A look around the Big East

There's some bad blood brewing as UConn prepares to visit BC and Pitt gets ready for Nebraska.

Originally Published: September 14, 2004
By Joe Bendel | Special to ESPN.com
Why is UConn's Dan Orlovsky losing his cool? What happened to the rise of Rutgers? Our Big East notebook addresses those questions, along with looks at the QB situations at Syracuse and Pitt, the BC running back factory and more.

Boston College
The Eagles host Connecticut on Friday night for "The rivalry that could have been" game. This is the last time the New England schools will meet for the foreseeable future. Boston College is off to the Atlantic Coast Conference after this season, while first-year Big East member Connecticut is playing its inaugural conference game. There won't be any love lost between the schools, particularly after UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun said last October that he'd never schedule BC again once it leaves the league. Good thing BC is playing this one at home, otherwise UConn might have a slight edge. The Huskies would love more than anything to slice into BC's hopes of earning the conference's BCS bid in its farewell season. BC is coming off a 21-7 win over Penn State and looking to go 3-0 for the first time since 1988. The Eagles lead the series, 9-0-2.

  • Was that a Doug Flutie sighting during the Penn State game Saturday night at Alumni Field? No, it just appeared that way. Quarterback Paul Peterson, nicknamed "Pistol," continued to display his resourcefulness in free-lancing in the pocket and finding his targets. He went 23-of-31 for 199 yards with three touchdowns against the Nittany Lions, including two scoring strikes that came on the run. He completed passes to nine different receivers. He has quickly become the difference maker for a BC team that relied so heavily last season on the legs of graduate Derrick Knight. Peterson, 5-0 as a starter, might be playing his way into Player of the Year contention, and BC is looking like a team that could win the league title. Peterson and Connecticut quarterback Dan Orlovsky could put on a show Friday night.

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