Big East Notebook

Big East Notebook

By Jeff Zell
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

Could Pittsburgh be the dark horse of the Big East?.

The talk of the conference has been about the Nov. 2 showdown between Louisville and West Virginia, some have even mentioned the success of Rutgers to provide a threat – but no Panthers talk.

Tyler Palko is looking to change that.

Through five weeks of college football, Palko leads the nation in passer efficiency rating with a 191.3 rating. Last week, the senior threw for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 45-3 rout of Toledo. What’s saying Pitt has a chance against the big dogs? A favorable schedule says so.

Pittsburgh has three home games remaining -- and they happen to be against Rutgers, West Virginia and Louisville. The only loss last year at home came to Notre Dame.

“I’m pleased with how we’re executing thus far, but I know we’re nowhere near being the type of football team that we can be,� Palko said. “That’s the scary thing.�

Recap: The Big East went 3-1 in non-conference play last week. Cincinnati beat up on a bad Miami (Ohio) team, while Syracuse grew its winning streak to three with a win over Wyoming. Navy used a healthy dose of ground attack to thrash Connecticut. Rutgers played a tight game at South Florida and remained perfect.

Not Just Rankings: You would think college football athletes wouldn’t worry about the media and just play the game. "I don't think a lot of people thought we should be ranked at this point,� Rutgers fullback Brian Leonard told the AP after Friday's 22-20 win at USF. “After this game, I think we proved that we should be." Coach Greg Schiano rode the back of Ray Rice to the tune of 35 rushes for 202 yards. It was the defense that made the difference in the end. The Scarlet Knights stopped a 2-point conversion attempt to come away with the dramatic victory.

Mountain Chemistry: Can having chemistry on and off the field be underrated? That’s what West Virginia has with QB Pat White and RB Steve Slaton. "They say everybody has their twin?" Slaton said to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "He might be my twin." Having the two leading rushers on the same page in the spread offense – yeah, that works well. The rushing offense is ranked No. 2 in the nation – averaging nearly 300 yards per game.

Looking Ahead: Believe it or not, the game of the week in the Big East is Pittsburgh at Syracuse (the Panthers are -7 at WagerWeb.com). Both teams have winning records, and there are whispers in Syracuse that Greg Robinson’s team could pull the upset. South Florida needs to bounce back from the Rutgers loss with a big victory at home against Connecticut (USF is -6.5 at WagerWeb.com). West Virginia gets a taste of an SEC defense, albeit the worst one with Mississippi State (WVU is -24.5). Louisville (-33) has an easy win at Middle Tennessee State and Cincinnati ( -6.5) hosts Akron.

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