Big East Notebook
October 01, 2006 11:15 AM | General
October 1, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Rutgers sophomore running back Ray Rice tied a 33-year school record with his seventh straight 100-yard rushing game and the No. 23-rated Scarlet Knights withstood a late South Florida rally to defeat the Bulls 22-20 Friday night in Tampa.
Rice finished the game with 202 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns for Rutgers, 5-0 for the first time since 1976. The Scarlet Knights needed a stop on a two-point conversion play with 15 seconds left after the Bulls scored on a Matt Grothe to Ean Randolph 16-yard TD pass which pulled USF to within two.
Rutgers got field goals of 32, 40 and 53 yards from Jeremy Ito and he could have iced the game late with his fourth -- a 42 yarder, but his attempt was blocked giving South Florida an opportunity to make it interesting at the end.
Rice has now rushed for a Big East-best 806 yards and 11 touchdowns in just five games, averaging 161.2 yards and 28.2 carries per game. The disparity in production between Rice and quarterback Mike Teel is growing. Teel was 11 of 20 for just 100 yards with an interception against the Bulls, prompting concern in the Rutgers camp. If Rice continues to carry the ball at this rate he will wind up with more than 350 rushing attempts by season’s end.
South Florida dropped to 3-2 with the loss.
In other Big East action, Pittsburgh is now 4-1 after pasting Toledo 45-3 at Heinz Field, Syracuse topped the .500 mark for the first time in two years with a 40-34 double-overtime win over Wyoming and Cincinnati outlasted Miami, Ohio, 24-10 in Cincinnati. Connecticut was the lone loser outside of conference play, falling to Navy in East Hartford, 41-17.
In Pittsburgh, quarterback Tyler Palko threw a pair of touchdowns to lead the Panthers to an easy victory over the Rockets. Despite sitting out the fourth quarter, Palko completed 12 of 15 passes for 172 yards. The senior came into the game tied for the national lead with 12 TD passes. Pitt’s 4-1 start is a complete turnaround from last year’s 1-4 beginning under Dave Wannstedt.
The victory was a costly one for the Panthers, who lost four-year starting right guard John Simonitis for the season with a broken right ankle sustained on Pitt’s first series of the game. It is the second season-ending injury to a Panther offensive lineman: backup tackle John Bachman is also out for the year with a broken ankle.
Pitt’s 42-point victory was its biggest since beating Rutgers 42-0 on Nov. 10, 2001.
True freshman Delone Carter ran for 129 yards on 20 carries and scored four touchdowns to lead Syracuse to a wild, 40-34 double-overtime victory over Wyoming Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Carter was subbing for starter Curtis Brinkley who was benched after fumbling twice. The Orange (3-2) captured their third straight triumph in a sloppy game that saw both teams commit 17 penalties. Syracuse has cracked the .500 mark for the first time in two seasons under Coach Greg Robinson, now 4-12 with the Orange.
Syracuse was without junior wide receiver Rice Moss for the entire second half with an undisclosed shoulder injury. The Orange receiver corps is thinning following last week’s season-ending injury of top pass catcher Taj Smith against Miami, Ohio.
Cincinnati (2-3) got its second victory of the season on Saturday, downing local rival Miami, Ohio 24-10. Greg Moore rushed for 119 yards and scored a touchdown to pace the Bearcats, which got 253 of their 296 total yards on the ground. UC, which snapped a six-game losing streak to Division I-A teams, may have lost starting defensive end Tony Carvitti for the season due to a torn ACL in his right knee.
Connecticut (2-2) couldn’t stop Navy’s powerful rushing attack in a 24-point loss to the Midshipmen. Brian Hampton ran for 182 yards and Reggie Campbell had a pair of long scores to lead the Midshipmen to a 4-1 start.
Making his first start of the year, Connecticut quarterback Matt Bonislawski completed 15 of 37 passes for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a losing effort for the Huskies.
Top 10 teams West Virginia and Louisville were idle this weekend. The Cardinals (4-0) face Middle Tennessee State next Friday and West Virginia (4-0) travels to Mississippi State on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Other Big East games next weekend has Pitt traveling to Syracuse, Cincinnati playing host to Akron and Connecticut traveling to South Florida.
