Matt Glaude Posts

Miami has the fire extinguisher smoke of impending destruction.

Clemson sports the classic hill sprint.

Every high school in the history of everything charges through a big sheet of paper with campy slogans like "Slay the Dragons!" or "Pirate Power . . . Aaarrrggghhh!"

Syracuse, always the innovator, has eschewed such tradition of manufactured excitement and has adopted an on-field entrance reminiscent of General Sherman's March to the Sea (except without the accompanying scorched earth and subsequent victory):



Half The Music Man, half "We are the Tiiitans!," Syracuse once again makes a mockery of everything that is holy about amateur football.

(H/T: Brian Harrison)

The Big East Thermometer is a weekly postgame feature that attempts to analyze the "hotness" or "notness" of a team's performance. It is based on a points system that contains no substantive guidance and is sure to be rife with errors, omissions, and inconsistencies.

How does Brian Kelly announce his presence in the Big East? How about dropping a 59-point missile on Southeast Missouri State. Kelly, a disciple of the "score until they tell us to go home" mentality, opened up his offense to the tune of 615 yards, the third-most prodigious offensive showing in the school's history.

Program Support: -22
Disappointment often comes in the form of fan frustration. Whether derived from a lack of wins or questionable institutional philosophy, supporters of a program are often the vehicles for the expression of disappointment.

At Cincinnati, however, the state of mind is switched, with the fans providing the impetus for such frustration. Against Southeast Missouri State, only 20,223 partisans showed up to voice their affection for the home team. The turnout was actually below Cincinnati's attendance last year (20,373), a figure that was good for 90th in the country. To provide context to that number, Montana, an FCS member, actually averaged 22,600 attendees last year.

Granted, Southeast Missouri State is not a particularly sexy opponent. Long an average to below-average member of the FCS, the Redhawks do not exactly serve as a sexy home opponent. However, given the fact that the game was played on a Thursday evening preceding a holiday weekend, there is no excuse to not show up and support Kelly's charges. It's not like the Reds are any good and the Bengals were still a week away from suiting up down by the river. Honestly, there cannot be that many more interesting things to do in the Queen CIty.

The Big East Thermometer is a weekly postgame feature that attempts to analyze the "hotness" or "notness" of a team's performance. It is based on a points system that contains no substantive guidance and is sure to be rife with errors, omissions, and inconsistencies.

Connecticut against Duke. The three-word fragment invokes images of basketball royalty: Krzyzewski, Calhoun, rich kids jumping in an old gym, and a host of NBA-ready potential.

Unfortunately, the aforementioned fragment only references a gridiron tussle between one of college football's worst squads against one of the Big East's least favored members.

Connecticut pulled away late from the Blue Devils in Durham yesterday, securing a 45-14 beat down. Although the final scoreline indicates everything is sunshine and lollipops in Storrs, there are still issues seeking immediate resolution.

"Special" Teams: -11
Throughout Randy Edsall's tenure at Connecticut, the Huskies have never had a lights out placekicker. Players have come and gone that have had bursts of talent (such as Matt Nuzie), but none that have cemented their place as an unquestionably reliable striker. Tony Ciaravino appears to have joined this nameless and faceless parade of "almost (in)famous."

Ciaravino attempted four field goals against Duke, all within 35 yards. Ciaravino converted three of those attempts, but the strikes strayed from center and lacked solid loft. This lack of execution was none more typified than in the fourth quarter when Ciaravino had an extra point attempt blocked following a 25-yard Donald Brown touchdown.

Outside of the kicking game, Connecticut also struggled mightily on its kickoff coverage. Desi Cullen managed to strike for a 62.9 yard average (along with two touchbacks), but his teammates allowed Duke to return such blasts for 208 yards on the afternoon for a 29.7 yard average. Included in those returns was a 94-yard return touchdown converted by Jabari Marshall, who on the day generated 191 of the Blue Devils' total kickoff yards.

That is not going to get things done against the Big East.

The Big East Thermometer is a weekly postgame feature that attempts to analyze the "hotness" or "notness" of a team's performance. It is based on a points system that contains no substantive guidance and is sure to be rife with errors, omissions, and inconsistencies.

West Virginia is pretty good at football. The Mountaineers are so good, in fact, that its 62-point outburst against Western Michigan does not even match the 80-point atomic bomb it dropped on Rutgers in 2001. The obvious question, therefore, is who and what contributed most to the Mountaineers success.

Pat White: +12
Pat White is 12 kinds of amazing. Tabbed as a rushing quarterback, White completed 10 passes on 18 attempts for 197 yards and two touchdowns. That's good for a 184.16 passer rating. To provide context to his efficiency against Western Michigan, White only eclipsed the 180.0 mark three times last season -- against Marshall, Eastern Washington, and South Florida.

In addition to his success as a passer, White also ran roughshod through the Bronco defense. Generating 97 yards on only nine carries, White also contributed two rushing scores, many in spectacular fashion. He was, for all intents and purposes, the ultimate weapon that put his Heisman campaign in solid focus.

The most important aspect of White's performance, however, was his decision making and contributive versatility. Western Michigan frequently put significant pressure on White, sending six men to the quarterback in order to contain the slippery junior. White, to his credit, deftly eluded the rush, tucking the ball and eating up yards and, in the alternative, rolling the pocket to distribute the ball to receivers. He showed great poise in and out of the pocket that brought back memories of such multidimensional quarterbacks like Michael Vick while at Virginia Tech (another left handed magician) and Donovan McNabb at Syracuse.

The Big East Thermometer is a weekly postgame feature that attempts to analyze the "hotness" or "notness" of a team's performance. It is based on a points system that contains no substantive guidance and is sure to be rife with errors, omissions, and inconsistencies.

A quote from The Natural is probably in order:

Losing is a disease . . .
As contagious as polio.
Losing is a disease . . .
As contagious as syphilis.
Losing is a disease . . .
As contagious as bubonic plague.

Until a cure is found, Syracuse is bound to continue with its debilitating maladies.

Corey Chavers and Larry Norton: -35
Syracuse's entire offensive line played like a sieve against Washington, but it was Chavers and Norton that were the most prominent transgressors. Sporting equal part ineptitude and incompetence, Chavers and Norton continually allowed the Huskies' outside rushers to pursue virtually unabated to the quarterback. Whether one points to this tandem's lack of agility or poor handwork, the conclusion is always the same: the offensive tackle position for the Orange is an absolute mess.

The bigger issue for Syracuse, however, is that the Chavers-Norton combination must find a way to functionally perform. Each are upperclassmen with redshirt freshmen -- Tucker Baumbach behind Chavers and Jonathan Meldrum behind Norton -- positioned second on the depth chart. Much has been made of the talents of Baumbach and Meldrum, but considering that these two could not wrestle away a starting gig from Chavers and Norton, serious questions surround whether these two young Orange actually have the talent necessary to contribute.

The Big East Thermometer is a weekly postgame feature that attempts to analyze the "hotness" or "notness" of a team's performance. It is based on a points system that contains no substantive guidance and is sure to be rife with errors, omissions, and inconsistencies.

Tiquan Underwood: +5
Underwood's final statistic line is impressive -- 10 receptions for 248 yards and two touchdowns -- but it is his first half performance that really generated the point pump -- nine receptions for 228 yards and two touchdowns. To put that in context, Buffalo managed to put together only 74 total yards in the game's first stanza. That's just not an Arena Football-style performance; it's Playstation-esque.

The only thing holding back Underwood from a double-digit point pump is that his efforts came against arguably the worst back seven in college football. Buffalo's secondary is an absolute mess and simply does not maintain the kind of athletes necessary to contain a receiver of Underwood's talents. Once it became apparent that Rutgers was going to press the pass throughout the first half, the Bulls quickly retreated into a soft zone that merely attempted to contain the middle post. As a result, Underwood was able to abuse sideline, exploit the short corner, and sprint freely underneath the Buffalo umbrella on crossing patterns and hook routes. Had Underwood not turned in the performance he had, one would have seriously questioned his route choice and coverage identification.

Paging Nurse Ratched: The asylum has a new patient. And he might just be a little bit more unstable than Max Taber.

Tyrone Willingham appears to be a pretty level guy. He holds a degree from Michigan State University and has held coaching positions at some of this country's finest academic institutions -- Rice, Stanford, and Notre Dame. Despite these facts, one should not keep sharp or shiny objects anywhere in his vicinity.

In his weekly football press address, Willingham espoused and expanded on the notion that the Carrier Dome -- an enclosed facility created by dense concrete and an impermeable teflon roof -- served as Syracuse's vehicle for unmitigated tomfoolery. Such claims have been leveled before, but such accusations usually pertained to the Dome staff piping in artificial crowd noise. Willingham, however, sees a greater evil perpetrated by Syracuse -- the Orange is playing the role of Mother Nature and creating wind patterns within the (enclosed) Carrier Dome:

"I'll be all over the weather report trying to figure out which door they open in the Dome to create the wind," said Willingham. "You laugh. No, when you play at some other places, you know that's important."

Willingham said there are differences playing in Dome stadiums such as the structure of the building and the lighting. Then he went a step further.

"The wind is different," Willingham said. "Some people would say, what wind? Always in a dome, you open certain doors. Things happen. It's a totally different environment."

Translating Willingham's comments from "not a risk to society" to "Studebakers are the tool of the devil!," Willingham's comments look as follows:

Apples are delicious, but the worms in my brain make my underpants itchy. Gobbledeegook, ribblerobble, if you wash my hair the government will learn the secrets of man!"

This may not come as a surprise to anyone not currently coaching the Washington Huskies, but a dome, in its very essence, is to provide shelter from the elements. In fact, the Carrier Dome is so enclosed that the facility must stay pressurized so as to keep the stadium's roof functioning and aloft. To allow sustained, steady, and directionalized breezes to infiltrate the facility would ruin the stadium's delicate atmosphere.

It's simple physics, but in the World of Willingham, physics is a common ruse to distract us all from the real governor of the universe: ham and cheese sandwiches.

That concludes our journey through the Big East. We laughed, we cried, but most importantly, we learned that previewing the conference necessitates lots and lots of words and pictures.

In case you missed all the excitement here at FanHouse, here's the juice:

2006 Recap: Rutgers won 11 games and apparently experienced a brief epidemic of pandemonium;

Biggest Shoes to Fill: If you aren't Brian Leonard, Dan Mozes, Tyler Palko, Amobi Okoye, or Brent Celek, you have work to do;

Impact Freshman: Learn the names now so as to appear infinitely smarter to your friends;

Key Position Battles: It's like Jeopardy, except without Alex Trebek's smarmy answers;

Best Players: If Brent Musberger is doing a Big East game, you'll hear these names over, and over, and over . . .;

Most Underrated: The glue guys;

Most Overrated: Players that resemble Bill Clinton's presidency (zing!);

Coaches on the Hot Seat: As they say, guys that should consider renting, not buying;

Schedule Superlatives: Highlight of the best and most pointless;

Games of the Year: Given the Big East's track record, probable Thursday night affairs;

The Dregs: Hello, Syracuse and Connecticut!;

The Mediocre: The Miller Lite of football teams;

Contender One: Can Louisville carry the crown?

Contender Two: Morgantown -- City of Dreams (and Arson);

Contender Three: Did you know Rutgers won 11 games last year?

Contender Four: No passing game? No problem!

Two years ago this preview would have consisted of five words: "Rutgers stinks; take the over."

Spin ahead to today. There are actually more than five words necessary to preview the Scarlet Knights. In fact, many of the words are polysyllabic, which says more about Greg Schiano's job as head coach than his won-loss record. The big question, though, is whether this recent upturn marks sustained program development, or merely a moment of exponential growth that has already seen its zenith.

WHY THEY'LL WIN

Manifest Destiny. As each day passes it is becoming more apparent that Scarlet Knights fans view Greg Schiano as John Winthrop and Rutgers Stadium as the city upon a hill. To not assume Rutgers will stand victorious -- at least to those in Central New Jersey -- is to chastise fate. Philosophical fallacies aside, the true reason for Rutgers' impending success in 2007 is the Scarlet Knights criminally easy schedule. Featuring the likes of Norfolk State, Army, Navy, and Buffalo, even the Terry Shea-era of Rutgers football could conceivably finish around the .500 mark. But this isn't the Terry Shea era down on The Banks. This is the Greg Schiano era. "Choppin' Wood" is in, along with actual talent. Ray Rice is a legitimate Heisman candidate, and the defense features studs such as Eric Foster and Courtney Greene.

With Syracuse and Connecticut occupying the worst two seats at the Big East Bonanza, somebody needs to sit in between the kitchen door and the dais.

This is not to say that either of the following two universities cannot move from their seats on the floor to positions of honor. Recent history has shown that the Big East hierarchy is fluid in nature. 2006 saw Rutgers move from its position as a predictory "mediocre" team to one of the conferences "contenders"; similarly, Cincinnati moved from the "dregs" to the class of "mediocre."

Pittsburgh Panthers

Last year: 6-6 overall; 2-5 Big East WHY THEY'LL WIN: The Wannstache has been stockpiling the Panther talent cupboard for almost three years now. At some point, all that potential will start paying dividends. 2007 may not see an explosion of contributions from the young talent, but it should see a steady rise of talented play. Even if Pittsburgh's corps of youth does not immediately raise the Panther's level of play, the schedule should not turn into a Murderer's Row. Having to play at Louisville, Rutgers, and West Virginia is harrowing, but Pittsburgh should be able to accumulate a nice cache of wins in its first seven contests -- Eastern Michigan, Grambling State, at Michigan State, Connecticut, at Virginia, Navy, and Cincinnati. The Panthers should get at least four to five wins from that group and manageable home contests against Syracuse and South Florida may make Pittsburgh bowl eligible. WHY THEY WON'T: If the offensive line continues its 2006 trend of playing like a sieve, there is no chance that the Panthers will find more success than failure. The proof is in the pudding: when Pittsburgh plays poorly up front, the offense puts on its best Syracuse impression. In addition to the offensive line play, the loss of Derek Kinder may hamper Pittsburgh's success. One man a team does not make, but Kinder put together tangible production and senior leadership. No matter how good Oderick Turner is, he does not bring to the table Kinder's total package. PROGNOSIS: Expect Pittsburgh to improve from 2006, even though the Panthers will finally feature a non-Palko under center. The conference record may look ugly, but overall the Panthers should string together six victories.