All Entries Tagged With: "Cincinnati football"

Nuke Option For Big East Expansion

Of all the conference expansion scenarios being tossed around, the one University of Louisville fans would have to favor is the Big East’s Nuclear Option suggested by Matt Keagan:

Pronounced dead when Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College bolted for the ACC, the Big East has rebounded by adding Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida. Don’t be surprised if the Big East does some poaching of its own as the conference recently hired former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue as its special adviser for strategic planning.

That means Tagliabue is looking at firing the first shot, something that could be announced in the coming weeks or month with the Big East announcing that Villanova has agreed to abandon the FCS for the FBS and with Notre Dame signing on for football. But Tagliabue won’t stop there: he may raid Conference USA for two or more schools, too.

Take that and shove it, Big Ten Conference. Let Notre Dame move to the Big East Conference, grabbing all the Eastern media markets, and watch how quickly Pittsburgh, Rutgers and others quit sucking up to the Big Ten.

Keagan may be dreaming, or he just may be on to something.

Tagliabue is no stranger to football expansion efforts, overseeing the NFL’s expanson from 28 teams to 32 during the Nineties. New franchises  included Charlotte, Jacksonville, Baltimore and Houston.  He has taken on some enormous challenges and been successful. He may have a few more moves up his sleeve.

Read more of Keagan’s analysis here.

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Big East Football: Week 7

By Paul Sykes

All eight Big East football teams were in action, including three conference match-ups and two playing elsewhere. The good thing about the Big East standings for Louisville is that teams with identical conference marks are listed in alphabetical order, with Syracuse at the bottom.

• No. 5 Cincinnati jumped on Louisville early with 21 points and never looked back in a 41-10 drubbing. U of L may have lost running back Vic Anderson for several weeks with a separated shoulder. UC travels to Syracuse next week while Louisville hosts Arkansas State.

• No. 22 West Virginia scored last in a see saw 28-24 win over Connecticut in Morgantown. Noel Devine took a 62-yard run to the house with 2:10 remaining for the win (Think he read my recap last week where I put him behind Dion Lewis?). 171 rushing yards for WVU in the second half. WVU (6-1) goes to Tampa for Friday night action vs. USF. UConn  (4-3) plays host to Rutgers Saturday.

• No. 20 Pitt rolled past visiting South Florida, 41-14. Bill Stull threw for two touchdowns and Dion Lewis rushed for two others in the rout. The Panthers (6-1) take the week off. USF (5-2) is the most penalized team in the Big East and has not won a conference game north of the Mason-Dixon line since the Civil War. USF will host WVU.

• Rutgers rolled past Army Friday 27-10 at West Point. Sophomore running back Joe Martinek ran for two scores and 147 yards in the rain to improve the Scarlet Knights to 5-2. Rutgers next travels to UConn.

• Syracuse managed 14 fourth-quarter points in the Carrier Dome to put away Akron 28-14. They sacked Zips QB Patrick Nicely five times and Cuse all conference receiver Mike Williams sat out the game on suspension.

Pitt, WVU and Cincinnati all remain undefeated in Big East play. South Florida and UConn sit at 1-2. Rutgers, Louisville and Syracuse have yet to win a conference game.

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Louisville Has Yet To Touch Bottom

The valley is bottomless.

One would think playing the nation’s fifth ranked team would get the adrenaline going, but the University of Louisville football team was listless.

Steve Kragthorpe’s team can and will play worse than it did against Cincinnati. Only a matter of time until it does.

This U of L team plays with effort but without a sense of purpose. Talented players struggle, stumble, fumble, get pushed around, come up short, even on good plays.

Cincinnati may have ripped any remnant of heart or fight, any hope of any improvement, possibly any illusions of self-respect.

South Florida will not tap the brakes with a 31-point lead in the second half. Neither will West Virginia and Rutgers.

Barren and bottomless.

• If one has an offensive threat like Darius Ashley, a running back that Victor Anderson says is light speed ahead of him, why wait until the game is nearly out of reach to begin using him?

• Bilal Powell, bless his heart, gets the call as starting running back.

• Offensive tackle Byron Stingily keeps his string in tact, averaging one illegal movement per game.

• Scott Long is receiving fewer passes now than when he was injured.

• Opposing defenses have solved Trent Guy as a kickoff return threat.

• Defense against the pass, any pass. Non-existent.

• Quarterback controversy when third stringer Will Stein looks better than the people in front of him. Of course, he was competing against Cincinnati’s third stringers.

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Cincinnati May Face Coaching Search, Too

Embarrassing that the University of Louisville football team enters the upcoming game against Cincinnati with the status of a punching bag. Quite a turnaround from the 70-7  drubbing U of L handed the Bearcats at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in 2004.

Funny thing is both teams could be looking for new coaches after this season.

Ranked No. 5 in the BCS standings, the Queen City school is basking in the limelight today. They stumbled into a young up-and-coming coach who knows how to get the best out of his players on the field.

Quite a feat at a school which was considered a dubious choice for the Big East a few years ago. Does anyone really believe Brian Kelly will be Cincinnati coach when the 2010 season rolls around?

Kelly is considered by many to be first in line if Notre Dame fires Charlie Weiss after this season. He knows the weak history of UC fan support, faces a losing battle with the Reds and Bengals for media attention, he’s ambitious and sure of himself. There’s no way he turns down a Notre Dame offer.

That’s why some folks in Cincinnati are already trying to identify a successor to Kelly. In the process, they want to avoid what has happened in Louisville when Steve Kragthorpe took the reins. “Cincinnati has to be careful or they could end up the same way after Kelly leaves,” notes a writer at the UC News Record.

“I would hate to see UC hire an NFL coach. They need to hire someone who has something to prove. Kelly wasn’t established before he came to UC. The verdict was still out on how well he could do as a head coach at a BCS school. Look what happened to Charlie Weis at Notre Dame.

“This is why UC has to find the next up-and-coming head coach. The next Brian Kelly. Turner Gill at Buffalo could be that coach.  Gill is in his fourth season as head coach of the Bulls and won the MAC title last season.

After Kelly leaves, Cincinnati needs to find a coach that needs Cincinnati as much as Cincinnati needs him.”

What’s disappointing is that the writer assumes Cincinnati wouldn’t pull out all the stops to keep Kelly from leaving. Why is it so difficult to envision a day when a successful coach at a Louisville or Cincinnati is going to recognize what they have, make a commitment and stay long term?

Kelly may or may not succeed at Notre Dame. At Cincinnati, he would be king, having a chance to accomplish what no other coach has been able to do there, build a nationally-respected program, compete year in and year out with traditional powers. The adulation and the fans would follow, along with multi-million-dollar contracts, legendary status and vastly expanded seating, even a new stadium. Football fans are crazy. They will do anything to keep a winning coach.

That would be much more impressive than anything he could accomplish at South Bend.

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Big East Football: Week 7

By Paul Sykes

Pittsburgh and Cincinnati top the Big East Conference football standings following week seven, in which seven conference teams spread the action over three days, including three conference match-ups. Syracuse was idle.

• Connecticut capitalized on four Louisville turnovers and produced a 17-point third quarter to down the Cardinals 38-25. UConn rushed for 208 yards and threw for 273 to go to 4-2. UConn is off to Morgantown Saturday to play the West Virginia. Louisville (2-4), loser of three in a row, won’t find the road any easier at Cincinnati.

• In a Thursday night showdown, No. 8 Cincinnati doubled the score on No. 21 South Florida 34-17 in Tampa. Despite losing starting quarterback Tony Pike, the Bearcats got solid backup from Zach Collaros, who scrambled for one touchdown and threw for another to steady Mardy Gilyard.. The Bulls (5-1) run at Pittsburgh.

• Dion Lewis of Pittsburgh showed why many consider him the best running back in the Big East, with 180 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a 24-17 win over Rutgers. Pitt (6-1) snapped a four game losing streak to Rutgers (4-2), which  goes to Army for a Friday game.

• West Virginia dominated the second half in their in-state rivalry with Marshall en route to a 24-7 win. WVU trailed Marshall 7-3 at half, but Noel Devine rushed for two touchdowns in the final 30 minutes . West Virginia is 5-1.

• Syracuse (2-4) plays Akron in the Carrier Dome Saturday.

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Big East Football: Week 5

By Paul Sykes

Six Big East football teams snapped on the helmets this week, the conference going 2-0 in non-league play. There’s a three-way tie for first place in conference standings.

• West Virginia got the ball rolling against Colorado, defending the home turf with a 35-24 win. Once again, Noel Devine displayed his excellent running skills, and WVU WAS never seriously challenged. They take their 5-0 record to Syracuse next Saturday.
• Pitt improved to 4-1 with ITS conference-opening win over Louisville, roaring back from a 10-7 halftime deficit for 28 unanswered points. The 35-10 win included six sacks on U of L quarterback Adam Froman. Pitt hosts UConn next while Louisville renews its rivalry with Southern Miss at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
• South Florida is still unbeaten, using a 20-point third quarter to roll over Syracuse 34-20. This error filled contest included 11 turnovers, with Syracuse QB Greg Paulus leading the way with five interceptions to tie the school record. It doesn’t get any easier for the 2-3 Orange next week when they host WVU. South Florida takes a well-deserved week off.
• Cincinnati went on the road for a 37-13 victory home over Miami of Ohio. Jacob Ramsey racked up three scores and 103 rushing yards and QB Tony Pike tossed for two TD’s. The 5-0 Bearcats sit out next week.
• Rutgers and UConn were idle. They jump back into play Saturday, with the 3-1 Huskies visiting Pitt and 3-1 Rutgers is at home against Texas Southern.
• Cincy, USF and Pitt are 1-0 in conference play. UofL, Rutgers and Syracuse 0-1 against Big East foes. UConn and West Virginia play their first conference games Saturday.

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Big East Football: Week 2

By Paul Sykes

Seven conference members took to the gridiron Saturday and the Big East went 5-2 in matchups. Louisville was the only idle team in week two.

• South Florida traveled to Bowling Green to square off against Western Kentucky. WKU trailed just 21-13 after three quarters to the Bulls but couldn’t produce any final quarter points and USF pulled away for a harder than figured 35-13 win. Bulls QB Matt Grothe had 281 yards of total offense to become the Big East’s all time yardage leader and threw for two TD’s.
• UConn pulled the shocker for three quarters leading #19 North Carolina 10-0 but a late rally by the Tar Heels and a costly offensive holding penalty in the end zone for a safety spelled the difference as UNC roared back to win 12-10 in East Hartford. UConn managed only 196 yards of offense.
• Cincinnati continued rolling up the points in week two, smashing South East Missouri 70-3 in Nippert Stadium. OB Tony Pike accounted for 4 scores and wide receiver Mardy Gilyard had three touchdown catches and one punt return to paydirt.
• Pittsburgh also resumed their point barrage in week two, throttling Buffalo 54-27. QB Bill Stull tossed three TD’s to Dorin Dickerson and the Panthers rolled up 500 yards of offense against the defending Mid-America Conference champions at Heinz Field.
• Rutgers recovered from a week one loss to Cincinnati by out pointing Howard 45-7. Rutgers scored on seven straight possessions and shut out the Bison in the second half. Freshman QB Tom Savage drew his first start and delivered two TD’s and 223 passing yards.
• West Virginia shut down East Carolina in Morgantown in the second half and pulled away to win 35-20. QB Jarrett Brown tossed four touchdowns and went 24-31 for 334 yards and added 73 yards rushing for the Eers.
• Syracuse fell behind to host Penn State 28-0 and lost to the #7 Nittany Lions 28-7. The Orangemen managed just 200 yards against the stout Penn State defense with just 65 on the ground.

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