As the college football season kicked off, the Big East threats were easily identifiable. West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers all fell short of a national championship last season but experienced success in their respective bowl games. All three returned important players in 2007.

But the conference is now showing there is depth as well, with Cincinnati and South Florida proving they are capable of hanging with the best in the land.

The biggest statement was made by USF this past weekend. The Bulls visited Auburn and pulled off a 26-23 upset at Jordan-Hare Stadium, showing that a Big East team can win without a gun-slinging quarterback or Heisman candidate running back.

‘If you go into any game thinking it’s going to be an upset, then you think you’re fighting an uphill battle,’ USF head coach Jim Leavitt said. ‘For all the years we’ve been here, we want to go in and just play our very best.’

The upset may have stunned the Tiger faithful, but the final score in favor of the Bulls may not have been a fluke. In fact, the past shows otherwise.

Over the past two seasons the Bulls have taken down two nationally-ranked offensive juggernauts that reside in the Big East. Last season, USF went into a hostile environment and gave No. 7 West Virginia a tough five-point loss. In 2005, the Bulls erased No. 9 Louisville’s national championship dreams when they crushed the Cardinals by 31 points.

The Big East took productivity to a higher level last season, as every team won at least four games, the only conference in the BCS to do so. This season, every Big East squad’s records remain an unblemished 2-0 except for Syracuse.

‘This is going to be a league with a lot parody,’ Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe said. ‘There are a lot of quality football teams in this league.’

For evidence to support Kragthorpe’s assessment of the conference, one needs to look no further than the Big East champions over the past five years. In that time, there have been six different schools who won the conference. In 2006, three Big East teams headed into the month of November with an undefeated record. The feat had not been accomplished since 1971 in the Southeastern Conference. This year, the competition is getting even stiffer.

‘The Big East is very, very strong once again,’ West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez said. ‘I think it’s proven itself in the non-conference games, especially against the other BCS (teams).’

Cincinnati found itself facing a similar situation as USF with a non-conference foe but held Oregon State, considered a sleeper team in the Pac 10, to only three points.

The Bearcats managed to force seven turnovers against the Beavers, building on the six they generated in week one against Southeast Missouri State. Although the big three of the conference are still strong, the elite teams can no longer assume easy wins over Big East conference opponents.

‘I think now you can enter into the conversation a couple more teams that need to be considered as teams that can play nationally,’ Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly said. ‘South Florida has proven that, not just this year but last year.’

After the victory over Oregon State, the Bearcats received votes in both polls along with South Florida. The non-conference matchups give the Big East teams an opportunity to display on a national level what a team is capable of, Kelly said. With new emerging powers in the Big East, more national championship dreams could take a tumble against Big East rivals.

‘Now there are five teams that have gone outside just the Big East and proven that they can play nationally,’ Kelly said. ‘I think now it’s truly the strength of the Big East and the depth of the Big East.’

Offense saves Louisville

Louisville found itself in a wild game against Middle Tennessee State Thursday night. The Cardinals explosive offense ripped off 58 points, but it could not stop the MTSU offense. A total of five touchdowns were tallied before the first five minutes had expired.

With a slim lead at halftime, Brian Brohm entered the second half and continued to build his Heisman case. Brohm again posted more than 300 yards by game’s end to bring his career tally and conference record to 13 games. The next closest active Big East quarterback, Matt Grothe, only has two 300-plus games. The win also kept Louisville’s home winning streak alive and brought it to a school-record 20 games.

Although the Louisville defense did generate four turnovers, they allowed 554 yards of total offense to the Blue Raiders. Kragthorpe was not impressed with his team on either side of the ball.

‘We didn’t play as good of football as we’re capable of playing in all three phases,’ Kragthorpe said. ‘We scored 58 points in the game, so on paper that looks good, but I felt we could have scored 80.

‘Special teams, we weren’t as good as we need to be, and we played absolutely awful on defense.’

Around the conference

The Connecticut defense hasn’t surrendered a point in the last six quarters of play after a 38-0 shutout victory over Maine this weekend. The Huskies failed to record a shutout last season. … In his first career start, Pittsburgh quarterback Kevan Smith broke the 200-yard passing mark by two yards and had offensive help from the running game. Pittsburgh freshman running back LeSean McCoy scored three times on Saturday against Grambling State. The 21 points recorded by the freshman aided in the blowout, as Grambling fell, 34-10. … The Louisville and Rutgers offenses have been providing rest for their respective punters. This season both teams have punted the ball only once. … This weekend, Cincinnati will participate in the oldest non-conference rivalry in a battle against Miami (Ohio) for the Victory Bell. The tradition began in 1888, and since 1990, Miami has taken the bell home nine times to Cincinnati’s seven. In 1994, the game ended in a tie.

Published on September 11, 2007 at 12:00 pm