NCAA Football connecticut Huskies

CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati senior Tony Pike is rated as the third-best NFL quarterback prospect by NFLDraftScout.com. He likely will make a fine NFL quarterback one day.

Yet, the No. 4-ranked Bearcats are better off without him.

Last season, Pike led the Bearcats to their first Big East title. This year, he led Cincinnati to a 5-0 start before he re-injured his left (non-throwing) arm – the arm he broke last season.

Pike, who had missed the past 2½ games, was cleared to play Saturday against UConn, but he never left the bench. He should stay there the rest of the season.

That's because sophomore Zach Collaros is smokin' hot.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The demand for a college football playoff could break up the BCS after the 2013 season, but instead of adding a playoff, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) would likely just revert back to the old bowl system, Big East commissioner John Marinatto told FanHouse.

"It [the BCS] is such an entity where there's so many diverse things that come together that make it work," Marinatto said. "I don't know if all that will continue to go on the way it is. If they're pressured to create a playoff, they would simply go back to what the system used to be like and have it as an at-large, free-for-all where people can go [to whichever bowl] they want.

And then there were two.

Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are now the lone undefeated teams in Big East play after last weekend's action.

The No. 4 ranked Bearcats and No. 14 Panthers continue on a collision course for the de facto Big East championship game on Dec. 5 in Pittsburgh. By the way, whatever Nick Carparelli, the Big East's senior associate commissioner for football, is making, he deserves a raise.

Carparelli is in charge of the league's schedule and his philosophy is having the league's top games played later in the year. That's easier said than done, but the Big East could have a pair of Top 10 teams playing for the league title if the Bearcats and Panthers don't stumble.

Stumble is exactly what West Virginia did -- again -- at South Florida. Playing in Tampa, Fla., on a Friday night for the second time in three years, the Mountaineers' league title hopes took a big hit with the 30-19 loss to the Bulls, who had lost their previous two games to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh by a combined margin of 75-31.

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- On a day Connecticut honored slain teammate Jasper Howard, one of his best friends won the game for Rutgers.

Tim Brown, who grew up with Howard in Miami, scored on an 81-yard touchdown pass from Tom Savage with 22 seconds left to give the Scarlet Knights a 28-24 victory over the Huskies in UConn's first home game since Howard was stabbed to death.

"I just went out there and played that game for my friend," Brown said. "He was a special guy to me and I just went out there and dedicated that game to him."

STORRS, Conn. -- Connecticut coach Randy Edsall is good at many things -- such as refining football skills, leading a group of young men and supporting them through the tragedy of Jasper Howard's murder.

He has had little time to make sure his pop culture references were up to date.

"I am Sergeant Schultz, I know nothing," Edsall said earlier this week, when pressed about details surrounding the murder investigation. Just minutes later, in a separate media conference, the arrests of three men were announced.

Ironically, Edsall, especially in recent days, is very little like Schultz, whose character on "Hogan's Heroes" -- a TV show that ran from 1965-71 -- was a bumbling, borderline incompetent mess (Trust me, I looked it up).

Edsall recited Schultz's famous slogan, but that's where the similarities end.

STORRS, Conn. -- Connecticut police have charged a man with the murder of UConn football player Jasper Howard. John William Lomax III, 21, was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit assault.

"There is no system of justice that can bring back someone who has been taken from us," UConn Commissioner of Public Safety John A. Danaher III said Tuesday. "But we can do all in our power to investigate, arrest and assist in prosecuting those who commit a crime such as this, and we did so in this case."

Bond was set at $2 million for Lomax of Bloomfield, Conn., which is about 30 miles from UConn's campus.

Connecticut police have charged a man with the murder of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard. John William Lomax, 21, has been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit assault.

His attorney insists Lomax was attempting to break up the fight. His bond was set at $2 million.

Police charged Hakim Muhammad, 20, with conspiracy to commit assault, and 21-year-old Jamal Todd with pulling the fire alarm, which reportedly began the fight.

None of the three men are listed as students or employees at the university, according to the school's Web site.

Howard, 20, was stabbed just after 12:30AM, Oct. 18, following a school-sanctioned dance on the Connecticut campus. He was airlifted to a Hartford hospital where he died later that morning.

Just three weeks ago, we called Pittsburgh the Pitts-ophrenic Panthers after their up-and-down performances earlier this season against Buffalo, N.C. State, Louisville and UConn.

Uh, is it too late to take that all back?

As impressive as Cincinnati has been all season, Pittsburgh might be playing the best overall of any Big East team. The offense is balanced and the defense gets more dominating each week. Saturday, the Panthers (7-1, 4-0 Big East) scorched South Florida 41-14.

Since allowing 505 yards at N.C. State, the Panthers have improved their defensive numbers in each of the past four games. Pitt allowed 305 yards to Louisville on Oct. 2, 303 to UConn on Oct. 10, 286 to Rutgers on Oct. 16 and 212 to USF on Saturday.

West Virginia wore his number. Connecticut brought his jersey and helmet to the sideline. The Morgantown crowd roared in his honor and stood silent in his memory.

Six days after UConn cornerback Jasper Howard died from a stab wound suffered after a school dance, two Big East rivals kept his memory very much alive.

The Huskies played their heavy hearts out and paid tribute to Howard with everything except a win.

"I just feel empty,'' Connecticut coach Randy Edsall said. "The kids played their hearts out and did what we asked them to do. This is a special group of kids. We've got to take this and just learn how to play like this all the time.''

University of Connecticut coach Randy Edsall said there really wasn't much consideration given to postponing Saturday's game at West Virginia following the murder of defensive back Jasper Howard.

"I know Jasper wouldn't want us to do that," Edsall said on Monday's Big East conference call. "That's the real reason [we're playing]."

Howard, 20, who had led the Huskies to a 38-25 victory against Louisville on Saturday, died early Sunday after an on-campus stabbing. Howard, who was soon to become a father, was stabbed near the school's Student Union.

Edsall said his team and coaching staff are attempting to deal with the loss of Howard, particularly two players who were with Howard when he died.