Bleed Scarlet

Big East shaking the sheets

November 3, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Thursday night’s victory over USF may have been a statement game for Cincinnati. In fact, I think they’ve had a pretty good team all along, but have been hurt by injuries at the QB position.

UConn lost big to West Virginia on Saturday. It was the same old story – their QBs are hurt, and they don’t have any good receivers. As a further blow, CB/WR Darius Butler will miss the next few weeks. Take it for what it’s worth, but

Sources have told us the future of Donald Brown at UConn could be tied in with the future of head coach Randy Edsall with the program.  Brown is one of the most underrated ball carriers in the nation and Edsall is one of the better coaches in IA football.  We’ve been told since September Edsall likely end up at Syracuse next year.

Does a loss to Syracuse at the Carrier Dome mean that Louisville took another step back?

It was a great win for Pitt over the Irish in South Bend on Saturday. I don’t think Pat Bostick “proved he was a winner“, given that he continues to be ineffective at every task besides “hand the ball to LeSean McCoy and get out of the way”. Sometimes, that will be enough to win though.

Don’t look now, but Curtis “Boonah” Brinkley is playing very well for Syracuse at RB, and led the Orange to an upset over the Cards. I have to admit, I am really steamed that Syracuse can run the ball this year and Rutgers can’t.

Is it panic time in Tampa? Behind a sloppy game filled with bad penalties and turnovers, USF fell to Cincinnati last Thursday night. Jim Leavitt is great at building a program, but his reputation should take a hit based on his teams’ severe lack of discipline. LB Brouce Mompremier’s career is over due to a recent neck injury.

Don’t call it a comeback: West Virginia is back in its familiar spot in the driver’s seat of the Big East conference race.

A Charleston Daily Mail report seems to confirm Paul Franklin’s scoop a few weeks ago that the next BE commissioner would be named soon.

Asked when it would happen, a WVU administrator said, “a lot sooner than originally expected,” when Mike Tranghese announced he’d be stepping down in June 2009.

The rest of that piece seems to liberally crib from Tom Luicci’s original report on the topic last month. As you may recall, Franklin reported that former Big XII Commissioner Kevin Weiberg was the favorite.

Categories: Big East Conference

Rice gets cooking

November 3, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Since it’s Syracuse week, one has to feel badly for Arthur Jones.

Ironically, winning is the big reason the Union Endicott product is at Syracuse instead of Rutgers. Had he known the Knights were on the verge of three consecutive bowl trips, he may have changed his mind.

“The only reason I didn’t go to Rutgers is when I was doing comparisons and everything, Rutgers hadn’t gone to a bowl game, they were a horrible team. But I liked everything (else) about Rutgers. And then coming here (on a recruiting visit), Syracuse went to a bowl game that year and I just loved the company around here and everything.”

Video of Fred Hill’s media day press conference is up at SK.com. Reportedly, the BB tam did not look very good at a scrimmage against UMass on Saturday.

Can we please go without the wild swings between pessimism and optimism? Keep an even keel, one game at a time.

NJ Montly looks into the logistics of RU playing on the road. 

(more…)

Categories: Rutgers Football