ESPN Big East Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Here's your guide to the Big East weekend, starting with the game under the Friday Night lights.

1. Donald Brown vs. the Louisville defense. Brown leads the nation in rushing, while the Cardinals have the No. 2 ranked rushing defense in the land. The statistics for Louisville are a bit skewed because it hasn't faced any good running teams. Kansas State only attempted six handoffs to a tailback last week. Still, Brown will certainly face seven, eight and maybe more defenders in the box on most plays. Which leads to ...

2. Tyler Lorenzen and the UConn passing game. If Lorenzen can't at least keep the Cardinals honest with a few downfield throws, the Huskies are going to have a hard time winning this game. Louisville cornerback Woodny Turenne has greatly improved over last year and had two interceptions versus Kansas State.

3. Victor Anderson vs. the UConn defense. The speedy Louisville back racked up 176 yards and three touchdowns last week. Now he'll face the team that's leading the Big East in scoring defense. The Cardinals will have to establish the run to soften up a UConn secondary that doesn't allow many big plays.

4. South Florida's bill of health. We know Brouce Mompremier won't play against NC State. On Thursday night, Jim Leavitt told reporters that star defensive end George Selvie and nose tackle Terrell McClain could miss the game with ankle injuries. That's a lot of hits for the defense to absorb, even against NC State's backup quarterback, Harrison Beck.

5. Pittsburgh's consistency. Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt has placed mouse traps around the football complex this week to try to remind his team not to succumb to a "trap game" at Syracuse. Please. Pitt isn't good enough yet to look past anyone, especially an Orange team that lost by only three points at Heinz Field last year.

6. Syracuse's confidence. Did finally getting a win give the Orange enough of an ego boost that they can hang with Pitt? That would have to be some boost. But the Panthers offense isn't that tough to devise game plans for or contain, and Syracuse has traditionally played Pittsburgh tough. But if it is a blowout ...

7. Greg Robinson's situation. I don't believe Daryl Gross will fire Robinson before October. But the way the Syracuse athletic director talked this week, it's clear he's moving rapidly in that direction. A hapless performance by the Orange would put everyone on Robinson watch beginning late Saturday afternoon.

8. West Virginia's offensive game plan. The Mountaineers started the season throwing the ball like crazy, then went almost exclusively to the option-read running game against Colorado. After scoring only 17 points in the last two games, what will first-year offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen dial up against Marshall? More passing? More Wake Forest-style motion? Whatever it is, it had better put up plenty of points to calm a disgruntled fan base.

9. The Cincinnati pass defense. The Bearcats have been curiously weak against the pass so far this season. Coach Brian Kelly is shaking up the secondary, moving DeAngelo Smith back to corner and putting Brandon Underwood at safety. He's challenged his team to get more of a pass rush. Akron quarterback Chris Jacquemain can make plays and threw three touchdowns in the win at Syracuse.

10. Rutgers' team chemistry. The Scarlet Knights insist they're a family and that there's no in-fighting despite the 0-3 start and Mike Teel's swipe at a teammate at the end of the Navy game. Let's see. They should roll over Morgan State without any problems, unless there's no cohesion on the field. And will Schiano stick with Teel the entire game or give another quarterback a look in case this can't be fixed?