2009 Standings Offensive Player of the WEEK Defensive Player
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BIG EAST Football Report Week 8 • Oct. 19, 2009 222 Richmond Street, Suite 110 Providence, RI 02903 BIGEAST.org Contact: Chuck Sullivan, Director of Communications ([email protected] • 401.453.0660); John Paquette, Associate Commissioner ([email protected]) 2009 STANDINGS BIG EAST OVERALL SCHOOL W-L PCT PF PA H A W-L PCT PF PA H A N STREAK Pittsburgh 3-0 1.000 83 48 1-0 2-0 6-1 .857 233 130 3-0 3-1 0-0 Won 3 Cincinnati 2-0 1.000 81 32 0-0 2-0 6-0 1.000 244 86 2-0 4-0 0-0 Won 6 West Virginia 1-0 1.000 34 13 0-0 1-0 5-1 .833 191 125 4-0 1-1 0-0 Won 3 USF 1-1 .500 51 54 0-1 1-0 5-1 .833 202 81 2-1 3-0 0-0 Lost 1 Connecticut 1-1 .500 59 49 1-0 0-1 4-2 .667 174 109 2-1 2-1 0-0 Won 1 Rutgers 0-2 .000 32 71 0-2 0-0 4-2 .667 176 106 3-2 1-0 0-0 Lost 1 Louisville 0-2 .000 35 73 0-1 0-1 2-4 .333 131 167 2-1 0-3 0-0 Lost 1 Syracuse 0-2 .000 33 68 0-2 0-0 2-4 .333 138 177 2-3 0-1 0-0 Lost 2 Oct. 19 BCS Standings: 5- Cincinnati; 20 - Pittsburgh; 23 - West Virginia Oct. 19 Associated Press Top 25: 5 - Cincinnati; 20 - Pittsburgh; 22 - West Virginia; rv - USF Oct. 19 USA Today Top 25: 6 - Cincinnati; 19 - Pittsburgh; 22 - West Virginia; rv - USF, Rutgers Oct. 19 Harris Interactive Poll: 6 - Cincinnati; 20 - Pittsburgh; 23 - West Virginia; 24 - USF; rv - Connecticut THIS WEEK OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Friday, October 23 Dion Lewis • Fr. • RB • Pittsburgh • Albany, N.Y. Rutgers at Army ...............................8 p.m. Lewis ran for 180 yards on 31 carries, including touchdown runs of 1 and 58 yards, to Television: ESPN2 help Pittsburgh improve to 3-0 in the BIG EAST with a 24-17 win at Rutgers. Lewis aver- Series: Army leads, 18-17 aged 5.8 yards per carry against a Scarlet Knight defense that had limited opponents Last Meeting: Nov. 22, 2008 — Rutgers, 30-3 to just 2.3 yards per attempt. Lewis leads the BIG EAST and ranks third nationally in rushing (131.1 yards per game). Saturday, October 24 Connecticut at West Virginia ............. Noon DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Television: ESPNU Series: West Virginia leads, 5-0 Lawrence Wilson • Jr. • LB • Connecticut • Tuscaloosa, Ala. Last Meeting: Nov. 1, 2008 — West Virginia, 35-13 Wilson had a game-high 16 tackles — the most by a BIG EAST player this season — to go USF at Pittsburgh .............................. Noon with a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery to lead a Connecticut defense that forced four BIG EAST Network Game of the Week turnovers in a 38-25 win against Louisville. Wilson leads the BIG EAST with 66 tackles this Television: BIG EAST Network season and is 19th nationally with 11 tackles per game. Series: Tied, 3-3 Last Meeting: Oct. 2, 2008 — Pittsburgh, 26-21 SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisville at Cincinnati ................3:30 p.m. Television: ESPNU Jacob Rogers • Jr. • K/P • Cincinnati • Warsaw, Ind. Series: Cincinnati leads, 27-21 Rogers was a key player in Cincinnati’s 34-17 win at No. 21/21 USF as he scored 10 points Last Meeting: Nov. 14, 2008 — Cincinnati, 28-20 and averaged 45.1 yards on seven punts. Rogers made field goals of 37 and 29 yards, had a long punt of 53 yards and had two kickoffs go for touchbacks. Akron at Syracuse .......................3:30 p.m. Television: BIG EAST Network Series History: Akron leads, 1-0 Last Meeting: Sept. 6, 2008 — Akron 42-28 WEEKLY HONOR ROLL Zach Collaros, QB, Cincinnati — Came off the bench to rush for 132 yards and two touchdowns while All times Eastern going 4-for-7 with 72 passing yards in a 34-17 win at No. 21/21 USF. Andre Dixon, RB, Connecticut — Ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries in a 38-25 win against Louisville. Jon Dempsey, LB, Louisville — Had a game-high 16 tackles — the most by a BIG EAST player this season — with a half sack and a tackle for loss in a 38-25 loss at Connecticut. Devin McCourty, CB, Rutgers — Had 11 tackles, including a tackle for loss, and registered his fifth career blocked kick with a punt block in a 24-17 loss to Pittsburgh. Reed Williams, LB, West Virginia — Had eight tackles with a forced fumble and two pass breakups to help hold Marshall to 207 yards of offense in a 24-7 win. BIG EAST NOTEBOOK Better Than Ever Strength Of Schedule Getting It Done Under its current alignment, which is in its fifth The BIG EAST has a 26-7 nonconference record The BIG EAST’s .788 winning percentage in 2009 season, the BIG EAST is a combined 148-58 in through seven weeks of the 2009 season. The ag- is good for second among FBS conferences. nonleague games. (.718). That would stand as gregate record of the seven teams to defeat BIG 2009 Nonconference Records the best five-year nonleague record in the history EAST opponents this season is 30-16. Conference W L Pct. of the conference. SEC 27 5 .844 BIG EAST Nonconference Record To The Victor Goes The Spoils BIG EAST 26 7 .788 Includes Bowl Games Six of the eight current BIG EAST teams have Big Ten 28 10 .737 Year Won Lost Tied Pct. won at least a share of the BIG EAST title in the Big 12 34 13 .723 2009 26 7 0 .788 last five years. Pac 10 20 8 .714 2008 33 14 0 .702 Year BIG EAST Champion ACC 25 13 .658 2007 32 13 0 .711 2008 Cincinnati Mountain West 20 15 .571 2006 37 8 0 .822 2007 West Virginia, Connecticut WAC 17 17 .500 2005 20 16 0 .556 2006 Louisville Conference USA 18 25 .419 2004 23 16 0 .590 2005 West Virginia MAC 15 32 .319 2003 27 18 0 .600 2004 Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Sun Belt 9 28 .243 2002 30 16 0 .652 West Virginia, Boston College 2001 26 12 0 .684 Favorable Comparisons 2000 28 9 0 .757 Sharing The Wealth A look at how Cincinnati QB Tony Pike and Pitts- 1999 19 18 0 .514 Cincinnati is the eighth different team in the last burgh QB Bill Stull compare with some of college 1998 19 17 0 .528 seven years that has won at least a piece of the football’s top signal-callers. 1997 13 24 0 .351 BIG EAST title. C-A-I Pct. Yds. TD 1996 20 17 0 .541 Pike, Cincinnati 128-199-3 64.3 1633 15 1995 15 20 0 .429 What A Rush Stull, Pitt 114-171-3 66.7 1409 14 1994 22 15 0 .595 The BIG EAST has seen its single-season rushing Tebow, Florida 72-110-2 65.5 1032 8 1993 23 12 1 .653 record set in each of the last three seasons. Clausen, ND 124-191-2 64.9 1804 14 1992 27 21 2 .560 2008 Donald Brown, Connecticut, 2,083 yards McCoy, Texas 156-223-7 70.0 1537 11 1991 33 21 0 .611 2007 Ray Rice, Rutgers, 2,012 yards Harris, Miami 105-162-7 64.8 1518 11 Total 473 294 3 .616 2006 Ray Rice, Rutgers, 1,794 yards Moore, Boise State 114-164-2 69.5 1404 16 Where We Stand Genuine Draft The Huskies Have Arrived The BIG EAST ranks third among FBS conferences The BIG EAST had 27 players chosen in the 2009 Connecticut made back-to-back bowl game ap- in nonconference winning percentage since the NFL Draft, good for second in conference history. pearances for the first time in program history in 2005 season. The BIG EAST record was set in 2004, when the 2007 and 2008. Nonconference Records (2005-09) conference had 28 players chosen. Conference W L Pct. Scarlet Success SEC 192 51 .790 Depth Perception Rutgers has won three straight bowl games and Big 12 186 70 .727 Seven of the eight BIG EAST teams were either has played in four straight postseason games – BIG EAST 148 58 .718 ranked or received votes in one of the three major both program firsts. Big Ten 163 69 .703 top-25 polls (Associated Press, USA Today, Harris Pac 10 114 58 .663 Interactive) during the 2008 season. Bulls Here To Stay ACC 166 87 .656 USF likewise reached a bowl game for a program- Mountain West 106 83 .561 Head Of The Class record fourth straight year. WAC 85 108 .440 Six BIG EAST players have been named as semi- Conference USA 98 150 .395 finalists for the 2009 William V. Campbell Trophy, Best In A While MAC 81 173 .319 given by the National Football Foundation & Col- Prior to its loss in last year’s Brut Sun Bowl, Pitts- Sun Belt 40 132 .233 lege Hall of Fame. Semifinalists must be seniors or burgh went 9-3 to enjoy its best regular season graduate students with cumulative GPAs of at least since 1982. 3.2. The award, formerly known as the Draddy Road, Sweet Road Trophy, last went to a BIG EAST player in 2006, Huskies Win On Gridiron And Hardwood The visiting team has won six of the first eight BIG when Rutgers’ Brian Leonard earned the honor.