Big East Rewind: No Longer the Pitts

Just three weeks ago, we called Pittsburgh the Pitts-ophrenic Panthers after their up-and-down performances earlier this season against Buffalo, N.C. State, Louisville and UConn.

Uh, is it too late to take that all back?

As impressive as Cincinnati has been all season, Pittsburgh might be playing the best overall of any Big East team. The offense is balanced and the defense gets more dominating each week. Saturday, the Panthers (7-1, 4-0 Big East) scorched South Florida 41-14.

Since allowing 505 yards at N.C. State, the Panthers have improved their defensive numbers in each of the past four games. Pitt allowed 305 yards to Louisville on Oct. 2, 303 to UConn on Oct. 10, 286 to Rutgers on Oct. 16 and 212 to USF on Saturday.

Led by DE Greg Romeus, the defense just continues to get stronger and stronger. The offense also is doing its part. QB Bill Stull ranks third nationally in passing efficiency and RB Dion Lewis is the nation's fourth-leading rusher. Against USF, Pitt never had to punt.

The Panthers are off this week before closing the season against Syracuse (Nov. 7), Notre Dame (Nov. 140, at West Virginia (Nov. 27) and Cincinnati (Dec. 5).

Some things we may have actually figured out in the past week

1. Sorry Brian Kelly, Randy Edsall is the Big East coach of the year

Yes, we already anointed Cincinnati's Brian Kelly as the league's coach of the year in this column a couple of weeks ago, but Randy Edsall deserves the honor as much, if not more. What Edsall did the past week in an incredibly difficult situation was inspiring to say the least. The class, dignity and professionalism that Edsall displayed in dealing with the tragic death of Jasper Howard situation was extraordinary. Perhaps other coaches would have done as admirably, but I doubt it. Then Edsall somehow managed to take the Huskies into Morgantown and nearly pulled off the upset. UConn outgained WVU 501-387 -- the first team to gain 500 yards on WVU this season -- but couldn't overcome four turnovers and a late Noel Devine TD in the 28-24 loss.

2. Rece Davis is a genius

While showing highlights of Pittsburgh's 41-14 rout of South Florida, ESPN's Rece Davis remarked the following about the Bulls: "Once again just as the leaves drop, South Florida falls off the face of the Earth." Yes, as the calendar nears Halloween, USF's season turns into all tricks -- no treats. In 2007, USF started 6-0, only to finish 3-4. Last year, USF started 5-0, only to finish 3-5. After this year's 5-0 start, the Bulls are 0-2 and could very well be sitting at 5-4 after hosting West Virginia Friday and traveling to Rutgers Nov. 12. After that 5-0 start, the Bulls have been outgained in each of their Big East games against Syracuse, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

3. The end is near for Steve Kragthorpe at UL

When Steve Kragthorpe was hired at Louisville in 2007, it was generally regarded as a solid hire. Kragthorpe came to UL from Tulsa where he led the Golden Hurricane, 2-21 the two seasons before he took over, to bowl trips in three of his four seasons. At Louisville, though, it just hasn't worked out. In 2007, gut-wrenching, close losses to Kentucky, Syracuse and UConn kept the Cards from a bowl berth. Last year, the Cards looked to have turned the corner after upsetting No. 14 USF to get to 5-2. However, they promptly ended the year on a five-game losing streak. This year has been more of the same: a 2-5 start with their only wins against Indiana State and Southern Miss (on a last-second field goal). UL will not play in a bowl game for a third consecutive season for the first time since Ron Cooper was coach from 1995-97. That will leave AD Tom Jurich with no other choice than to replace Kragthorpe.

Re-Tweeting Week 8

Ranking the league from top to bottom and summarizing each team, in 140 characters or less.

1. Cincinnati: Off to their best start since 1954, the Bearcats have committed a national-low four turnovers
2. Pittsburgh: In only loss at NC State, Panthers allowed 505 yards. In last two wins vs. Rutgers and USF, allowed only 498 combined
3. West Virginia: Last time WVU visited USF was also a Friday night in 2007 and No. 5 Mountaineers were upset. Does history repeat?
4. UConn: Huskies' three on-the-field losses have been by two, three and four points. RIP Jasper Howard
5. Rutgers: Since allowing 47 points in opener to Cincinnati, Rutgers is allowing only 10.5 points per game in past six games
6. South Florida: TGFS -- Thank God For Syracuse. Since joining Big East in 2005, USF is 5-0 vs. the 'Cuse, 10-16 against rest of Big East
7. Syracuse: After defeating Akron, Syracuse returns to Big East play vs. Cincinnati. Since 2005, SU is 3-27 against the Big East
8. Louisville: When scoring less than 24 points under Steve Kragthorpe, the Cardinals are 0-12

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