The Big East will be hotly contested once again this year as six of the eight teams in the conference have a legitimate shot at the title. Three schools, Louisville (Charlie Strong), South Florida (Skip Holtz) and Cincinnati (Butch Jones) have new head coaches and all three made great hires. Optimism abounds throughout a conference that is not just happy to have survived a spring filled with rumors of destruction, but looks to continue making inroads nationally even without the recognition.
The action may be focused on the ground this season with nine of the top ten conference rushers returning this year including Dion Lewis of Pittsburgh and Noel Devine of West Virginia, who both have eyes on national awards. Lewis, who was not highly rated as a high school runner, was the surprise freshman of the country last season as he rushed for 1,799 yards en route to second team All America honors. If Devine can eliminate the injury bug that plagued him last year he will challenge Lewis as the top back in the conference.
After back-to-back conference titles for Cincinnati, it is time for some new blood as Big East champion. While most prognosticators are pointing to the talented Panthers of Pittsburgh, I will go for a slight surprise and select the Connecticut Huskies as conference champions for the first time. The team's strength is the offensive line, where four starters return including first team Big East performers at center in Moe Petrus and right guard in Zach Hurd. With plenty of holes to choose from, running back Jordan Todman will challenge Lewis and Devine for the conference rushing title. He rushed for 1,188 yards last year while sharing the ball with then senior Andre Dixon, who also topped the 1,000-yard barrier with 1,093. The Huskies do expect to pass more this season as their top two quarterbacks, senior Zach Frazier and junior Cody Endres, return. Frazier will get the nod opening day and must improve on a 53.2 completion percentage and 10-9 TD to INT ratio. The Connecticut defense will build upon the beat-down they gave South Carolina in the PapaJohns.com Bowl last December. The team's top three tackles return, including linebacker Lawrence Wilson who made 140 stops in 2009. The key to the team may be the pass defense which struggled at times last season. They do not face a big-time pass offense until mid-season and should be able to get things squared away by then. This squad matured a great deal last season as they dealt with the mid-season murder of corner Jasper Howard. With that maturity, great coaching in Randy Edsall and staff and a conference schedule that features home games with West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, the Huskies are poised to win the Big East title.
For second place in the Big East I am predicting Pittsburgh, which is still angry from falling short last season. Pitt only returns 11 starters from last season's squad, but many of the returnees are threats for All America honors and many of the new starters are as talented as the players they replace. While Lewis is the star of the offense, wideout Jonathan Baldwin had a breakthrough year himself in '09 with 57 catches for 1,111 yards. Baldwin is the type of big target new starter at QB Tino Sunseri will count on as he runs the Panthers offense. The Panthers defense also features returning stars, like defensive end Greg Romeus and strong safety Dom DeCicco, and young studs ready to make their mark. Head coach Dave Wannstedt has high hopes for linebacker Dan Mason, while highly-recruited defensive tackle T.J. Clemmings may force his way into a starting job as a freshman.
If West Virginia can avoid the distractions of a NCAA probe into how they use their staff and get consistent play from new quarterback Geno Smith, the Mountaineers have the talent to win the Big East title. They also play both Connecticut and Pittsburgh on the road and if they can split those two games they may be able to make a run to a BCS berth. With seven of eight returning tacklers on a punishing defense, returning offensive stars in Devine and wide receiver Jock Sanders, and a stud kicker in Tyler Bitancurt, the Mountaineers are loaded. They do lose associate head coach Doc Holliday, who moved on to the head job with Marshall. Does coach Bill Stewart have the makings of a conference-winning head coach?
South Florida has an explosive offense and inexperienced-but-talented defense, a combination that Cincinnati converted into a Big East title last year. New coach Skip Holtz has an exciting quarterback in B.J. Daniels and the full two-deep offensive line returning, but lost a host of draft choices and all Big East selections from the defense. The Bulls could surprise, especially considering their final four conference games include home games against Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Connecticut. At the very least they will have a say as to who does win the conference.
Cincinnati also returns an exciting quarterback in Zach Collaros, who filled in admirably for the injured Tony Pike last season as the Bearcats won the Big East crown for their second straight year. The Bearcats are still good but cannot expect to win their final three conference games by a total of six points again this year. Still, they will score a bunch of points.
The excitement generated by Rutgers this season will center on the dynamic tandem of quarterback Tom Savage and wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, both sophomores. But RU has lost too much talent to be a true conference contender without the development of a number of new starters. Playing Pitt, USF, Cincinnati and West Virginia on the road with a young squad will not help either and a sixth straight bid to a no-name bowl seems unavoidable.
Actually Rutgers better watch out for Syracuse, a team much improved from last year when they surprisingly blew out the Scarlet Knights. Running back Delone Carter was almost lost after being suspended for punching a student this spring. He has been reinstated and looks to better the 1,021 yards rushing he gained last year, while the defense's top seven tacklers return along with stud punter Rob Long.
I love the hiring of Charlie Strong at Louisville and believe the future is bright there. That said, 2010 will feature a great deal of growing pains and, well, losses.
No comments:
Post a Comment