FanHouse BillStull

For at least the next 25 days, Cincinnati is the Beast of the East. Everyone in the Big East is now officially chasing the Bearcats following Monday's 47-15 seal clubbing of Rutgers.

The Bearcats and Scarlet Knights opened the Big East season Monday and now there is a 25-day break until the next conference game is played.

The way the Bearcats looked Monday, they may not only stay on top of the Big East standings for 25 days, but for the entire season. The Bearcats made a strong statement in defending last year's Big East title.

---

---

Coming into today's game between Pittsburgh and Rutgers, the two teams had only surpassed the 30-point mark three times combined.

The strength of the Rutgers team has been the defense by default, because the offense has almost been nonexistent. Likewise for Pitt, although their offense has been able to run the ball effectively and pass only when needed.

But only once has either defense allowed a 30-point game, when North Carolina put up 44 points on the Scarlet Knights. If anything, this was supposed to be a grind-it-out, defensive game.

However, on a day when offense has been the story around college football, these two teams have been anything but themselves.