Big East Football Re-Cap, Big Upsets and High Scoring Affairs

Nov 23, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats running back George Winn (32) runs during the second half against the South Florida Bulls at Nippert Stadium. The Bearcats 27-10. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE

The Big East had an exciting weekend with four head to head matchups to cap-off the Thanksgiving weekend. Connecticut and Pittsburgh came up big upsetting the top two teams in the conference, while Syracuse and Temple duked it out on Black Friday. Who says the conference is dying?

On Friday afternoon, the Syracuse Orange headed to Philadelphia to take on the Temple Owls in their final game in the Big East Conference. The Orange are slated to move to the ACC next year and left the conference on a high note. What started as a Temple blowout in the first quarter, as the Owls went up 10-0, was quickly snuffed out in the second. Syracuse threw and ran for a touchdown and Brandon McManus put up three more as the game went to the half with Syracuse leading 17-13. In the third quarter, both teams put up seven more and then Temple was shut-out in the fourth.

Ryan Nassib threw for 125 yards and one touchdown in the win. However, most of the scoring was done on the ground for the Orange. As Jerome Smith ran for 96 yards, Prince Gulley added 83 more and a touchdown along with Adonis Ameen-Moore’s 57 rushing yards and two scores.

Final Score: Syracuse 28, Temple 20

UC pleased tired Black Friday enthusiasts in Ohio when they went to work against the South Florida Bulls Friday night. Coming off of a game where the whole team played terrible, Cincinnati turned things around in their final home game of the season. The Bulls have struggled all season and the Bearcats were able to capitalize on their weakness.

Both Brendon Kay and George Winn came up big in the win. Kay threw for 178 yards and one touchdown and added to the rushing attack with 48 yards and another score. George Winn took care of the rest of the ground game, running for 119 yards and putting up two touchdowns of his own.

Final Score: Cincinnati 27, South Florida 10

Connecticut headed to Louisville on Saturday as big underdogs to the No. 20 Cardinals. The Huskies were 4-6 overall, but only 1-4 in the Big East. UConn proved to be much harder to handle than Louisville expected. The Huskies shut out the Cards in the first half of the game, entering halftime with a 10-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, though, the home team launched a comeback and the game went to overtime with the teams tied 10-all. In the third overtime, the Huskies finally walked away victors by a score of 23-20, handing the Cardinals their second loss in a row.

The Huskies’, Chandler Whitmer threw for 72 yards and Johnny McEntee threw for 20 more and a touchdown in the win. Lyle McCombs rushed for 133 yards and Nick Williams backed him up with 14 yards and touchdown. Teddy Bridgwater led the Cardinals with 331 passing yards and two touchdowns in the loss, Jeremy Wright ran for 43 yards on the ground.

Final Score: Connecticut 23, Louisville 20

Rutgers took their perfect Big East record to Heinz Field on Saturday to take on the Pitt Panthers in Pittsburgh. The Scarlet Knights were looking to clinch their first conference title in school history against a Pitt team that had only won one Big East matchup all season. However, after Pitt annihilated Rutgers, they will have to settle for a share. The Panthers went up early, scoring 21 in the second quarter and went into the half with a lead of 21-0. After the half, Pitt put up six more points and held Rutgers to a mere touchdown in the third quarter.

Tino Sunseri threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Scarlet Knights, while Ray Graham picked up another touchdown and 113 yards on the ground. Rutgers just couldn’t get anything going and ended the game with only one touchdown thrown by Gary Nova who also picked up 157 yards through the air.

Final Score: Pittsburgh 27, Rutgers 6