The Grothe of a Program

Louisville. Rutgers. West Virginia. Add Auburn to resume of the South Florida Bulls. And still nobody gives them the credit they deserve. It's hard to believe a team, coming off a win against a #17 team on the road in the hostile environment of a conference that has coaches that have been coaching longer than South Florida has fielded a football team, can still not be good enough to break the top 25. In fact, Auburn actually received more top 25 votes than South Florida in the USA Today poll. It's ok, I think South Florida will, before long, be considered as tough and respectable as any other team in the Big East, but it's gotta be frustrating to be basking in victory in the biggest game in your programs history, and be passed up by teams that lost 48-7 in their most recent game (#17 Virginia Tech), or a team that lost to a previously unranked team (#25 Georgia).

USF's sophomore quarterback Matt Grothe is as clutch as I have ever seen a quarterback. He struggles a lot during the course of the game, but in the end, he can put it together and turn an average offensive performance into a upset of a top college program. Rutgers almost saw it last season when they went down to Tampa and narrowly escaped with a "W" when Grothe, as a freshman, threw for 241 yards and a TD and ran for 61 more and another touchdown. He drove the Bulls down the field against one of the toughest defenses in college football as the time was winding down, to throw a touchdown with :15 seconds on the clock. Only a failed two point conversion, that was arguably propelled by a uncalled pass interference penalty, was the difference in the 22-20 game. He showed that poise again when USF missed on 4 field goal attemps in the second half and he still managed to put the Bulls in position to kick a game tying field goal in the final minute, and...throw the game winning touchdown in overtime to beat Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium on saturday night.

Big East Update
Once again the rich of the Big East got richer. #9 Louisville (2-0) survived a scare by Sun Belt secret Middle Tennessee St. Defensively, they didn't look that good, but they didn't make mistakes at all on offense, as still managed to score 58 points to MTSU's 42. Brian Brohm threw for 401 yards and 4 touchdowns without throwing a single pick, and sophomore and Tampa native Anthony Allen ran for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was a little to close for Louisville's comfort but once they tighten up their defense, they will continue to be unstoppable. #4 West Virginia (2-0) had a scare of their own as they found themselves trailing to cross state rival Marshall midway through the third quarter. But 100-yard rushing days by both Pat White and Steve Slaton and 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter gave them the comfortable 48-23 win. #13 Rutgers (2-0) had no trouble putting away Navy on Friday night. Ray Rice became the all-time leading rusher in school history as he chipped away for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns. Navy's rushing offense was tricky as it reversed and optioned it's way to 254 yards on the ground, but Rutgers pass defense was dominant only allowing 35 yards through the air and intercepting 3 passes. Cincinnati (2-0) who is another up and coming Big East program has beaten their opponents (SE Missouri St., and Oregon State) by a combined score of 93-6 this season. QB Ben Mauk had 199 yards passing and 2 touchdowns in their 34-3 win over Oregon St. on thursday night. Pittsburgh (2-0) defeated Grambling St. at home on Saturday 34-10, and Connecticut (2-0) became the seventh undefeated team thus far in the Big East by shutting out Maine 38-0. The only team with a loss was Syracuse (0-2) as they fell to Iowa 35-0. They continue to struggle as they only amassed 103 yards of total offense, but even more frustrating for the Orange is the 32 total rushing yards they have combined against their two opponents (Washington and Iowa) this season.

I want to leave with a quote by ESPN's Ivan Maisel, who I cannot respect as a sportswriter because of his obsurd statements like this "The Big East is 14-2 outside the league. Before you get too excited: Five of those wins came against I-AA schools, six came against I-A leagues that don't get automatic BCS bids and one came against Duke, which has lost 22 in a row. That leaves the Big East 2-2 against its automatic-bid brethren, which sounds about right. But hey, South Florida winning at No. 17 Auburn in overtime? Good win." That is a slap in the face to the Big East. Syracuse is the only team that has lost a game so far this season! SYRACUSE! and yeah they lost to teams from the PAC-10 and BIG TEN. Other than that, the other 7 teams from the Big East are undefeated regardless of what conference their opponents are from. "Dont get too excited"? I really don't think that the teams from the Big East are really concerned about getting excited over the first two weeks when they were undefeated last year in bowl games against a couple ACC teams, a Big 12 team, and a couple teams from Conference USA and MAC. I think they are looking at a slightly bigger picture than roughing up on small weaker schools. Bottom line is, I guarantee that no team in the NCAA is excited about facing any of these teams in the Big East. Cincinnati beat Oregon State this week 34-3. The same Oregon State team that beat the USC Trojans last season. USF beat Auburn...who was the only team to beat the Florida Gators last season. Those two teams aren't even the biggest threats in the conference. You still have 3 other teams ranked inside the Top 15. The Pac 10 only has 3. So does the Big 12. In fact the SEC only has 2. ACC only has 1. Those three teams (West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers) are boasting a combined 4 Heisman Candidates, and two players that are well on their way if they keep up with the pace they started. How can anyone, let a lone a professional sports journalist, assume that this Conference is getting "too excited" about a couple of opening round wins like that? The teams in the Big East aren't fighting for little moral victories. These teams wont be excited until they are National Champions, and it is very possible that we may see that happen to one of them this season.