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Big East’s Near-Complete Coaching Purge Leads to Uncertain Future

January 04, 2011   Brian Grummell   No comments

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Rarely has a football conference undergone as much coaching upheaval as the Big East. Once the home to powerhouse names like Rich Rodriguez, Brian Kelly, Bobby Petrino and Jim Leavitt, unprecedented coaching turnover has reshaped the conference’s football fortunes.

With Connecticut losing Randy Edsall to Maryland and Pittsburgh having terminated alum Dave Wannstedt only to turn around and fire his replacement Mike Haywood, a quarter of the league’s coaching jobs are now vacant just a year after three new coaches were brought in. West Virginia‘s Bill Stewart is the second-most tenured coach with three years on his resume but he, too, will be gone to make way for Dana Holgorsen following the 2011 season.

This dramatic restructuring has, at least in the short term, been troubling for the league’s football fortunes. Without a recruiting hotbed like Florida, Texas or California to commandeer, it can be argued that high-level success in the Big East comes with a certain amount of tenure and a steady hand. It is a different model from the rapid-fire turnarounds often enjoyed at schools like USC, Florida, Texas and Alabama.

Unfortunately, the last few years have seen some highly skilled coaches, as well as several tenured ones, head to the exits. What remains is a stunning display of inexperience.

 

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Celebratory Salute Mars Wild Pinstripe Bowl Victory for Syracuse

December 30, 2010   Brian Grummell   No comments

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The inaugural Pinstripe Bowl deserved better.

Trailing Syracuse 36-28 with just over a minute left, Kansas State rallied to within two points on a 30-yard scoring strike from Carson Coffman to Adrian Hilburn. Hilburn cruised to the back of the end zone then offered a quick military-style salute to fans seated around the end zone. That gesture drew an “excessive celebration” penalty that forced the Wildcats’ two-point attempt to be moved back 15 yards to the 18. It predictably failed. It was the salute soon to be discussed around the world, marring one of the better bowl games this year.

A surge of outrage emerged on Twitter and likely soon the rest of the college football world in questioning whether the NCAA’s celebration and sportsmanship rules have gone too far.

Unfortunately that discussion will overshadow the Orange’s surprising revival under coach Doug Marrone.

In two years Marrone turned one of the FBS’ worst programs into a bowl winner. Although the Orange defense carried the program through much of 2010, the offense finally woke up in time to run and throw all over the Kansas State defense.

 

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Pinstripe Bowl Gets Some Weather Issues to Work Around for Inaugural Game

December 27, 2010   Jim Henry   No comments

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New Yorkers woke to a city blanketed in snow Monday morning, and many believe there’s no better place during Christmas and New Year’s than New York City for that reason and many others.

Yet, the unpredictable New York weather is already testing the inaugural New York Era Pinstripe Bowl by throwing it a curveball — or should we say snowball?

While the heaviest December snowfall in six decades left travelers in the Big Apple and the northeast struggling amid waist-high drifts and blinding winds, officials with New Era Pinstripe Bowl quickly regrouped and rescheduled some of the day’s events.

 

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Offensive Woes Cripple Syracuse and Longshot Big East Championship Hopes

November 20, 2010   Brian Grummell   No comments

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Once-proud Syracuse football is experiencing a modest revival. Bowl eligible for the first time since 2004, the Orange are sitting at seven wins and until falling to Connecticut 23-6 Saturday, were in contention for an unlikely Big East championship and trip to a BCS bowl.

But, something’s missing. Namely, a credible offense.

Coach Doug Marrone (right) and several players testified afterward that Saturday’s woes — and by extension their season-long drab showing — were just a matter of execution. They felt that some combination of focus or matchup might turn the tables.

Don’t be fooled.

Quarterback Ryan Nassib spoke most clearly to the problems the Orange have had. “If you see an offense is not doing very well, it’s really a direct reflection on how the quarterback is playing. Today I didn’t really play very well and you can see that in the whole offense.”

 

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Big East Report: Bulls Are Dancing Bears

November 18, 2010   Brian Grummell   No comments

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After a rocky 0-2 start to Big East play, the South Florida Bulls have been a ‘bear’ to defeat. Tampa’s finest have been Rasputin-like in surviving their last three games to stay in contention for a conference crown. The crowning moment for the Bulls’ revival is likely last week’s overtime four-down stand against Louisville.

Facing a fourth-and-one from their own four, the Bulls trotted out a gimmick defense. Dubbed ‘Bear,’ it aligned five defensive linemen across the front, anchored by tackle Terrell McClain (pictured right from earlier this season).

Fittingly, he is nicknamed “Dancing Bear.”

Lined up across center, McClain contributed to the defensive push that stonewalled the Cardinals’ gutsy but ultimately failed effort to keep the kickers out of determining the game’s outcome. It was without a doubt one of the plays of the year within the beleaguered conference.

“That was our game plan all week. Bear is two guys on the guards and one on the center … it worked,” said Bulls’ defensive coordinator Mark Snyder to the St. Petersburg Times.

The stop helped boost the Bulls to 3-2 in conference play with a 24-21 victory. It dropped the surprising Cardinals to 2-3.

 

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Big East Report: Vortex of Parity

November 10, 2010   Brian Grummell   No comments

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The good news for Dave Wannstedt’s Pittsburgh Panthers is they’ve essentially wrapped up the Big East championship after just three conference games. Credit the collapse of everyone else around them. The Panthers need to go but 2-2 the rest of the way for an outright conference championship no matter what else the competition does. Not that they’ll need the help after obliterating Syracuse, Rutgers and Louisville by a combined score of 106 to 38.

The Panthers’ main challenge is to not get sucked into the Big East’s ugly parity vortex. Take for example, upcoming opponent Connecticut. The Huskies are 0-3 on the road but 4-0 at home including an upset win over West Virginia aided by seven forced fumbles in a game they were outgained by 136 yards. For whatever reason, this madness is common, and saw its most recent victim in resurgent Syracuse.

The offensively challenged Orange surged to a 3-1 conference mark with shutdown defense and a sharp focus through the duration of each game. With a chance to gain bowl eligibility last week, they bombed. The Orange were gifted a Louisville opponent that limped in after a 20-3 loss to Pittsburgh that saw them lose quarterback Adam Froman and one of the nation’s best backs, Bilal Powell. Shutdown City again, right?

Wrong.

 

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Louisville Delays Syracuse Bowl Party

November 06, 2010   Brian Grummell   No comments

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Louisville SyracuseSYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse football has something important to play for in 2010. Unfortunately for the Orange, it just won’t be a Big East championship. Coach Doug Marrone stressed from day one, at Big East media day in Newport, R. I. way back in August, his goal was to get his team to a winning record and a bowl appearance.

After Saturday, Syracuse is still very much likely to achieve that goal, but along the way a funny thing happened — it started winning more than is fair share of conference games. First, it took out South Florida. A resurgent Pittsburgh blasted the Orange at home 45-14, but the Orange rebounded with wins over Cincinnati and Rutgers to stay within striking distance of a conference crown.

Suddenly there was a chance to upgrade to loftier ambitions, capturing the Big East and heading to a BCS bowl game. Had it done that, Syracuse would have been the darling of college football.

But then Louisville happened.

The Orange struggled through yet another home game Saturday, hemorrhaging ground yards in falling 28-20 to a Louisville outfit that had been crushed by Pittsburgh the previous week and had lost its starting quarterback and tailback. Syracuse radio hosts not-so-boldly predicted a defensive shutdown ahead of the game. How could ‘Cuse lose? Even with an offense prone to fits and starts, Syracuse’s defense was gaining in strength in limiting some of the conference’s best offenses.

 

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Big East Report: Expansion, Stratification

November 03, 2010   Brian Grummell   No comments

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Big East ReportHave things settled down in the Big East? Chaos and upheaval ruled the schedule for a few weeks as conference powerhouses West Virginia, Cincinnati and Rutgers took turns as upset victims. Although Connecticut stunned West Virginia last Friday, the Huskies were outgained by 136 yards and won arguably thanks to seven Mountaineer fumbles. The other two data points last week seemed to signal, finally, some stratification. Pittsburgh dominated previously hot Louisville 20-3 while Syracuse exploded against Zach Collaros-less Cincinnati, 31-7.

If stability has been achieved, then we’ll likely see South Florida defeat Rutgers on Wednesday and Syracuse dispense with Louisville on Saturday. The Bulls have joined the upper half of the conference now that quarterback B.J. Daniels came out of an early season funk in completing 13-of-16 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns against Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Louisville has shown itself unable to seal the deal against quality foes Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Oregon State. If the 6-2 Orange are what their record says they are, they’ll find a way to hold off the Cardinals.

If not, it’s another week of chaos in America’s most balanced conference.

 

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Syracuse Upsets West Virginia 19-14

October 23, 2010   FanHouse Staff   No comments

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West Virginia entered the game as easily the best team in the Big East Conference. The Mountaineers were 5-1 — with the only loss coming at undefeated LSU — and ranked No. 20. Syracuse was coming off a 45-14 beatdown at the hands of Pittsburgh, so things figured to be elementary for West Virginia, especially at home — where WVU sported a 12-game winning streak.

Syracuse had other ideas.

Doug Marrone’s Orange scored nine points off turnovers and took a 19-14 lead into halftime.

Even with notable offensive players Geno Smith, Noel Devine, Jock Sanders and Tavon Austin, West Virginia was unable to score the entire second half. In fact, neither team did, as the 19-14 score ended up being the final tally.

Syracuse linebacker Doug Hogue had two interceptions and a sack to lead the stellar Orange defensive effort. Kicker Ross Krautman also stood out for Syracuse, connecting on all four of his field goal attempts.

 

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Big East Report: America’s Most Balanced Conference

October 21, 2010   Brian Grummell   No comments

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There isn’t a more balanced, conference in America right now than the Big East. Last Thursday’s battle between West Virginia and USF was arguably a matchup between the Big East’s best and worst teams. While the Mountaineers came out on top 20-6, South Florida played excellent defensive football, about as well as a team at the bottom of a major conference can play. It made difficult open field tackles all night against three of the quickest offensive players around in Noel Devine, Jock Sanders and Tavon Austin. Its offense is struggling and was never a threat but if you listen to conference coaches, it will come around.

West Virginia coach Bill Stewart felt the USF defensive team speed was on par with LSU‘s. “They made great open field tackles,” he added. Meanwhile, Butch Jones, coach of upcoming opponent Cincinnati said, “They’re extremely close (offensively), when they put it together they’re going to put it together big.” Adding to the praise, he said the Bulls “probably are the best defense we’ve faced to date.” That includes BCS No. 1 Oklahoma.

Point being, the gap between Big East elite and bottom feeders right now is narrow, although West Virginia and maybe Cincinnati have a chance to put some legitimate distance between themselves and the rest of the conference pack between now and the end of the regular season.

 

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