Big East Notebook For 10-11-2006 - College Football News And Picks

Big East Notebook For 10-11-2006
By Jeff Zell
Posted: 3:00 am PDT 2006-10-11

If you would of told me at the beginning of the season that the Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh game this past Saturday would have potential conference title implications, I would have laughed.

The Panthers pounced in the first half without one of their best.

LaRod Stephens-Howling rushed for 178 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown in the first half without one of his best offensive linemen, John Simonitis, who was out due to injury. From there, Pitt cruised to a 21-11 win and improved to 5-1, 2-0 in the Big East; Howling finished with 221 yards on 27 carries.

"Coming into this week we knew [Simonitis] was out and we had to have some people step up," Stephens-Howling told the Pitt News. "[The linemen] all got the No. 60 [Simonitis] taped around their wrists, and every time you come in the huddle you see that, and you know they're ready to work.."

Bittersweet Victory: On the scoreboard, West Virginia's 42-14 victory over Mississippi State looks fantastic. Digging deeper and finding 11 penalties for 132 yards in the box score, that type of sloppy performance is what keeps the coach awake at night. "I tell these guys ... as long as we win, I don't care if it's by one point, I'm going to be happy," WVU coach Rich Rodriguez told the Associated Press. "I lied. I'm not happy." Rodriguez has to be happy about the defense forcing six turnovers.

Grothe'ing As A Freshman: Matt Grothe's freshman campaign has been more than impressive. After leading South Florida to multiple comebacks in his first five games under center, he ran for three touchdowns and threw for one in a 38-16 victory over Connecticut. On the season, Grothe has run for seven touchdowns and thrown for eight. The 15 total touchdowns lead all freshmen.

A Look Ahead: There are a pair of conference matchups this weekend as Louisville hosts Cincinnati and Syracuse goes to West Virginia. The Bearcats have played tight against some high-profile teams in the first half, could this be the week they give a Top 10 team trouble? The Cards are 26.5-point favorites, however, and could get QB Brian Brohm back this week. ... Rutgers' run defense will be put to the test as the Scarlet Knights head to Navy; Rutgers is only a 1.5-point favorite at WagerWeb.com. ... Pitt

(-10) should handle Central Florida; South Florida (-2.5) tries to get a big win on the road against ACC foe North Carolina; Army and Connecticut (-5.5) go at it &someone has to win.

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