The No. 16 Cincinnati Bearcats (9-2, 5-1) are on the verge of winning their first BIG EAST Conference title. They can do so with a win over the Syracuse Orange (3-8, 1-5) this Saturday or if Pittsburgh beats West Virginia Friday afternoon. Both the Bearcats and the Orange are coming off big wins with Cincinnati beating PITT for the first time ever and Syracuse upsetting Notre Dame in South Bend. On paper Syracuse shouldn't stand a chance this weekend, but crazier things have happened.
The series between these two teams is tied 4-4, with the Bearcats winning the last three including a 52-31 thrashing last year in Syracuse. No game in this series could end up being more important than the one this weekend. Cincinnati could very well be playing for the conference title should WVU beat PITT. Syracuse is playing for both pride and for their head coach, Greg Robinson, who will coach his final game for the Orange Saturday afternoon.
The Bearcats have been led by the strong quarterback play of Tony Pike over the last few games. Pike had a career day against PITT last weekend going 26-for-32 for 309 yards and three touchdowns. His solid play has made many forget the fact that he broke his non-throwing arm earlier in the season and missed a couple games. He leads an offense that ranks first in the BIG EAST in passing yards per game (258.9) and passing efficiency (142.4). Best of all, he showed in the PITT game that he's not afraid to take a hit on that broken arm that's being held together with a plate an six screws. He has also showed some mobility in the last couple games, scrambling out of the pocket to make plays either with his arm or his feet. Pike is mixing the ball around well, but his two favorite targets are still his big playmakers in Mardy Gilyard and Dominick Goodman, both of which were on the receiving end of a score this past week.
The Bearcats' defense has had a stretch of tough games in the last month or so, but they have risen to the challenge and shut down big name players like Pat White, Noel Divine, and even LeSean McCoy last week. The defense is led by defensive end, Connor Barwin, who leads the BIG EAST with 10 sacks and ranks seventh in the country in that category. Unfortunately the defense will be without their biggest playmaker, Mike Mickens, for a second straight game. He will be out the rest of the regular season after having knee surgery earlier this week.
Syracuse has had a really rough go of it this year. Their three wins have come against Notheastern, Louisville and Notre Dame, none of which are really anything to brag about considering the seasons those teams are having. Running back Curtis Brinkley leads the Orange offense. Without him, there really wouldn't be much offense. The team as a whole is only averaging 275.5 yards of offense and less than 19 points per game. Compare that to Cincinnati's 376.8 yards and almost 27 points per game, and you can see why Syracuse is having such a bad season. In addition to the offense not putting up very good numbers, the defense has struggled as well giving up almost 33 points per game. Unfortunately for coach Robinnson, all these numbers combined with a bad last few seasons led to his demise at the school.
It will be senior day down at Nippert Stadium this weekend. Look for senior quarterback Dustin Grutza to get some play time, possibly early on if Cincinnati can jump out to a big lead. Another way Grutza may get a lot of playing time this weekend is if PITT beats WVU Friday. If that happens, this game will be just a formality for the Bearcats.
The winner of the BIG EAST will likely go to the Orange Bowl, but there is a chance that they go to the Sugar Bowl as well. It would be fitting and ironic if the game this weekend ended up mattering and the Bearcats beat the Orange to go earn a trip to the Orange Bowl.
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