Big East Roundup: Rutgers, Louisville Remain Undefeated

In Week Eight, two Big East teams were able to hold on to their perfect records: #15 Rutgers (7-0, 4-0) and #16 Louisville (7-0, 2-0). For the Cardinals, it was a close call in their 27-25 win over USF (2-5, 0-3). They are now poised to have their best start since 2006 with a win next week.

Sitting in the conference’s third spot, #21 Cincinnati (5-1, 1-0) suffered its first loss of the season against Toledo. Next week, they’ll play conference foe, Louisville.

Louisville defeats USF 27-25

Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater

The Cardinals had to fight hard for win No. 7 and overcome a 15-point second-half surge by USF on Saturday. After grabbing the lead in the second quarter, Louisville found themselves behind by four with three minutes remaining.

The team kept their composure and with 1:35 left, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Eli Rogers. The extra point had been blocked and this kept things alive as the Bulls weren’t done yet.

With one last opportunity to take the lead as time ran out, Cardinals cornerback Adrian Bushell intercepted Bulls quarterback B.J.Daniels’ Hail Mary and the win had been sealed.

For the day, the Cardinals’ running back duo Senorise Perry and Jeremy Wright each rushed for a touchdown.

Bridgewater was 21 for 25, 256 yards and two touchdowns. He was the team’s leading rusher with 10 carries for 74 yards. Sharing his passes with nine receivers, this was his seventh straight game with a minimum of one touchdown pass.

Louisville coach Charlie Strong said, “Each week, a different receiver stands up. Last week, it was DeVante Parker, this week it’s Eli (Rogers). Each game is going to be like this. I told our team you’re right in the middle of a conference race now, so you have to be competitive each week and make sure we maintain our focus.”

South Florida has now lost five games in a row and is yet to win a conference game.

Can Louisville keep their win streak and remain on top of the conference? Bettors give them 2-1 odds to do so.

Rutgers defeats Temple 35-10

Rutgers RB Jawan Jamison

For Rutgers, they had a slow start on Saturday and also had to kick it in during the second half to get the win. Fortunately for them, it wasn’t a tight victory.

It was the Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova and his running back Jawan Jamison who kept things going for the team.

Nova went 17 for 27, 232 yards, four touchdowns and one interception on Saturday. Three of the touchdowns came in the third quarter and enabled the Scarlet Nights to finally take the lead after Temple entered halftime with a 10-0 advantage.

For Jamison, he grabbed 114 yards on the ground with 81 yards receiving and one touchdown.

Temple held Rutgers to 110 total yards in the first 30 minutes but it was a different story in the second half as the team grabbed 271 yards.

Entering the game as the No. 2 rushing defense (allowing 60.8 yards), Temple ignored this and grabbed 74 yards in the first quarter but was shut down in the second half as they team did not score.

Rutgers’ defense showed its talent as linebacker Khaseem Greene returned a fumble and ran 20 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was the final score for the team.

With their current 7-0 record, this represents its second time over six seasons to have this stat. Next week they play Kent State.

The Scarlet Knights have 11 to 2 odds to win the conference.

Looking ahead: Louisville vs. Cincinnati 

On Saturday, Cincinnati suffered its first loss of the season against Toledo (7-1, 4-0) in a 29-23 upset. The Bearcats had a collection of problems in the game and a slow start may have been one of their biggest ones.

The team will need to immediately put it behind them as they’ll face conference foe Louisville under the Friday Night Lights next week.