Big East: League merry-go-round continues

At a dizzying pace.

Once again, a league team — this time, again, West Virginia — lost and fell out of the Top 25 rankings.

Yet once again, two Big East are ranked.

Pittsburgh finally learned how to handle poll success by blowing past Louisville and moving up to No. 21 in both major rankings. Cincinnati, meanwhile, finally earned the respect its been seeking by going to Morgantown and downing WVU in overtime. The Bearcats are now No. 22 in both polls.

"Everybody is on cloud nine," said UC wide receiver Mardy Gilyard nodding to his team’s locker room.

That’s because coach Brian Kelly had preached all season that the road to the Big East title goes through West Virginia.

Now, both UC and Pitt are 7-2 overall and 3-1 in Big East play. And both control their own destinies. With three wins to finish the season either would do no worse than share the title and win the tie-breaker based on head-to-head results. The teams meet in Cincinnati on Nov. 22.

"We’ve been frustrated and through a lot," said Pitt senior center C.J. Davis. "We got the win we needed. We’re definitely on the upswing."

The Panthers not only handled the success of last week’s ranking, but did so when the opposition shut down their standout tailback LeSean McCoy, who was held to a career-low 39 yards.

Louisville helped, committing momentum-killing penalties and turning the ball over five times. But Panthers quarterback Bill Stull and company took advantage. Stull completed 15-of-27 passes for 216 yards and no interceptions.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, dominated West Virginia through the first 59 minutes before withstanding a furious Mountaineer rally. WVU scored 13 points in the final 1:11. But the Bearcats defense held the Mountaineers to a field goal in the first overtime. UC quarterback Tony Pike then won the game by faking a run left to tailback Jacob Ramsey, bootlegging right and throwing a strike to tight end Kazeem Alli.

The Cincy defense, however, was most responsible for the win, holding the sometimes-lethal WVU offensive attack to just 98 rushing yards.

Saturday was also a good day for Rutgers, who look determined to rally and qualify for a bowl. The Scarlet Knights perhaps sealed Syracuse coach Greg Robinson’s doom by cruising past the Orange 35-17 in Piscataway. It was RU’s third straight victory and put the Knights at 4-5 with games against South Florida, Army and Louisville remaining.

Scoreboard:

Rutgers 35, Syracuse 17
Pittsburgh 41, Louisville 7
Cincinnati 26, West Virginia 23, OT

Team of the Week: Cincinnati

The Bearcats had been blown out on the road by Oklahoma and Connecticut but made a strong statement winning at West Virginia to move to 7-2. The victory legitimized UC’s record and put it — along with Pitt — in control of its BCS bowl destiny.

Disappointment of the Week: West Virginia’s offense

After back-to-back strong second-half performances against Auburn and Connecticut, WVU’s offense was almost completely shut down by Cincinnati. The Mountaineers failed to gain 100 yards rushing for the first time in seven years and averaged 2.3 yards per play.

Player of the Week: Mike Teel, QB, Rutgers

Teel is sort of like Bluto in "Animal House." Don’t interrupt him. He’s on a roll. Yes, Teel threw two more interceptions, but he completed 26-of-36 passes against Syracuse for 276 yards and three touchdowns. He’s thrown for nine scores in the past two games.

Freshmen of the Week: Jonathan Baldwin and Aundre Wright, WRs, Pittsburgh

Let these two fight for the jump ball. They’re good at it. Baldwin, a highly touted recruit, has come on in the last two games. He had two catches for 80 yards against Louisville. Wright, meanwhile, had a 76-yard TD dash on a reverse called back because of holding — before taking another handoff six plays later for a score.

There is joy in Queen City-ville

To say there was relief on the face of Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly after his team’s win at West Virginia would be an understatement. UC’s victory over the Mountaineers was only the program’s second in 17 attempts and its first in four tries since joining the Big East in 2005. "West Virginia is a great program," Kelly said. "To take the bell from them you’ve got to keep playing."

Steel Curtin-ish

Pitt’s offensive coordinator, Matt Cavanaugh, justly received a lot of praise for his creativity in the Panthers’ 41-7 win over Louisville. Tailback LeSean McCoy was shut down, yet Pitt breezed. But dish a little more credit to the Panther defense. For the first time since Sept. 2, 2006, the program’s D scored two touchdowns. Cornerback Ricky Gary and linebacker Scott McKillop both tasted the end zone.

Wild Knights

Rutgers coach electrified the Scarlet Knight crowd and his own team by plugging in the "Wildcat" formation in the third quarter against Syracuse. RU had not run the formation earlier in the season, but did so to perfection when back Joe Martinek lined up behind center and dashed 45 yards for a score.

Phil-ing in

Louisville quarterback Hunter Cantwell has been projected as a high NFL draft pick. But when he continued to struggle against Pittsburgh, Cardinal coach Steve Kragthorpe went to Matt Simms, son of former New York Giants QB Phil. (Phil, by the way, was in town to broadcast the Steelers-Colts game and in attendance.) Matt Simms, though, was ineffective, completing 4-of-10 passes for 39 yards with one interception, and was replaced by Cantwell.

Not looking good

On Nov. 15, 18 Syracuse seniors will be honored in the last home game. All signs say it will also be the finale for Orange coach Greg Robinson. After SU was routed 35-17 by Rutgers, Robinson’s record fell to 9-35 overall since replacing Paul Pasqualoni after the 2004 season. Predictably, Robinson was testy when asked about the situation. "No, I have not (spoken to athletic director Daryl Gross), OK? I’m not going to talk any more about that stuff, so get off of it."

Where’s J.B.?

West Virginia had troubles early in the season with short-yardage situation. Coach Bill Stewart then went to inserting burly backup Jarrett Brown in place of star Pat White. Brown, though, said to be hobbled, was not inserted against Cincinnati and it hurt WVU’s cause. The Mountaineers failed two second-half opportunities from inside the UC 10. Once they couldn’t gain five yards and a first down on two tries. Then they gained no yards in four chances from the Bearcats 2. WVU was 4-of-20 on third downs.