Week Five Feature Game
Cincinnati Bearcats (2-0) vs. Virginia Tech Hokies (3-1)
Saturday, September 29 • 3:30 p.m. ET • ESPNU
FedEx Field, Landover, Md. (85,000)
Line: Virginia Tech -6.5
Cincinnati opened the season with a bye and then defeated a still disorganized Pitt 34-10 at Nippert Stadium in week two. The Bearcats beat Delaware St. 24-7 in week three and had their second bye last week.
The game will be not only the Bearcats’ first away from home, but also its first against a quality opponent. Cincinnati and Virginia Tech have met nine times previously, dating back to 1947, with the Hokies holding a 5-4 edge and wins in the last two meetings. They last met in the 2009 Orange Bowl with Virginia Tech coming away with a 20-7 win. In neutral site games, the teams are tied with one win apiece.
Saturday’s game will be Bearcats’ initial visit to FedEx Field, while it will be the Hokies’ third trip to the Redskins’ stadium (losses to 2004 vs. Southern California and 2012 vs. Boise State).
Virginia Tech comes off a 37-0 win over Bowling Green at home Saturday, which featured a season-high 246 rushing yards. They have scored 10 touchdowns on 14 trips inside the red zone and seven different players have caught touchdown passes. On defense, they have allowed four rushing touchdowns and four passing touchdowns through four games this season. Kyshoen Jarrett ranks first nationally in punt returns with an average of 35.4 yards per return.
Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech ’69) is in his 26th year as the head football coach at Tech and 32nd overall. Beamer has guided the Hokies to a 212-99-2 record and owns an overall record of 254-122-4. He has 19 consecutive bowl game appearances, ranking fourth all time behind Bobby Bowden (28), Tom Osborne (25) and “Bear” Bryant (24).
Pick: Virginia Tech 23-18
Other Big East games this week:
UConn (2-2) vs. Buffalo (1-2)
Louisville #19 (4-0) at Southern Miss (0-3)
USF (2-2) vs. #4 FSU (4-0)
———–
Big East Week Four Recap
Sept. 22
Pitt 55 vs. Gardner-Webb 10
UConn 24 at Western Michigan 30
Louisville 28 at FIU 21
Syracuse 10 at Minnesota 17
Rutgers 35 at Arkansas 26
USF 27 at Ball St. 31
Conference Players of Week 4:
Offense: Gary Nova, QB, Rutgers
Defense: Adrian Bushell, CB, Louisville
Special Teams: Brandon McManus, K/P, Temple
Pete’s Power Rankings:
1. Louisville #19 (4-0)
2. Rutgers #25 (4-0, 1-0)
3. Cincinnati (2-0, 1-0)
4. USF (2-2, 0-1)
5. UConn (2-2)
6. Syracuse (1-3)
7. Pitt (2-2, 0-1)
8. Temple (1-2)
Pete Sonski is a contributor to College Football Zealots. Follow him on Twitter @29sonski and check out his work at Big East Coast Bias. and his Three Point Stance show every Tuesday at 9 PM on Blog Talk Radio.
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