Go Big East!!!

[Apis Bull]

[Apis Bull]

[E.T.]

I vote to "PIN" this to the top  ;D

[Charlott eer]

I grew up in Richland Northeast, Cayce, & W.Columbia.

My whole family still lives there. Are you a native?

[E.T.]

Saturday was a great day for the TRUE Big East:

Big East: UConn jumps on Rutgers bungles

By Wire services

Published November 9, 2003

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EAST HARTFORD, Conn. - Cornell Brockington scored from 1 yard out with 26 seconds left to lift Connecticut to a 38-31 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.

Outgained all day, the Huskies capitalized on key Rutgers mistakes. The final error was a muffed punt by Tres Moses on the Scarlet Knights 6 with 1:19 left. Mike McIntosh recovered for the Huskies, and Brockington ran it in three plays later.

The Scarlet Knights ran for 244 yards to UConn's 99. The Huskies' win negated a career game by Rutgers' Brian Leonard, who rushed for 184 yards on 33 carries and two TDs. His 35-yard scoring run with 1:52 left tied it at 31.

UConn cornerback Justin Perkins intercepted two Ryan Hart passes, killing long drives by the Scarlet Knights, who made 10 of 16 third-down conversions.

Dan Orlovsky completed 17 of 32 passes for 222 yards and two TDs for UConn. His 4-yard pass to Tim Lassen gave UConn its first lead at 21-17 with 7 minutes left in the third quarter.

Leonard put Rutgers back up 24-21 with a 1-yard run on the next possession and the Scarlet Knights appeared in control after UConn was forced to punt on its next possession. Rutgers marched 65 yards from its 2 when Perkins made his second interception and returned it 50 yards, setting up a 25-yard tying field goal by UConn's Matt Nuzie.

UConn regained the lead when Orlovsky hooked up with Keron Henry for a 72-yard score. Rutgers responded with a 69-yard drive capped by Leonard's 35-yard run.

The Scarlet Knights forced UConn to punt, but Moses bobbled the ball away.

SYRACUSE 41, TEMPLE 17: R.J. Anderson ran for one touchdown and threw for another and Walter Reyes scored twice on short runs to lead the host Orangeman.

Syracuse earned a measure of redemption for a 17-16 loss last season to the Owls. Coach Paul Pasqualoni got his 100th win in his 13 years at Syracuse and left Temple's Bobby Wallace one victory shy of the century mark.

Syracuse scored the first 24 and never was threatened. Anderson, who led Syracuse to within a point of the Owls in the final minute a year ago and then watched Collin Barber's extra-point attempt hit the left upright, never gave the Owls a chance this time.

W.VA. 35, BC 28: Backup quarterback Charles Hales threw three touchdowns, Adam Jones scored on two returns and the visiting Mountaineers rallied from a 14-0 deficit.

The Eagles had a chance to tie with the ball at the 7 and five seconds left. But Paul Peterson's pass to Sean Ryan, who had two scoring catches, was knocked down in the end zone by linebacker Scott Gyorko as time ran out.

And of course the Pitt WIN !

[E.T.]

Panthers keep up mastery of Hokies

Pitt beats Virginia Tech for the third consecutive time and likely ends its national title hopes.

By Wire services

Published November 9, 2003

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PITTSBURGH - Lousaka Polite's 2-yard run with 47 seconds left capped a 70-yard drive, rallying Pittsburgh past Virginia Tech 31-28 on Saturday.

The Panthers, who beat the Hokies for the third consecutive season, led 24-14 late in the third only to fall behind 28-24 on Kevin Jones' runs of 80 and 13 yards barely two minutes apart. Jones scored all four Hokie touchdowns and ran for a school-record 241 yards.

But with the Hokies in position to close it out late, Marcus Vick threw an incompletion on fourth and 4 from the Panthers 30.

Pitt's Rod Rutherford, who was 24-for-31 for 303 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score, then directed the winning drive that kept it as the only unbeaten team in Big East play.

Pitt's Larry Fitzgerald made three catches for 49 yards on the drive. He finished with eight catches for 108 yards and a 5-yard touchdown that extended his NCAA record to 15 consecutive games with a touchdown catch.

Virginia Tech failed to follow up on last weekend's 31-7 rout of Miami and likely dropped out of national title contention.

Jones, never slowed by a defense that entered allowing 157.6 rushing yards per game, broke Kenny Lewis' 1978 school record of 223 against VMI. He also scored on first-half runs of 1 and 11 yards.

On the first play after Kris Wilson caught an 11-yard touchdown to put Pitt up 24-14, Jones ran down Tech's sideline for an 80-yard score.

Pitt went three-and-out on its next possession, and Vick immediately hit Ernest Wilford for a 46-yard completion. One play later, Jones scored from the 13.

Fitzgerald, the nation's most productive receiver, took advantage of the first-half suspension of Hokies star cornerback DeAngelo Hall to make a 41-yard catch on Pitt's first play from scrimmage. But he made only three more catches, all for short yardage, before Pitt's final possession.

Virginia Tech turned the ball over three times in falling behind 17-14 at halftime. But Pitt turned only one of the mistakes into scores. Cedric Humes fumbled late in the second quarter. And Jawan Walker's 27-yard run on fourth and 8 from the Hokies 31 led to Rutherford's 2-yard scoring run that gave Pitt a 17-14 halftime lead.

Vick, again taking over in the first half after Bryan Randall started, was intercepted with 21/2 minutes left in the half. But linebacker Mikal Baaqee wrestled Rutherford's pass away from Wilson in the end zone with less than a minute left in the half.

[E.T.]

C-USA: Rams run wild, but Bearcats' air attack prevails

By Wire services

Published November 9, 2003

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CINCINNATI - Gino Guidugli passed for 332 yards and three touchdowns and Cincinnati rallied to beat Rhode Island 31-24 Saturday despite allowing 371 yards rushing.

Guidugli's 55-yard touchdown pass to Hannibal Thomas tied the score at 17 in the second quarter, and his 13-yard TD pass to Thaddeus Lewis in the third put the Bearcats ahead to stay 24-17.

Jason Ham rushed 30 times for 168 yards and quarterback Jayson Davis had 103 yards rushing and a touchdown on 14 carries to lead Rhode Island.

The Rams ran 60 times while Davis attempted five passes, completing two. Wendall Williams caught both for 58 yards, including a 50-yard TD that gave Rhode Island a 10-7 lead in the first.

After Chris Manfredini kicked a 25-yard field goal to tie, Davis scored on a 20-yard run to give the Rams their last lead at 17-10.

[Apis Bull]

I grew up in Richland Northeast, Cayce, & W.Columbia.

My whole family still lives there. Are you a native?

No, I moved here 4-1/2 years ago from Tampa

[GarySJ]

Great stuff yesterday. Was thrilled with the Pitt win, and also the WVU win over BC. And to think the "Backyard Brawl" could decide the Big East! I'm excited about that game.

[Velcro]

Awesome... all 3 big east defectors lose... and 2 of 2 (that played on saturday; us and cincy) of the new big east teams won.