. Here's kind of an interesting tidbit: They were both picked to play in the Big 33 game; one will be playing for Ohio and one for Pennsylvania. So at some point in the game, both quarterbacks in the Big 33 game could both be going to Pitt. That's probably never happened before.

Will you keep Gonzalez at quarterback? He's a versatile all-around athlete.

DW: We'll see. That's the plan right now and we'll just have to see how it unfolds.

So going into spring, is Sunseri No. 1 on the depth chart, or is it officially even between him and Bostick?

DW: We have a walk-on kid, Andrew Janocko, who's been here three years. All three of them will get work. We'll split the work early with Tino and Bostick, but I think they'll both have to go and show what they can do, and we'll give them each a chance to go out and prove themselves.

Do you anticipate the competition going into fall camp like last year?

DW: I don't think so. I think it will be cleared up pretty good this spring. But you never know. I'm anticipating that it will.

You don't have a ton of question marks heading into 2010, but one of them appears to be cornerback. How is that position shaping up?

DW: We signed a kid out of junior college named Saheed Imoru. He was a qualifier out of high school from Houston and he had an appointment to the Air Force Academy, but he wanted to get an opportunity to play Division I football at a little bit higher level. So he went to junior college and he's been here now since January. I watched him play -- his team went to the national championship game -- and I think this kid has a chance to really be a good player.

We have Ricky Gary coming back from last year. Antwuan Reed is a junior who played as a freshman a little bit and is from the same high school as LaRod Stephens-Howling. He's got a lot of ability. Then we moved Aundre Wright from receiver to corner. Jarred Holley was recruited here to play corner, and we moved him to safety when Andrew Taglianetti got hurt. He ended up being really good at safety. We'll keep him at safety to start off, but we could move him to corner if we had to.

Will Taglianetti be ready for spring?

DW: He'll be back for spring, but he'll be limited. We've got Taglianetti, a redshirt freshman named Jason Hendricks from New Jersey who we really like. Kolby Gray has moved from quarterback to safety. Then we've got Dom DeCicco back, too.

Spring football in the Big East kicks off March 16. Here's a breakdown of three issues facing each program heading into the spring:

CINCINNATI
Spring practice starts: March 17
Spring game: April 24
What to watch:

• Building depth: New coach Butch Jones said this is the biggest key for the spring. The Bearcats have a lot of top-flight players with starting experience back, like Zach Collaros, Armon Binns, Isaiah Pead and JK Schaffer. But there's a lot of youth and inexperience in potential backup roles, especially at positions like offensive line, linebacker and receiver. All slates are clean with the new coaching staff, and the spring will be a time when new names can emerge in key roles.

• Defensive line retooling: Jones will switch back to the 4-3 after a year in the 3-4 scheme. Both starting defensive ends from last year are gone, but the smallish line was overpowered at times near the end of the season anyway. Derek Wolfe should be a fixture inside, Dan Giordano, Brandon Mills and John Hughes step into more prominent roles. Jones will have to decide whether to make Walter Stewart a defensive end or keep him at outside linebacker. The Bearcats could use a little more strength and bulk up front against the bigger Big East offensive lines.

• Vidal's arrival: USC transfer Vidal Hazelton is eligible after sitting out last year. He reputedly dominated practices last season, and now he'll get to go full time with the first string. A lot of people will be watching closely to see how he and Collaros connect during the spring. A big year by Hazelton will lessen the loss of star wideout Mardy Gilyard and could keep Cincinnati as the Big East's best offense.

CONNECTICUT
Spring practice starts: March 16
Spring game: April 17
What to watch:

• Secondary matters: UConn returns a truckload of starters and looks rock solid in most areas. But the defensive backfield will be an area of emphasis starting in the spring. Gone are stalwarts Robert McClain and Robert Vaughn from a secondary that got picked apart much of the season by opposing passing games. Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson showed progress by the end of their redshirt freshmen seasons and should be the starting corners. The Huskies need someone to replace Vaughn at safety and overall better performance from the unit.

• Frazer vs. Endres: Zach Frazer and Cody Endres have been splitting starts since the second half of the 2008 season at quarterback. Endres took over early last year and played well until he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Frazer picked things up late after a slow start. The competition should be back on this spring, with Frazer probably holding the edge given his late-season improvement.

• Catch as catch can: Receiver was a major question for UConn going into last spring, when walk-on senior Marcus Easley surprised everybody with his giant leap forward. He became the go-to guy in 2009, but now he's gone, along with starter Brad Kanuch. So the Huskies are basically back in the same position as this time a year ago, needing to find some reliable pass catchers. Kashif Moore may be the next to break out after some good, late-year performances. And perhaps former highly-touted recruit Dwayne Difton will emerge. UConn hopes to catch lightning in a bottle again like it did with Easley.

LOUISVILLE
Spring practice starts: March 24
Spring game: April 16
What to watch:

• Switching to Strong: The Cardinals will have their first practices under new coach Charlie Strong, who promises to bring a much different style than former coach Steve Kragthorpe. Strong is known as being an intense guy on the field, and as a former top-flight defensive coordinator, he will likely be particularly demanding of players on that side of the ball. There will be new terminology to learn, new assistants and new standards to which the Cardinals must adjust in a hurry.

• The quarterback shuffle: Louisville had three quarterbacks -- Adam Froman, Justin Burke and Will Stein -- start games last year. All three will be given the chance to win the job in the spring, and mid-year enrollee Luke Woodley might see some snaps as well. Don't be surprised if this competition goes into the fall and if other newcomers like Dominique Brown get a look. Offensive coordinator Mike Sanford wants to run a Florida-style spread offense, which might favor the more mobile Froman if he chooses to go with a veteran under center.

• Line play: The trenches have not been a particularly strong suit for Louisville the past couple of seasons, one of the reasons why the program has fallen out of annual postseason play. The Cardinals have gotten very little pass rush from the defensive line and not enough of a consistent push from the offensive line. Strong asked the offensive linemen to rework their bodies to prepare for the spread, and he'll need replacements for two senior defensive tackles. Junior-college imports Randy Salmon and Tyler Harrell will have a chance to impress on the defensive line. If the holdovers don't step up, we could see more newcomers in key spots by the summer.

(Read full post)

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

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.