A few words the Big East coaches from the weekly conference call:
– Zach Collaros may be coming off the most prolific offensive day in Big East history, but he may go back to being a backup this weekend for No. 5 Cincinnati. Tony Pike is nearly 100 percent healthy and could be back under center when the Bearcats face West Virginia Friday.
“If Tony’s fully healthy, he’s our starter,” Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said Monday.
“What Zach Collaros did over the last three weeks, you take his body of work, which was outstanding, and you take Tony Pike’s body of work, Tony Pike’s the starter,” Kelly said. “There’s not even a question about that.”
The problem is Pike may not be ready to play anyway.
“We have to get Tony Pike back to where he’s at 100 percent,” Kelly said. “When he’s at 100 percent he starts for us. The problem is that’s an ever-changing proposition for us.”
– WR Mike Williams has quit the Syracuse football team. Antwon Bailey, Andrew Tiller and Torrey Ball have been suspended (pending a late announcement Monday).
But first-year coach Doug Marrone isn’t overly concerned about the future of his new team.
“We’re trying to create a foundation for this program that’s going to last a long time,” Marrone said. “It’s going to be done with people that want to be here, number one, people who want a good education, people where football’s important to them.”
“I feel very comfortable with the direction we’re going in,” Marrone said.
– UConn RB Jordan Todman had to play a few more plays than he was “scheduled” to Saturday night because Andre Dixon was injured.
Dixon is likely to be back in the lineup in two weeks and will continue to split carries with Todman, but the younger, smaller Todman has shown he’s more than just the outside guy in UConn’s tandem.
“He’s always been a tough guy,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “I think the biggest thing that’s happening with Jordan is he’s getting better with his patience. He’s starting to be more patient to the hole and then bursting through the line of scrimmage.
“There were a couple plays the other night where I saw Jordan started to run and then there was a situation where it closed up. You saw him just stick that foot and _ boom! _ take it right north and south,” Edsall said. “I really think he’s starting to develop more as a running back.”
– Kelly said his team was lucky to escape with a win over UConn.
“They just played so hard. They took the third quarter and turned the game around,” Kelly said. “If we’re not at home with our crowd, we probably don’t win that football game. Because the momentum swing was huge.”
- Neill
