Big East Sports Blog

The Cincinnati Bearcats remained at #5 on their bye week.  They will face an athletic Illinois team on November 27th on national television.  The Pitt Panthers also stayed put on their bye week.  The #9 Panthers will face arch rival West Virginia on the 27th.  The Panthers and Bearcats will square off on December 5th in Heinz Field. The latest bowl predictions have Pitt playing in the Sugar Bowl against Florida with Cincinnati facing Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl on January 1st.

The Cincinnati Bearcats, behind QB Zach Collaros’ record day, escaped with a 47-45 victory in primtetime against UConn.  Although the Bearcats got the victory, it wasn’t impressive which left the Cats at #5 despite the Iowa loss.  UC will have a tough test on November 13th when they host #25 West Virginia.  The Pitt Panthers moved up 1 slot to #12 in the college football rankings with a dominating performance against Syracuse.  QB Bill Stull and the Panthers host Notre Dame on a Saturday night national game November 14th.  South Florida moved up one slot to #24 while on their bye week.  They will have a tough test when they resume action at Rutgers on November 12th in front of a national ESPN audience.  West Virginia entered the rankings at #25 with a lackluster 17-9 victory over Louisville.  Their toughest test awaits when they travel to Cincinnati with the winner likely representing the Big East in a BCS Bowl game.

When Rutgers crushed Louisville to completed the regular season for both teams they not only eliminated Louisville from bowl eligibility, but they also pivoted themselves into a stronger bowl game. As a result, Rutgers will indeed play in the PapaJohns.com Bowl as I previous predicted and will face NC State of the ACC on December 29th. Big East Champion Cincinnati gets the headline bowl as they face the ACC Champion Virginia Tech Hokies in the Orange Bowl.

The remainder of the bowl games & match-ups include South Florida vs Memphis in the St. Petersburg Bowl, West Virginia faces North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, Pitt faces Oregon State in the Sun Bowl and Connecticut faces Mid-American Conference Shampion Buffalo in the International Bowl.

It’s uncertain whether or not junior running back Ray Rice will return to New Brunswick for his senior senior, but if this was his last game as a Scarlet Knight, what a way to go.

Rice shook off tacklers, ran around, over, through, and past Ball State defenders to help propel Rutgers to their second straight bowl victory 52-30 over Ball State in the International Bowl on Saturday.  Rice ran for 280 yards on 35 carries and four scores, while eclipsing the 2,000-yard plateau.

Rutgers (8-5) scored in double digits in every quarter (14 poitns in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th, and 10 in the 2nd).  Rice had two scores in the third quarter, a 1-yard run and a monstrous 90-yard on the first drive of the third quarter.  Rice set a school record rushing for over 100 yards in eight straight games and finished the season with 2, 012 rushing yards.  Quarterback Mike Teel finished the day 16 of 25 for 303 yards and three touchdowns, setting a school record with his 20th touchdown pass of the year in the fourth quarter. Wideout Kenny Britt hauled in six receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown, while Rutgers finished the afternoon with a whopping 595 yards of total offense.

For Ball State, the Cardinals close out the year 7-6.  Quarterback Nate Davis was 25-of-49 for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Dante Love turned in a big day with 13 catches for 169 yards and one touchdown, and Darius Hill had nine catches for 89 yards and two scores.

The Scarlet Knights dominated every aspect of the game and put on an offensive clinic in Canada.  Rice had one of the most memorable rushing performances in a bowl game and Mike Teel set a school record for touchdown passes in a single season.  The outcome of this one was never in doubt.  Rutgers led at halftime 24-9, and turned the offense up a few notches in the second half, blowing the doors off with a 28-point effort. 

Now, the big question comes:  Will Ray Rice be running back to Rutgers or straight to the NFL?