Big East Report: Even in Defeat, Several Teams Steady Sinking Ship
Posted By Admin on November 5, 2009
Filed under: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, West Virginia, Big East
Sometimes in defeat, one can turn a corner. Call it a moral victory, call it rationalizing, call it new math. The final result is inherently better than what came into the conflict. And so, despite three clear non-conference defeats against power conference foes last weekend, the Big East Conference somehow looks better than it did before the week.
Its programs somehow oriented just a little bit different, a bit more confident and true. They need to be after a month of battery, fighting against stiff winds and waves aboard inappropriate sailing vessels.
A trio of games displayed a more tenacious, competitive Big East. Rutgers fell to a depleted but still dangerous North Carolina 17-13, but fought through an injury to its quarterback and several miscues. West Virginia nearly toppled LSU, losing 20-14 in Tiger Stadium, but again a small handful of mistakes kept it from overcoming a more talented foe. Most surprising, a listless Cincinnati righted its offense and gave powerhouse Oklahoma a legitimate scare. Four Bearcat turnovers were clearly the difference there.
All three looked sloppy and did not do the things essential to win, but all three games could easily have been more lopsided and embarrassing.
College football’s season is short, a rapid-fire affair dizzying in pace. But there’s always time for programs to evolve and show a face different from earlier in the year. That may just have happened for the Scarlet Knights, Mountaineers and Bearcats.
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