The Big East doesn’t have an official championship game, but the closest it will come took place on Saturday.

Louisville visited West Virginia for a meeting between the anointed and the annoyed. The Cardinals received the bulk of the preseason hype, earned a top 10 ranking and features perhaps the most talented roster in the conference.

The Mountaineers entered the season with more nay-sayers than yea-sayers. Heck, they were even underdogs in the season-opener against Syracuse.

It took three overtimes for the conference heavyweights to settle their score, but the Mountaineers overcame the Cardinals, 46-44, despite a 17-point, fourth-quarter margin. The game signaled a shift in the Big East’s perceived power.

‘I can’t remember being down that much with that little time before,’ West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez said. ‘Not only were we down, but we didn’t really have any signs of hope. It was kind of improbable, but I felt confident that our guys didn’t feel down on themselves.’

West Virginia rallied with 17 fourth-quarter points, including two of freshman running back Steve Slaton’s six touchdowns. The teams traded a trio of touchdowns in each overtime period.

A team must attempt a two-point conversion after a touchdown in every overtime period after the second. The Mountaineers converted on theirs and the Cardinals couldn’t answer.

Almost two months into the season, West Virginia is the team to beat. Already 6-1 with its lone loss to No. 3 Virginia Tech, the Mountaineers are on their way to earning the conference’s Bowl Championship Series slot.

Of course, no coach ever gets ahead of himself and starts talking about bowl games in mid-October. Especially not Rodriguez, whose Mountaineers were within striking distance of a BCS berth last season after opening the season 8-1 (4-0 Big East). The Mountaineers needed to win one of their final two games, but they stumbled. They lost both and ended up in the Gator Bowl.

‘We have some lessons to teach from last year when we had our destiny in our hands and stubbed our toe a little bit at the end,’ Rodriguez said. ‘A lot of our players that are playing now weren’t playing last year at this time, but I just like the attitude of our team so far. We’ll talk about it a lot in the team meetings, about keeping focused and not just taking one game at a time but taking one day at a time and working to get better. I think that’s the key.’

Regardless, West Virginia’s win leaves Louisville almost completely hopeless of a BCS berth. The irony is the shift to the Big East was supposed to give the Cardinals an avenue to the coveted bowl games. Instead, the preseason favorite is winless in the conference.

‘It looks like a real long shot,’ Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino said. ‘I’m disappointed we’re 0-2. It’s tough watching the video, but as far as going undefeated, running the table and all that, those were never words from the coaches or the players.

‘We know how difficult it is to win one game. Did we think we had an opportunity to have a great season? Certainly we did. But it hasn’t worked out that way and now we just have to solve it and move on.’

Win No. 1

Cincinnati, predicted to finish last in the Big East, earned its first ever conference victory on Saturday, beating Connecticut 28-17. The win pushed the Bearcats to 3-3 this season, 1-1 in the Big East.

‘We talked about it all week – what we would have to do,’ Cincinnati head coach Mark Dantonio said. ‘We talked about being ready. We had to play with confidence. We had to play enthusiastic and handle adversity – the intangibles. And we were able to do that.’

Cincinnati was paced by sophomore running back Bradley Glatthaar, who carried for 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns – one of which a 72-yarder. It was his sixth straight game with a touchdown.

‘The offensive line did a great job today. The hole just opened up and there was nobody there,’ Glatthaar said. ‘We finally started executing on offense, but we still have some things we can improve on.’

The Bearcats play Louisville on Saturday in their annual clash for ‘The Keg of Nails,’ one of college football’s most unique rivalry trophies. It will be an opportunity for Dantonio’s team to avenge 2004’s embarrassing 70-7 loss to the Cardinals.

‘It was as tough an experience as I’ve had in coaching, and that’s one that we remember,’ Dantonio said. ‘Not exactly cherish, but we will remember.’

Performer of the Week

For the second straight week, West Virginia running back Steve Slaton stood out in a Mountaineers win. The freshman rushed for 188 yards and tied former Miami running back Willis McGahee with a Big East-record six touchdowns – five on the ground and one through the air. All five rushing touchdowns came in the fourth quarter and the overtime periods of WVU’s 46-44 win over Louisville.

Game to watch

West Virginia at South Florida, Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

South Florida drew headlines after a conference-opening upset over Louisville but has digressed since the victory, dropping its last two games. Saturday will be the Bulls’ first game back in Tampa since beating the Cardinals, and USF head coach Jim Leavitt can only hope the home-cooking gives the Bulls the edge they need to take down the Big East’s best team.

Around the Conference

Slaton’s game on Saturday earned him Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors. His teammate, safety Mike Lorello, was named the Defensive Player of the Week after registering 11 tackles and an interception. Rutgers’ Corey Barnes scored a pair of touchdowns against Syracuse on Saturday, including a return off a blocked punt. He was named Big East Special Teams Player of the Week. … A week after Connecticut lost starting quarterback Matt Bonislawki to injury, backup D.J. Hernandez cracked a bone in his left wrist against Cincinnati on Saturday and won’t play against Rutgers this weekend. Freshman Dennis Brown will start for the Huskies. … Pittsburgh junior receiver Greg Lee recorded his 10th career 100-yard receiving game after catching three passes for 106 yards and a touchdown in the Panthers’ 31-17 win over South Florida on Saturday

Published on October 17, 2005 at 12:00 pm