This is super-cute.

Just yesterday, one of the other writers was talking about bringing his kids up to East Hartford this weekend, when Rutgers plays UConn. His one hesitation was that they’d miss trick or treating (I wish I could repeat what another writer said the kids could find in the Rentschler Field neighborhood…). Well, Louisville’s apparently gotten that covered.

The U of L athletic department is hosting a trick-or-treat event in the the Street Fest area of the Green Lot on Halloween, starting at 1:15 p.m. The department’s asked kids to wear costumes, it’s staffers will man the event and that leavestwo hours and 15 minutes of getting candy before the Cardinals’ kickoff with Arkansas State. I wonder if any of the kids will be in a Steve Kragthorpe mask.

Between the computer problems and being at Rutgers for the weekly press conference yesterday, I missed the conference’s weekly release. Apologies…

BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Noel Devine • Jr. • RB • West Virginia • Fort Myers, Fla. Devine ran for 178 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries in the Mountaineers’ 28-24 win against Connecticut, keeping West Virginia unbeaten in BIG EAST play. He had 171 rushing yards in the second half, including the deciding touchdown on a 56-yard run with 2:10 left in the fourth quarter. Devine registered his fifth 100-yard game of the season and enters this week’s game at USF ranked third nationally at 130.3 yards per game.

 BIG EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Dom DeCicco • Jr. • SS • Pittsburgh • Jefferson Hills, Pa. DeCicco had a team-high 10 tackles, including nine solo stops, to key a Pittsburgh defense that limited USF to 212 yards of total offense in a 41-14 Panther win. USF entered the game averaging 379.4 yards and 30.9 points per game.

BIG EAST SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Tavon Austin • Fr. • WR • West Virginia • Baltimore, Md. Austin returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown in West Virginia’s 28-24 win against Connecticut. He finished with 118 yards on two kickoff returns and became the first West Virginia player to score on a kickoff return since Darius Reynaud had a 96-yard TD against Maryland Sept. 14, 2006.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

Zach Collaros, QB, Cincinnati — Completed 15 of 17 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns and had 52 rushing yards in his first career start in a 41-10 win against Louisville.

Walter Stewart, LB, Cincinnati — Had 10 tackles and an interception in a 41-10 win against Louisville. Helped hold the Cardinals to 275 yards of total offense.

Jonathan Baldwin, WR, Pittsburgh — Had six receptions for a career-high 144 yards and a touchdown in a 41-14 win against USF.

Joe Martinek, RB, Rutgers — Ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries in a 27-10 win at Army.

Delone Carter, RB, Syracuse — Had 30 carries for 170 yards and three touchdowns — all career highs — in a 28-14 win against Akron.

John William Lomax has apparently been arrested for Jasper Howard’s murder. Lomax’s defense attorney, Deron Freeman, told the AP up in Connecticut that his client has been charged with murder and I just heard on ABC news that a second man has also been arrested and charged with murder.

The police are holding an afternoon press conference to share what they termed “significant details” in the case. Howard was murdered 10 days ago, his funeral was yesterday and UConn plays its first home game since the tragedy this Saturday, against Rutgers. It sure would be nice to have all the suspects charged and in custody by then.

PISCATAWAY – He blocked his first punt and scored his first touchdown Friday and Steve Beauharnais’ fellow linebackers haven’t quit hassling him since.

Ryan D’Imperio wants to know why he couldn’t muster a smile. Antonio Lowery wants to know why he slid on two knees. Damaso Munoz is being a mite kinder on the question of style (more on that later), but still, by Monday, the scolding had become so unrelenting, Beauharnais threw up his hands and said, “Okay, next time I score, I’ll make it look a little a little better.”

Because, yes, there will be a next time.

Keep reading here.

Pitt’s Dave Wannstedt and Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly and West Virginia’s Bill Stewart have three of the 20 spots on the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year watchlist. Wannstedt’s and Kelly’s quarterbacks, Bill Stull and Tony Pike, are two of the 15 semifinalists for the Dave O’Brien National Quarterback Award. Pike’s favorite target, Mardy Gilyard, is in the final 10 semifinalist group for the Biletnikoff Award… He left office with a 22 percent approval rating, but former Pres. George W. Bush is rocking crowds as a motivational speaker… Newspaper circulation is way down. Again… Bob Griese said a Colombian Nascar driver was “out having a taco.” He’s been suspended…

Cincinnati’s already put together bus trips for the should-be-big Dec. 5 game at Pitt. (GoBearcats.com)

Tony Pike’s cast is being modified, so he can maybe play Saturday. Brian Kelly’s not complaining about his undefeated team’s drop from 5 to 8 in the BCS standings.

Randy Edsall and Kashif Moore spoke at Jasper Howard’s funeral. (Norwich Bulletin)

Desmond Conner was down in Miami. He has Jasper’s mother’s words, his teammates and teammates’ parents’ words, Kijuan Dabney’s poem, basically, a lot. (Hartford Courant)

And of course, someone tried to benefit off Howard’s death. (AP)

Some highlights from the coaches’ conference call. (Connecticut Post)

Some of the talk was the rise in the national conversation. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Here’s a league stock report. (Star-Ledger)

Louisville’s stat rankings are, um, awful. Steve Kragthorpe’s ready to start charging rent in his training room. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

Pitt has a believer. (AOL Fanhouse)

Elijah Fields is a safety. And a nickelback and a bandit linebacker too. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Rutgers freshman Steve Beauharnais is now officially part of the linebackers’ corps: he’s getting teased. (SNY.tv)

The first step to getting there for Beauharnais was getting in shape. Is Mark Harrison Rutgers’ next Kenny Britt? (Star-Ledger)

South Florida goes where George Selvie goes. So where is he? (Tampa Tribune)

That’s not the only beat writer asking that question. Still, Jim Leavitt’s backpedaling on the weekend’s promise to rip up his personnel sheets. (St. Petersburg Times)

Syracuse’s best defensive player might not be available for the Big East’s best team. Great luck when Syracuse has to ready for two QBs. (Syracuse Post-Standard)

Last week was theoretically Homecoming for West Virginia. But this week in Tampa, it’ll be a homecoming for the Mountaineers’ 24 Floridians. (MSNspotsNET.com)

The pretenders are out in the league. The contenders are all still very much contenders. (Times West Virginian)

Major computer issues this morning. The thing ate the roundup after I’d gotten all the way through to Syracuse. So here’s Take II… Saw the new Coen brothers’ flick yesterday. It’s not Burn After Reading. Or maybe I just don’t get it yet… Sam Bradford’s done; postponing the pros for a year isn’t always bad, though… Steve Phillips has been canned…

Ever imagine Cincy football overshadowing Cincy hoops? “Not in my lifetime.” So says Bob Huggins, head of that suddenly secondary basketball team. (AOL Fanhouse)

That 41-10 win was so impressive, the computers dropped Cincinnati. So did the coaches. I smell a conspiracy. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

At least Cincinnati’s not as bad off as Boise State. (Rivals.com)

Jasper Howard’s funeral is this morning in Miami. It will be streamed live on nbcmiami.com. The father of Howard’s pregnant girlfriend says Howard pledged he’d be a good father. The Huskies did play a football game this past weekend. It was a valiant effort, but not enough for coach Randy Edsall: “We have to play for perfection.” (Connecticut Post)

Police still don’t have a murder suspect to charge. (Norwich Bulletin)

The University of Michigan student paper may not love RichRod, but it sure can commend his former school. (Michigan Daily)

It’s been exactly a year since Louisville won a league game. The Cardinals lost eight more bodies Saturday. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

Pitt’s up to no. 16 in the AP Poll. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

After eight straight weeks of play, Pitt’s ready to take that no. 16 ranking and rest for a week. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

At 5-2, Rutgers is done with the “easy” part of the year. (Star-Ledger)

Maybe Jim Leavitt knew something when he kvetched about that billboard. (Tampa Tribune)

The Bulls’ defensive personnel are all on notice. (St. Petersburg Times)

Syracuse has won three conference games in five years and Doug Marrone’s actually saying he WANTS an undefeated Cincinnati team?! (Syracuse Post-Standard)

Is Bill Stewart the most fun coach in America? “That’ll make all my fans happy – ‘Dummy was confused.’” (Times West Virginian) 

Might be time to pump up that Devine for Heisman campaign. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Rutgers (4-2) at Army (3-4)

Time: 8:00 pm   TV: ESPN2

Radio: WOR-710 AM, WCTC-1450 AM

35:00 minutes before Kickoff: The Rutgers band is filing in behind the south end goalpost. The red looks sharp against the night sky. I’m sort of disappointed the games I’ve covered here have been at night. It’s hard to see the river.

I apologize for the later start, but I was upstairs saying hello to John Minko. Most of you likely know him as one of the (great) update anchors at WFAN, but he’s also Army’s play-by-play man and he was also training me this summer when I was learning about anchoring. In any case, John says defensive end Josh McNary is the real deal. He had four sacks last week at Temple, the junior is already Army’s single season (9.5) and career (15.0) sack leader and when asked if he’s seen any of him this week, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said, “I’ve seen more than I’ve wanted to.” John also said 6-10 offensive tackle-turned-wideout Alejandro Villanueva (that’s not a typo – he’s six foot ten) has decent hands. And makes jump balls an Army automatic.

22:04 before Kickoff: There are only six true freshmen starting quarterbacks in the highest level of college football this year. Tonight, we get to see two of them. For Rutgers, Tom Savage makes his first ever start on the road. (Remember, he missed Maryland with the concussion.) For Army, Trent Steelman will be going with a cracked rib and a bruised shoulder. Not that he throws that much anyway. His 407 rush yards lead freshmen QBs; Army’s 66.1 yards per game of passing rank 120th in the country. Out of 120.

19:09 before Kickoff: Brian Dohn of ScarletReport.com just came in from outside (he has two little boys sitting in the stands with his wife) and he said it’s pouring out there. Ha – and I just got a text from a former Rutgers athlete who’s out in the stands and wanting to know if I could swing him a spot inside!

(more…)

Be sure to check out the video player again. Our fabulous SNY producers have spliced together a montage of player interviews Adam Zagoria and I did Wednesday at Big East men’s basketball media day. Edgar Sosa, Andy Rautins, Luke Harangody, Deonta Vaughn, Devin Ebanks, Kemba Walker – it’s an all-star team. Off the court too. These guys are all smooth talkers… I might’ve been more conscious of the camera than they were.

Rutgers (4-2) is at Army (3-4) at 8 p.m. tonight in Michie Stadium, in West Point.

I’ll be there live-blogging and I’m hoping for just as lively a back-and- forth - if not moreso – as we had last week during the Rutgers-Pitt open post. If you’re not making the trip, power up the computer while the TV’s on and that way, if the talking heads in the booth can’t hear you yelling at least I’ll be able to.

The public option’s back on the table… Screaming is the new spanking? My mom did both and I turned out fine… The costs of higher education are out of control. Not surprised which Big East schools are on the list. But I’ll tell you this: I wouldn’t send my kid to my alma mater at this price…

Surprised me: In the last six years, Cincinnati’s taken the Keg of Nails only once. (Rivals.com)

No change in Tony Pike’s status. Read: he’s day to day. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Louisville’s offensive firepower got that way through walk-and-talks. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

Police say witnesses to the Jasper Howard murder are being warned not to come forward on internet postings. Kashif Moore, who held a bleeding Howard in his arms, and Mike Smith, who desperately tried to staunch that blood flow, will play Saturday. When it all shakes out on the field, UConn could have the edge. (Connecticut Post)

Randy Edsall is so much more than a football coach. (Republican-American)

The entire Huskies team will go to the funeral Monday and two memorial funds have been set up. (Hartford Courant)

Great Q&A with Pitt AD Steve Pederson. He talks about a ninth football team. Durable, punishing back thy name is Dion Lewis. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Henry Hynoski’s stats: not so good. Translation: it’s irrelevant. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Breaking down Rutgers-Army. Here too. (Star-Ledger, Home News)

Wild story about Rutgers’ last trip up to Army. (SNY.tv)

This is South Florida’s first go at back-to-back nationally ranked league opponents. The Bulls will be keying on Dion Lewis. (Tampa Tribune)

Doug Marrone keeps staring at Syracuse’s third down numbers. If only that was enough to change them. (Syracuse Post-Standard)

Jarrett Brown talks us through his first-ever concussion. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Brown’s availability will be a game-time decision Saturday. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

By the way, that hit on Brown was totally illegal. (Times West Virginian)