Around the Conference Week 5

If you don't know what week this is, just ask Tron. Friday night marks the only Big East game between two conference teams as most schools are finishing up the out of conference schedules on Saturday. Every game is winnable for the Big East teams, but as we have seen so far this year, you never bet on Pitt, Syracuse, or Louisville.

Akron vs. UConn--UConn leads off for the conference on Saturday by taking on Akron. Akron comes in 2-2 with loses to Ohio State and Indiana and wins over Army and Kent State. The Zips are struggling on offense to say the least. The total offense is 111 with a rushing offense at 102 and passing offense at 111. The defense has not stopped the run (98th) but has played well against the pass (15th). UConn shocked Pitt last week by forcing 6 turnovers and jumping out to a 34-7 lead. Through 4 games, the Huskies have yet to lose and Tyloer Lrenzen has thrown for 880 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Miami (OH) vs. Syracuse--Syracuse attempts the unimaginable. After beating Louisville just a week ago, Syracuse now goes for a second straight win versus Miami (OH). Last week, Syracuse piled up 465 total yards with 423 yards passing en route to the victory over the Cardinals. The 423 yards came on only 17 pass completions which says more about Louisville than it does Syracuse. The rushing offense has fallen to 118 in the country and the defense is now 112th (105 rushing and 103 passing). The Orange scored more points against Louisville than their first three games combined. The RedHawks are also 1-3 with a win over Ball State and then losses to Minnesota, Cincy, and Colorado in succession. Miami averages around 333 yards of total offense (88th in the country) and gives up about 500 yards (111th) so look for a titanic battle in this one, which has some how been left off of the ABC game of the week.

Maryland v. Rutgers--Maryland is 2-2 and still an unknown. The Terps beat Villanova and Florida International then lost to WVU and Wake Forest the last two weeks. WVU averaged 7.4 yards per carry versus the Terps in 353 rushing yards while WF ran for 178 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Rutgers will try to match those numbers with the 16th ranked rushing offense at 228 yards per game. In addition Rutgers is passing more efficiently as they are the 19th passing offense in the country behind the number 1 qb in the country in effeciency Mike Teel. Of course all of this has come against Buffalo, Navy, and Norfolk State so the competetion hasn't been intense yet.

Louisville v. NC State--The Cardinals are at a fork in the road. They can either start working their way back to respectability or they can quit. Given the state of the defense (104th against the pass and 90th overall) it may be easier to quit. The Cardinals are averaging 619 yards and 50 points per game and have two loses. NC State beat Wofford (who beat Appy State, who beat Michigan) so the only things keeping the Wolfpack from a high ranking are loses to Central Florida, BC, and Clemson. NC State is getting gashed against the run to the tune of 247 yards per game but have been pretty good against the pass at 161 yards per game. Of course most teams have quit throwing after building a lead. Louisville won't, and can't afford to, do that even if they are up 30.

Pitt v. Virginia--Pitt has UVA and Navy in a row and could win or lose both without surprising anyone too much. LeSean McCoy is averaging 6.4 yards per attempt on offense. That's it for Pitt on offense. The Panthers are only averaging 22 points per game with a schedule that included Eastern Michigan, Grambling, and UConn in three of the four games thus far. Pat Bostick is the present and the future and has responded with 4 interceptions to 1 touchdown. Virginia has a blowout loss to Wyoming and then has rattled off three straight wins all in conference. The Cavs are horrible on offense averaging under 300 total yards per game and less than 20 points and are average on defense. The defense has given up more yards than the offense has generated (357 per game) but UVA has found was to win despite also losing the turnover battle on the season.

Cincy v. San Diego State--In the final Big East conference game of the week, Cincy travels to see Ron Burgandy and take on the Aztecs. San Diego State is 1-2 with loses to Washington State and Arizona State by big margins and last week a blowout victory over Portland State. The Aztecs will throw the ball all over the yard and are averaging more than 300 yards passing per game. The Bearcats are number 1 in the country in turnover margin, but have given up some yards through the air (221 per game). The only real concern for Cincy is that they are ranked for the first time since 1976 and have Rutgers next week. This is a trap game that could be closer than most would guess because of those factors.