Game Day 2011-10-07

JOVELLE ABBEY TAMAYO / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

G2

G A M E DAY

OCTOBER 7, 2011

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

KnightsGameday RUTGERS VS PITTSBURGH

GAME 3: High Point Solutions Stadium, 3:30 p.m. TV: ESPNU RADIO: 1450 AM

RU faces defense entering its own

BY TYLER BARTO ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

Mohamed Sanu remembers the first time he played Pittsburgh in 2009 at High Point Solutions Stadium.

“I remember it was a ver y physical game,” the junior wide receiver said. “Momentum shifted a lot. We were up at times.

They were up at times. There were just a lot of plays that helped us, and there were a lot of plays that they made that helped them.”

One of those plays was a costly Sanu fumble near midfield on the Rutgers football team’s final drive, which sealed the game in Pitt’s favor.

The 6-foot-2 Sanu since rebounded with an impressive career in Piscataway, but the Scarlet Knights (3-1, 1-0) again lost, 41-21, to the Panthers last season at Heinz Field.

While the Pittsburgh (3-2, 1-0) of fense is entirely new under first-year head coach Todd Graham, its defense remains largely the same.

The Panthers return the majority of their defensive unit from last season, including heralded defensive end Brandon Lindsey, who ranks 15th nationally in sacks per game.

Pitt collected seven sacks against Rutgers last season, including three from Lindsey and two from now-NFL defensive end Jabaal Sheard.

“They’re good,” said head coach Greg Schiano. “And it looks like they understand what their coaches want more each week, which doesn’t bode well for us, right? They move people around. It’s an unusual defense.”

But the defensive side of the ball allows an uncharacteristic 414.4 yards per game, largely because of Pitt’s spread attack.

While big plays dictate the Panthers’ no-huddle look, they only average 28 minutes of possession per game.

They did not need very much time last week, when Pitt knocked off nationally ranked South Florida at home, 44-17.

Rutgers ranks third in the nation in time of possession, but a lack of downfield conversions is largely the cause, Schiano said.

[

INSIDE the NUMBERS

SCARLET KNIGHTS (3-1)

PITTSBURGH (3-2)

PASSING CMP YDS TD INT. AVG. 3 188.5 C. Dodd 54.3% 754 6 0 79.3 G. Nova 47.7% 238 2

CMP YDS TD INT. AVG. PASSING T. Sunseri 65.4% 1,039 5 4 207.8

RUSHING NO. YDS TD LNG AVG. 70 199 0 30 J. Jamison 2.8 47 3 26 8 S. Huggins 1.8 RECEIVING NO. YDS TD LNG AVG. 43 428 5 32 10.0 M. Sanu 82 0 25 J. Martinek 10 8.2 9 112 0 21 12.4 Q. Pratt TKL SCK 34 0.5 22 0.5 0 22

DEFENSE

K. Greene Jamal Merrell S. Beauharnais

INT 0 0 0

KEITH FREEMAN / PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

“We’ve dropped six plays,” he said. “Those big plays, now you’re off the field, so you’re not going to have that time of possession.

I’m not sure that’s a great thing. I like being where it’s a good number, but I don’t know if I like being that high.”

Syracuse kept Sanu, the Knights’ big-play option, in check last week, but he scored the gametying touchdown, propelling Rutgers into overtime.

Besides junior running back Ray Graham, the Panthers fail to boast the same big-play ability they sported last season with future pros Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin.

Still, they have size.

Junior Mike Shanahan stands at 6-foot-5, and Devin Street lines up across the field at 6-foot-4.

But the matchup does not faze sophomore cornerback Logan Ryan, who registered a teamhigh four pass breakups against the Orange.

“The thing about big receivers like that is I go against 6-foot-2 Mohamed Sanu, 6-foot-6 Brandon

Coleman, 6-foot-4 Mark Harrison [and] 6-foot-3 Tim Wright,” Ryan said. “So I’ve been going against them my whole career.”

But Graham makes the Pitt offense go.

He leads the nation with 756 rushing yards to go along with eight touchdowns. He even ranks first on the team with 25 receptions, albeit for an average clip of 6.8-yards.

Even when Graham split time with Lewis last season, he was still the team’s most consistent back throughout the season.

Graham’s emergence marked former head coach Dave Wannstedt’s final campaign in the Steel City, although his imprint remains with the Panthers defense.

“As I said before, I feel for Dave because he busted his hump, he and his staff, putting that team together,” Schiano said. “Then all of a sudden, he’s out.”

Such is life in the Big East, where the Knights suddenly find themselves staring at a potential 20 start.

SCHEDULE Sept. 1 Sept. 10 Sept. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Oct. 15 Oct. 21 Oct. 29 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Nov. 19 Nov. 26

NC Central N. Carolina Ohio Syracuse Pittsburgh Navy Louisville West Virginia South Florida Army Cincinnati Connecticut

RUSHING R. Graham Z. Brown

NO. YDS TD LNG AVG. 5.8 126 734 8 75 3.4 29 99 3 12

RECEIVING NO. YDS TD R. Graham 25 171 0 M. Shanahan 21 250 1 D. Street 17 257 1 H. Graham 15 186 2 DEFENSE

M. Gruder K. Williams T. Roberts

LNG 14 23 66 25

AVG. 6.8 11.9 15.1 12.6

TKL SCK 44 0 35 0 30 0

INT 0 0 0

INJURIES Out — OL L. Nix

INJURIES Probable — DE M. Booker, DE Jamil Merrell Out — S R. Knight

Junior wide receiver Mohamed Sanu fumbled against Pittsburgh two years ago, but is the offense’s leader in production by a wide margin.

]

W, 48-0 L, 24-22 W, 38-26 W, 19-16 3:30 p.m.

2 p.m.

8 p.m.

TBA TBA 3:30 p.m.

TBA TBA

SCHEDULE Sept. 3 Sept. 10 Sept. 17 Sept. 24 Sept. 29 Oct. 8 Oct. 15 Oct. 26 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Nov. 25 Dec. 3

Buffalo Maine Iowa Notre Dame South Florida Rutgers Utah Connecticut Cincinnati Louisville West Virginia Syracuse

W, 35-16 W, 35-29 L, 31-27 L, 15-12 W, 44-17 3:30 p.m. noon 8 p.m.

TBA TBA TBA noon

Key Matchup Rutgers offensive line vs. DE Brandon Lindsey The Scarlet Knights gave up three sacks last season to Lindsey alone and seven total in a 41-21 loss at Heinz Field. Lindsey is one of eight returning players nationally who had 10 sacks last season, and Rutgers will likely protect a freshman quarterback.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: OFFENSE

MOHAMED SANU Wide Receiver

ANDRE CIVIL Tackle

DESMOND WYNN Guard

DAVID OSEI Center

ANTWAN LOWERY Guard

KALEB JOHNSON Tackle

D.C. JEFFERSON Tight end

MARK HARRISON Wide Receiver

GARY NOVA Quarterback

JOE MARTINEK Fullback

JAWAN JAMISON Running Back

Junior 6’-2”, 215 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-3”, 275 lbs.

Senior 6’-6”, 295 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-4”, 280 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-4”, 301 lbs.

Freshman 6’-4”, 298 lbs.

Junior 6’-6”, 258 lbs

Junior 6’-3”, 230 lbs

Freshman 6’-2”, 210 lbs

Senior 6’-0”, 220 lbs

R-Freshman 5’-8”, 198 lbs

BRANDON JONES Cornerback

DURON HARMON Strong Safety

DAVID ROWE Free Safety

LOGAN RYAN Cornerback

Junior 6’-1”, 186 lbs

Junior 6’-1”, 201 lbs

Senior 6’-0”, 195 lbs

Sophomore 6’-0”, 190 lbs

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: DEFENSE

MICHAEL LARROW Right end

JUSTIN FRANCIS Tackle

SCOTT VALLONE Tackle

MANNY ABREU Left end

JAMAL MERRELL Linebacker

STEVE BEAUHARNAIS

Linebacker

KHASEEM GREENE Linebacker

Sophomore 6’-4”, 265 lbs

Senior 6’-4”, 275 lbs

Junior 6’-3”, 275 lbs

Senior 6’-3”, 260 lbs

Sophomore 6’-4”, 220 lbs

Junior 6’-2”, 235 lbs

Junior 6’-1”, 220 lbs

G AMEDAY

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

OCTOBER 7, 2011

G3

KNIGHT NUGGETS

BY THE NUMBERS The Panthers boasted a 1,000Pittsburgh running back yard rusher each of the past Ray Graham leads Pitt in four seasons, and Ray Graham rushing yards and receptions is only 246 yards away from and has at least 29 touches in each of the Panthers’ first five games. He totaled becoming No. 5 with six games remaining.

Rutgers’ last had a 1,000-yard rusher in 2007. more than 100 yards of offense in each game.

5

29

The Scarlet Knights rank 117th out of 120 FBS teams in the nation in rushing.

They still rank third in the nation in time of possession — a product of few big plays and consistent takeaways on defense.

117

A freshman quarterback won a game for Rutgers in the third consecutive season last Saturday, when Gary Nova replaced Chas Dodd. Nova, Dodd and Tom Savage lay claim to the accomplishment.

3

BIG QUESTION

Can the Rutgers defense contain explosive Pitt tailback Ray Graham?

PITTSBURGH RB R. GRAHAM

Slowing down 5-foot-9 Ray Graham is key to stopping Pittsburgh’s fast-paced attack. The junior rushed for 100 yards in all but two games, which were Pitt’s only losses.

THE ADVANTAGE GOES TO ...

OFFENSE

Pitt experienced growing pains early with its new spread offense, but is still more potent than RU.

DEFENSE ANDREW HOWARD

Junior running back Ray Graham rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown last season against Rutgers, despite backing up Dion Lewis, who is now with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Only one team has as many takeaways as the Rutgers defense, which also ranks fourth in sacks.

COACHING

Pitt’s scheme is different, but four former coaches on Rutgers’ staff provide insight into personnel.

Brothers meet in enhanced roles HISTORY

Pittsburgh leads the all-time series, 21-7, and won each of the past two matchups.

MOMENTUM

Rutgers won in double-overtime on the road, but Pitt routed a ranked team on national television.

X-FACTOR

Rutgers quarterback Gar y Nova was committed to the Panthers a year ago. Now he’s facing them.

RUTGERS WINS IF ...

PITTSBURGH WINS IF ...

ITS OFFENSE PUTS

IT CONTINUES TO

FORTH A FOUR-

BECOME MORE

QUARTER EFFORT

COMFORTABLE IN

AT HOME

A NEW SCHEME

The Knights have yet to compile a complete game offensively. A more consistent run game goes a long way toward a league win.

It all came together last week for Pittsburgh, which made it look easy in a 44-17 rout of No. 16 South Florida.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“As soon as coach [Frank] Cignetti got the job here, I knew I didn’t want to play for anyone else. I was going to come here regardless.

It’s just his passion.”

GARY NOVA FRESHMAN QB

FINAL VERDICT

PITTSBURGH, 24-17 The Panthers’ spread offense becomes the Ray Graham show in front of friends and family.

BY STEVEN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR

Ray Graham already rushed for 200-plus yards before this season. He already took home Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors, as well. But he was never the focal point of Pittsburgh’s offense.

Now he is, and he leads the Panthers in carries and receptions and has more rushing yards than anyone in the nation.

Rutgers linebacker Khaseem Greene shares a father with Graham, but the brothers grew up in different households. But Greene saw enough to not be surprised by the breakout season.

All Graham needed was to get the ball in his hands.

“I always knew he was special,” said Greene, who is also a junior, but spent a year at prep school and is three years older than Graham.

“Since we were little, any type of ball you put in his hands, it was special. Basketball, football, tennis, hockey — he did it all. It was just a glow about him, that you knew.”

The pair faced each other three times before.

Once in Pop Warner, where Greene was the star running back and rushed for four touchdowns.

Once as Big East freshmen, when neither made a major impact. And once last season, when Greene started at safety and Graham rushed for 56 yards and a score.

There were few opportunities for collisions last season, when the Elizabeth, N.J., natives lined up so far apart, but Greene’s offseason move to linebacker and Graham’s ascent into a starting role will change that this year.

The 5-foot-9, 195-pound Graham is among those not looking forward to it.

“He’s a hard hitter and I’m not trying to be in his way when he comes in with that explosiveness,” Graham said. “I’m going to try my best to dodge him because I know he’s going to make plays. When I’m running the ball, I’m just trying to stay away from that big hit.”

Teammates do not expect anything different this week out of Greene.

The team’s leading tackler still spoke with Graham on Monday night, and will do the same tonight before preparing for what he calls “business.”

Business forced the pair to watch film of each other all week, because more often than not, Greene will be responsible for the running back from his weak side position. Still, despite years of playing pick-up games together and winning a pair of state titles at Elizabeth High School, Greene is unsure of what to expect.

“I don’t know what he has in his arsenal,” Greene said. “You see some of the stuff he does, and it comes out of nowhere. That spin move that he’s been doing lately — making three guys miss from a spin move that came at the last second.”

Graham was always the shifty back behind Dion Lewis at Pittsburgh, but once Lewis joined LeSean McCoy as the second consecutive Pitt running back drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, it became Graham’s backfield.

He is a more north-south runner now, according to junior linebacker Steve Beauharnais.

And as his 734 yards, 5.8 yardsper-carry average, eight touchdowns and 25 receptions evidence, he still has game-breaking ability.

“He plays just like McCoy,” said senior defensive tackle Justin Francis, who faced McCoy, Lewis and Graham. “He’s probably a little bit better, but who am I to say?”

Head coach Greg Schiano knows as well as anybody what challenges Graham presents.

He has at least 29 touches in every game and rushed for more than 100 yards in all but two — Pitt’s only two losses against Iowa and Notre Dame. It is an offense that likes to run a play every 20 seconds, and it goes as far or as quick as Graham does.

No one is more aware of that than Greene.

“If we played basketball or football, I always had a team with all my brothers and somehow, someway, we always won,” Greene said. “It’s fun having little brothers that look up to me and obviously brothers that are successful in football.”

KEITH FREEMAN / PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Junior Khaseem Greene leads the Knights with 34 tackles at linebacker after starting at safety last season.

G4

OCTOBER 7, 2011

GAM

COACHING C Unlikely hire brings change to Pittsburgh Todd Graham’s spread offense leans on tailback

BY TYLER BARTO

The Panthers attack stacks up with some of the Big East’s most play-heavy Todd Graham was not the of fenses, said Rutgers head first man for the job. Pittsburgh coach Greg Schiano.

Athletic Director Steve “They’re the fastest team Pederson initially preferred for- we’ve ever played,” Schiano mer Miami (Ohio) head football said. “Even Cincinnati when coach Michael Haywood, but they were humming and Brian fired him 17 days after his hir- [Kelly] was there, it’s a differing due to an offseason domes- ent pace now.” tic dispute.

The fast-paced offense So Pitt settled with Graham comes with a premium. after its second coaching search The Panthers average only in a month to replace Dave 28 minutes of possession Wannstedt, who resigned under per game. Their inef fectivepressure from the University ness manifested itself two after six seasons. weeks ago against Notre What Graham brought with Dame, which held Pitt to only him was an entirely different 12 points a week after it lost offensive philosophy. to Iowa.

Long the home of the I-forThe learning process continmation and run-oriented offens- ues to take place in western es, Pittsburgh transitioned to Pennsylvania, but through five Graham’s spread offense, games the Panthers figure to which led Tulsa to a 10-3 season catch on eventually. in 2010.

“When you’re in a pro-style The adjustment was rocky, offense for two years, then they although the Panthers averaged come and change it up, it’s defi30.6 points per game through nitely different,” Ray Graham five contests. said. “It’s hard to “The key is the adjust, but I feel like system will work for we learned quick. you,” Graham said.

That helped us out.”

“Just execute it.”

But there are still The Panthers par ts of Pitt’s offense enjoyed a play-happy of fense breakthrough perthat leave more to formance last weekbe desired. end, when it handled Shanahan avervisiting South Florida, ages only 11.9 yards TODD GRAHAM 44-17, at Heinz Field. per reception. FiveJunior quarterback Tino foot-seven Cameron Saddler, Sunseri registered arguably his more suited for Todd most complete game in the new Graham’s quick-release syssystem, throwing for a touch- tem, sports a mere 8.8 yardsdown and running for another. per-catch average.

The biggest transition to the And Sunseri has five touchspread lied with Sunseri, who down passes compared to four Pittsburgh recruited in 2008 as interceptions. the 24th-best pro-style prospect “There’s always room for in the country. improvement. There’s no While mobile, Sunseri is a question about that,” Todd drop-back quarterback in a Graham said. “We continue to split-decision offense. get better in our vertical passAnd the Panthers starting ing game. That’s the probably receivers, junior Mike the biggest thing is being able Shanahan and sophomore to get more explosive shots Devin Street — 6-foot-5 and 6- down the field.” foot-4, respectively — do While Todd Graham faces not fit the mold of spread tar- personnel issues in his gets, either. first year, the biggest The factors likely explain change already occur red why junior running back Ray when Pederson hired him in Graham, the nation’s leading the of fseason. rusher, leads the Pitt pass Pitt thrived as an offense attack with 25 catches. based around the run and play At 5-foot-9, Graham packs action, and suddenly found the elusiveness and quick-cut itself predicated on timing and ability Todd Graham’s offense quick bursts. thrives on.

The spread is the “We’re very excited about trend, but the biggest revelaRay, what he’s done,” Todd tion was it occur red in Graham said. “He continues to coalmine countr y. get better. And our football “Well, we saw it in New team continues to get better Jersey, so nothing shocks you,” every week.”

Schiano said.

Graham’s explosiveness Todd Graham was never the allows Pittsburgh to maintain first pick in a town deeply rootits up-tempo system, one ed in old-school football. Only which requires a play ran time can vindicate him as the ever y 20 seconds. right one.

ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

GETTY IMAGES

Tulsa averaged more than 500 yards of offense and 41 points per game last season under Todd Graham, who Pittsburgh hired to replace former head coach Dave Wannstedt in the offseason.

E DAY

OCTOBER 7, 2011

G5

CAROUSEL Quartet of coaches leave Pitt for RU Schiano takes advantage of coaching upheaval

BY STEVEN MILLER

gy makes you want to practice, and he expects greatness from you. It will be the middle of Frank Cignetti was at Rutgers practice, and he’ll ask me, ‘Do for the birth of the Wildcat. you want to be great?’”

Head coach Greg Schiano Then after practice, Hafley first unveiled the package that will shout at Nova as he trots off represented ever ything wrong the field. with the Scarlet Knights’ Countless recruits, includoffense two years ago against ing four current Don Bosco senPittsburgh, and it worked. iors, cite their relationship with Cignetti sat in the coaches’ Hafley when discussing interest box in a navy blue polo shirt in Rutgers with recruiting.

— or something of the sort — Nova and Hafley are on with Pitt emblazoned across opposite sides of the ball now, his chest. but it does not change.

Schiano introduced Cignetti “A lot of times I’ll be running two years later as the man off the practice field and he’ll responsible for returning a pro- say, ‘Stop by my office,’” Nova style offense to Piscataway — said. “Or if I’m walking around part of a coaching purge in the offices, I’ll just stop by, talk Pittsburgh and a rapid to him and he’ll ask attempt for Rutgers to how I’m doing. It’s scoop up any really good to have a Pittsburgh assistant it guy like that around.” could find.

Ask Schiano, and It started Dec. 7, it is as nice for when Pitt head Cignetti to have coach Dave Angelichio and Wannstedt resigned Janocko around. under pressure.

“It’s given Frank a Wannstedt and comfort zone with BRIAN Schiano were close some people that ANGELICHIO friends from their know his system,” time with the Chicago Bears, Schiano said. “I also think our where Wannstedt was the coaches that were here … have head coach and Schiano other people to go to for answers coached the secondar y. if Frank’s busy or tied up with Schiano needed an the quarterbacks.” offensive coordinator, That not only and Cignetti was applies to coaches, already on his list. but players as well.

Rutgers needed a rejuNova regularly venated recruiting turns to Janocko, presence in North who was a senior Jersey, as well, and quarterback at Pitt Schiano knew all too in Cignetti’s first well Pitt secondar y season and a graducoach Jeff Hafley proate assistant in his JEFF HAFLEY second, vided that. when Schiano hired Cignetti meets with both, then added tight ends members of the of fensive coach Brian Angelichio in coaching staff.

February and brought in for“He’s just another resource,” mer Pitt quarterback Andrew Nova said. “He’s been through Janocko as a graduate assistant. this. He’s been with Coach “Dave spoke very highly of Cignetti for two years now, so all of them, obviously, or I he knows the offense and what wouldn’t have hired them,” we need to know. It can click Schiano said. more with Coach Janocko The impact was evident because he’s played in it.” immediately.

On-field results are not overQuarterback Gar y Nova, ly impressive, but that can be a who could very well make his product of an offensive line that first career start tomorrow, de- made massive strides from last committed from Pitt to follow season, yet still struggles to crethe coaching staff to Rutgers. ate daylight.

Hafley was the first coach to Pitt tight ends and fullcontact Nova when he wan- backs caught 19 passes for 143 dered the halls of Don Bosco yards and three scores the Prep to pluck top talent from his past two seasons against home state and lure it to Rutgers, while the Knights Western Pennsylvania. But relied on the Wildcat.

Nova says it was his relationAlthough the offense is still ship with Cignetti that prompt- developing, those days are ed the change. gone now.

“As soon as Coach Cignetti “It’s been great,” Schiano got the job here, I knew I didn’t said. “All three of them — realwant to play for anybody else. I ly, all four of them with Andrew was going to come here regard- Janocko coming in as a graduless,” Nova said. “It’s just his ate assistant — have had a posipassion for the game. His ener- tive impact.”

SPORTS EDITOR

COURTESY OF SCARLETREPORT.COM

Rutgers offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti first implemented his pro-style offense in Piscataway during spring practices, then did it again in training camp with a new stable of quarterbacks.

G6

OCTOBER 7, 2011

G AMEDAY

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

YEE ZHSIN BOON

Sophomore cornerback Logan Ryan fell victim to circus catches against Ohio, but broke up four passes last week at Syracuse.

‘Career game’ sets up Ryan for Pitt contest

BY ANTHONY HERNANDEZ ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

When sophomore cornerback Logan Ryan fell on an Antwon Bailey fumble to cap the Rutgers football team’s victor y against Syracuse last week, it capped the most dominant performance of his career on the Banks.

But it were the plays that did not happen as a result of Ryan’s play that bore the most significance.

The Berlin, N.J., native broke up four passes and made four tackles Saturday against the Orange and largely shut out quarterback Ryan Nassib’s receiving corps, which combined for nine catches and 111 yards.

The former No. 1 corner recruit in New Jersey did not intercept Nassib, who threw three in the game, but also did not allow any big plays in the victory.

“Logan played the best game of his career on Saturday,” said head coach Greg Schiano, who coaches the secondary. “And he should build off of that, and he should have confidence because those kids can run. They’re good receivers.”

Schiano challenged Ryan going into the week against Syracuse, calling for leaders to emerge among the group of unproven and largely inexperienced corners.

Ryan answered the call, and despite getting flagged for pass interference in overtime, played up to his head coach’s standards.

“I felt Logan played a great job in press coverage and bail coverage, and he did every technique that we asked him,” Schiano said.

“He had one [defensive pass interference], but as much press as we’ve been playing, that can happen against a three-step team.”

While duplicating his career outing is part of the plan, Pittsburgh’s combo of big receivers will not be easy for Ryan to contend with on the outside.

At 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, Pittsburgh’s leading receiver, Mike Shanahan, presents matchup issues with the entire Scarlet Knights secondary.

Devin Street stands only a hair shorter at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds.

Still, only Shanahan has more than 20 receptions this season and each wideout has only one touchdown catch.

But none of the factors change Ryan’s level-headedness entering tomorrow’s matchup.

“Cornerback is a huge position on confidence,” the 6-foot corner said. “You can’t play if you’re not a confident person, and you’ve got to learn how to flush the good plays and the bad plays.”

The short memory was something Ryan learned during his days at Eastern High School, where he operated as a cornerback and on offense for the Vikings.

“In high school I played quarterback [and cornerback], so the hardest thing about me was that if I threw an interception I had to go play defense, or if a receiver caught a ball on me I had to go play offense,” Ryan said. “I kind of learned how to forget the good and bad plays because I’ll be playing the next play.”

As one of the most experienced corners on the unit other than junior Brandon Jones, Ryan also helped spur the growth of some of the group’s newcomers, particularly junior Marcus Cooper.

Cooper made the jump from wide receiver to corner during 2010 spring practices and saw a huge jump in reps last week against Syracuse.

Cooper served as the nickel corner while also splitting time with Jones opposite Ryan.

“Logan, he was definitely there,” Cooper said of his shift to defense. “If I had a question I could always ask him, like ‘Hey, what should I do? What techniques should I use?’ And he would always have an answer.”

With a third of the season in the books, the trio of Cooper, Ryan and Jones garners the most playing time, given redshirt freshman Gareef Glashen’s inexperience and sophomore Jordan Thomas’s learning curve.

It is unclear what challenges Schiano will place on the corners next. Confronting that demand depends on what Tino Sunseri and the Pitt receivers do tomorrow at High Point Solutions Stadium.

Ryan, Jones and Cooper have a say in it.

“I’m happy with my performance, but there were a lot of mistakes on film that I’m trying to clean up and I think as a secondary we’re trying to clean up,” Ryan said. “I think we’re just trying to move on from here. We know how we can play, and now we just have to keep on playing like that.”

G AMEDAY

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

BIGEAST GAME OF THE WEEK

OCTOBER 7, 2011

G7

LOUISVILLE at NORTH CAROLINA

The struggling Cardinals fell last week at home to Marshall on a horrid Saturday for the Big East.

The Tar Heels, meanwhile, look to go 2-0 against Big East teams after beating Rutgers, 24-22.

PREDICTION: North Carolina, 27-14

AT CONNECTICUT

SYRACUSE at TULANE

W. VIRGINIA

The No. 16 Mountaineers host the struggling Huskies after they handled Bowling Green last week at home.

Junior quarterback Geno Smith and West Virginia face their first game against a team from a power league since losing to then-No. 3 LSU. UConn, on the other hand, arrives without a fluid quarterback situation, playing as many as three.

Senior quarterback Ryan Nassib rebounds from a three-interception performance against Rutgers.

Tulane is an underwhelming Conference USA team, which beat Rutgers last season, 17-14.

PREDICTION: Syracuse, 23-17

BIG EAST STANDINGS Football

THE DAILY TARGUM

Junior quarterback Geno Smith leads the Mountaineers with 12 touchdown passes and only three interceptions.

Key Matchup

PREDICTION

WVU’s running backs vs. UConn’s Kendall Reyes

No. 16 WEST VIRGINIA, 31-3

The 6-foot-4, 295-pound Reyes is a space-eater for the Huskies, who face a West Virginia run game that gained steam against Bowling Green.

Dustin Garrison gained 291 yards on the ground in his first career start.

The Huskies are a far cry from their BCS team a season ago.

SCHIANO HOPES TO KEEP TCU ON 2012 SCHEDULE Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano still hopes to play Texas Christian next season despite the Horned Frogs’ move to the Big 12, he said.

TCU continues to consider an offer from the Big 12, although its membership in the conference is a foregone conclusion.

The Horned Frogs initially committed to join the Big East in football and basketball next season, and have a 2012 trip scheduled to Piscataway.

“Depending if they want to keep the game or not, I’d like to still play them,” Schiano said. “Do they still want to play us next year? Do they have the ability to do that?”

Without TCU, the Big East sports only seven members next year in football. Pittsburgh and Syracuse remain in the league despite pledging to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Schiano said it was difficult not to pay attention to outside influences, but he placed his confidence in Athletic Director Tim Pernetti.

“I trust the people that are handling that, just like I trust the guys on my staff,” Schiano said.

“If I tried to do everything, you’d not be very good at anything.”

Schiano remains in the conference realignment loop, he said, but deferred to Pernetti and University President Richard L. McCormick for indepth league discussions.

“I think we have a good team here, administrators, coaches, all those things,” Schiano said. “[I’ll] let everybody do their jobs.”

— Staff Report

TEAM 1. RUTGERS 2. Pittsburgh 3. Cincinnati 4. West Virginia 5. Louisville 6. Connecticut 7. South Florida 8. Syracuse

RECORD BIG EAST 3-1 1-0 3-2 1-0 4-1 0-0 4-1 0-0 2-2 0-0 2-3 0-0 4-1 0-1 3-2 0-1

2010 8th 3rd 7th 2nd 6th 1st 5th 4th

* Rutgers won its first conference game in last year, but lost seven straight after. * Connecticut won the league last year for the first time.

JOVELLE ABBEY TAMAYO / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER