Doug Marrone won his first Big East game in absolute attention-grabbing fashion – over Syracuse’s main recruiting rival Rutgers and in totally dominant fashion - but the first-year coach said he’s barely taken a phone call over it. Or read a story lauding it. He hasn’t had the time.

“We had a recruiting weekend (and) what happens is it takes away your time from preparation and you have to make up for it,” Marrone said. ”If I did something like that and then we went out and didn’t play well against Connecticut, I’d look at that as I was a big part of us losing. If I’m going to ask my players to focus on this football game, I have to be able to do that first and foremost.”

Ironically enough, going into that Syracuse game, Rutgers was coming off its biggest win of the season, a totally dominant drubbing of then-ranked South Florida. And while it’s essentially expected that Marrone wouldn’t give up much on getting that big first win, he was equally nonchalant about the effect that win might’ve had on all those recruits.

“There’s still a lot of work ahead of us,” he said. “Nothing’s done until Feb. 3.”

Still, the Orange did add one very impressive recruit off the win, though, Donnie Webb reported in the Syracuse Post Standard. Syracuse has 17 committments so far. And yet, Marrone just said, from his perspective, he doesn’t see the one win selling a kid who was on the fence about joining that group.

“I truly believe in what we’re doing as a program, not just on the football field but what we’re doing academically. So I always feel comfortable, I always feel great about what we stand for, what we represent,” he said. ”It’s just what I believe so when I talk to parents, when I talk to  student athletes, it’s very easy for me.”

With or without, apparently, having had that win.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — There’s upending offensive linemen.There’s sacking quarterbacks.

And then there’s fastening a diaper on a baby girl.

“It is so hard, she fights every time,” Rutgers senior George Johnson said, shaking his head, but smiling too. Daughter Olivia Danielle was born two weeks ago, and if there’s anything the defensive end is sure of now, “It’s that everything on a football field is a lot easier to do than changing a diaper.”

Johnson’s had the football part looking easy for several years now. He started playing as a true freshman, he became a full-time starter last year and SI.com’s most recent draft spotlight had him first as “a pass-rushing terror” and then as the week’s sleeper pick.

He’s a 6-foot-4, 265-pound beast of an end, tough, fiercely strong and, according to fellow end Jonathan Freeny, constantly yapping. He has 11 tackles for a loss, 6.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and a deathly fear of little Olivia.

“I’m afraid I’m going to break her,” Johnson said. “I’m used to fighting with 300-pound linemen, not a 10-pound baby.”

“Little” Olivia is indeed 10 pounds, five ounces, and Johnson admitted he’s whispered into her crib that he wants her to play middle linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. (When someone suggested that might not get her many dates, Johnson — clearly getting the dad thing — said, “That’s good.”) If she takes after her father, she may just get there yet.

Keep reading here.

A day after Rutgers’ 31-13 blowout loss at Syracuse, Schiano didn’t at all soften the blame he’d placed on himself and his staff Saturday evening.

“As I said (after the game), I just don’t feel like we did a good job coaching, and I don’t mean during the week,” he said. “I thought our football players worked extremely hard … We were a step behind all day coaching.”

Keep reading here.

PISCATAWAY – Syracuse has the “NY” on its helmets.

Syracuse has the taxicab ads, the ones that proclaim it “New York’s College Team,” and Syracuse has an athletic director who’s unfurled an 11-story banner sporting an orange apple in Times Square.

Rutgers has a coach with a GPS.           

“It’s not even close, other than Army – which is a service academy – it’s not even close which school is closest, which Division I institution is the closest to all of New York City, Staten Island, Long Island, Westchester County,” that coach, Greg Schiano, said. “There’s no debating it. It’s not even close.”

Schiano spoke earlier this week, as he was readying his 7-2 Scarlet Knights (2-2 Big East) for Saturday’s kickoff up at woefully-undermanned Syracuse (3-7, 0-4). There was plenty football to talk, and plenty to be played up in the Carrier Dome Saturday, but Rutgers’ ninth-year coach couldn’t avoid this one topic. Because there’s also another game being played out far away from those snaps: the contest for New York.

Keep reading here.

PISCATAWAY – Antwan Lowery started jawing in camp.

Superstar left tackle or not, future first-round pick or not, Anthony Davis needed to hear some smack, Lowery thought. And he was the one who could dish it, the freshman defensive tackle figured.  Still figures. Even if fellow freshman Jamil Merrell thinks he’s nuts.

“I sure don’t want to get ‘AD’ too mad,” Merrell said Wednesday. “I won’t go to the point Antwan will. No matter how far we push AD, he’s still going to get us eventually.”

Yes, Davis does indeed eventually upend Rutgers’ scout team line. But not as much as he once did, center Ryan Blaszczyk said. None of the offensive linemen do, the senior captain said.

“This is definitely the best scout team defensive line we’ve ever had here,” Blaszczyk said. “They come out every day with all this energy. They get hyped and they really embrace their role on this team.”

Which is to mimic the Scarlet Knights’ weekly opponent – in this case Syracuse - and to get under the starting offense’s skin too.

Keep reading about how these freshmen aren’t deferring to anyone right here.

It was an incredible play, from either sideline’s vantage point.

South Florida quarterback BJ Daniels wouldn’t go down, contorting his torso, keeping his feet moving and yelling at Antonio Lowery the whole time, “Let me go.”

Lowery, Rutgers’ weakside linebacker, kept yelling back, “No!” He’d shot through the line, he’d gotten his hands on Daniels’ chest and after driving the redshirt freshman back 40 yards, he looked set to drive him all the way into the endzone. Incredible.

Except, apparently, to Damaso Munoz.

“I was wondering what the heck was taking so long. I look up and see Antonio dancing back there with the kid,” Rutgers’ strongside linebacker said. “Someone’s got to teach him to tackle.”

Munoz stamped that with a pronounced head shake, Lowery shot him a head shake back and in those minutes after Rutgers’ 31-0 destruction of South Florida, the only thing Lowery might’ve had to actually learn was how to cut off Munoz’s media lanes.

“It’ll never happen,” Lowery said. “’Maso always has something to say.”

Well, play this much, the material adds up. Lowery’s started every game for Rutgers, going from surprise first-teamer to expected playmaker. His 48 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss are both third on the team, his two forced fumbles are tied for best and he has a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown. Something, incidentally, Munoz couldn’t manage off his one interception.

The junior from Miami comes home after every game to watch the DVRed version with roommate and best friend Tim Brown (“He’s always talking too,” Lowery said) and he’s very much the big brother to his ginormous freshman tackle little brother, Antwan.

“I’ve always wanted to do everything he does,” Antwan said.

Here’s a blueprint, Antwan. Ladies and gentlemen, Keep it Brief with Antonio Lowery.

Best part of being a Miami guy in NJ… “the snow.”

Worst part of being a Miami guy in NJ… “the snow.”

My dream job is… “starting linebacker for the Miami Dolphins.”

The next defensive player to get a touchdown will be… “me.”

One thing I don’t do enough of is… “go home to Miami.”

My teammates envy my… “head.”

When Coach Schiano yells… “spit comes out.”

The best part of dealing with the media is… “the jokes.”

If I didn’t play football, I’d… “be at home in Miami.”

Mama always says… “Be respectful.”

The commercial I could star in is… “The Oreo cookie one, with Antwan. Like Peyton and Eli Manning.”

When I finish playing football, I will… “move to Hawaii.”

The best dancer on my team is… “Devon Watkis. And Julian Hayes. Can I say two?”

I’m afraid of… “heights.”

The superhero power I’d most like to have is… “reading girls’ minds.”

The last chick flick I saw was… “The Notebook. It’s a great movie. Really.”

The non-Rutgers Big East player I’d like to have on my team is… “BJ Daniels.”

My advice to Coach Schiano is… “Keep chopping.”

The last Keep it Briefs: Kion Wilson.

Aha! A Cincinnati man has figured out the root of Notre Dame’s crisis. In a letter to the editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the gentleman wrote:

Notre Damers, quit picking on coach Charlie Weis. There is nothing he can do because it’s out of his hands. God has intervened and is repaying Notre Dame for bestowing an honorary degree on pro-abortion President Obama.

 Charlie O’Leary

I wonder if Mr. O’Leary realizes that President Obama held a rally at Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium last November 2. That ended up working out alright for the Bearcats.

I’m guessing Brian Kelly’s politics (he did once work for then-Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart) won’t matter if Notre Dame comes calling. Or, when, as it’s looking now. There’s been no vote of confidence issued by the Irish athletic director and Weis himself has sounded awfully resigned. Uncovering a fabulous nugget, the South Bend Tribune found Notre Dame has taken its university jet off  a web flight-tracking site. Urban Meyer is again a popular name (remember, he turned down the circus when he took the Florida gig four years ago), but IrishCentral.com has been advocating for Kelly – the Irish-American son of an Alderman – for months now. ChuckWeis.com likes Kelly on its shortlist and a report this weekend said Kelly joins Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh on the administration’s already-conceived shortlist.

So of course Kelly was asked about Notre Dame on Monday’s Big East coaches teleconference. And of course he left a whole set of double doors open, focusing only on the distraction part of the query.

“As far as the rumors go, our kids really don’t pay much attention to them, because I don’t,” he said. “I don’t get distracted. We’re humbled that our name is being associated with programs, but we don’t really spend much time thinking about it. Our kids have become immune to it, as I have.”

I don’t know. If UConn does its job by the league this weekend (a Huskies win further distances Notre Dame from the Big East’s coveted Gator Bowl slot), I expect the noise around Notre Dame’s coaching situation will only get louder. Which means the noise around Kelly will only get louder. Unless he defuses it.

I’m all for entertaining job offers and keeping one’s ears – and mind – open. But I’m also with this writer: there’s something distinctly unique – and lasting – in creating where something hasn’t been before. It’s like I used to say about all the people who were sure Greg Schiano was biding his time at Rutgers until Joe Paterno retired. Why would he want to go somewhere where the program would forever be affiliated with someone else? Why not be the “Joe Paterno” of Rutgers? I sure don’t know if Brian Kelly has that sort of mindset, or if he even believes the Cincinnati administration will pony up the support necessary for a year-in, year-out contender.

Either way, I’d warn against going to a place where God takes his anger out on the football team.

PISCATAWAY – Ryan Blaszczyk waxed on, about his fear when Kordell Young first went down, about his hurt for the junior tailback when the MRI showed a torn ACL, about the void Rutgers will now feel.

“The younger backs – ,” Blaszczyk said, just as Joe Martinek cut in, “I don’t feel like a younger guy anymore.”

 Truth is, he isn’t. And he can’t.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano announced Monday that Young will have surgery, ending his season just as it was starting to open up for him. Martinek has been Rutgers’ starter and Thursday against South Florida, he notched his fourth 100-yard game. But Young’s value this year hasn’t been about starts, or carries.

“He’s just such a leader,” said Blasczcyk, a senior and a captain himself. “He’s just so hardworking. And he’s been such a leader on offense, with all the young guys, at every position, not just the running backs.”

Keep reading here.

South Florida (6-2, 2-2 Big East) at Rutgers (6-2, 1-2 Big East)

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.     TV: ESPN    

68:00 before Kickoff: The Jackson 5′s playing on the PA system and the South Florida Bull is showing off some pretty fancy dance moves along the west sideline. It’s not raining. Ooh, the students are filing in and they’re putting on TV shirts that I believe they’re pulling up from under their seats. The plan is to have them spell out R-U in red and white. Mike Vorkunov, Class of 09, is sitting next to me. I asked him how much faith he has that his former classmates are going to pull this off. He said, “Not much.”

53:29 before Kickoff: USF sports information director Chris Freet just told us Carlton Mitchell didn’t even make the flight up here. The 6-foot-4 junior wideout is the Bulls’ primary deep threat. He has a team-high 29 catches for a team-high 542 yards and there was a little bit of hope his high ankle sprain could see a miraculous recovery. Not so much. His absence doesn’t necessarily put a massive damper on what South Florida wants to do in the passing game: Dontavia Bogan (16 catches for 246 yards) and A.J. Love (14 for 220) could fill the void. The bigger loss, though, may be Mitchell’s voice. It was Mitchell who approached USF coach Jim Leavitt after Pitt pounded the Bulls – and kicked off the seemingly-annual talk about an October swoon. Mitchell asked to address the team, Leavitt admitted this week that that was rare, but he let him, and then Mitchell basically told his teammates, If you don’t want to be here, leave. A few days later, South Florida upset West Virginia.

43:26 before Kickoff: Wow, Jim Leavitt and Greg Schiano were just looking awfully chummy on the 40-yard line. No kidding, they were talking for a good five minutes. They were even smiling. Wouldn’t I love to know what they were saying. Coming in, the popular story’s been the bad blood between these two programs. In December of 2004, months before South Florida was set to officially begin play in the Big East, Greg slapped a huge billboard, with a picture of the Scarlet Knights’ then 27 Floridians and the words “Season’s Greeting” right on Tampa’s main thoroughfare. This past January, Rutgers persuaded FIU to back out of a scheduled October game it had with South Florida to instead come play at Rutgers, leaving South Florida to scramble for an opponent and Leavitt to say, “I don’t think that’s the way things should go in a conference.” Guess they worked it out. (more…)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Sports Illustrated’s website had just run the list, cataloguing the year’s draft-eligible players and where they sat. Rutgers’ Anthony Davis was in the seventh overall spot and when someone shared that news, before the left tackle could even utter an “aw shucks,” left guard Art Forst jumped in.”Seventh round? They say you’re going in the seventh round?” Forst said, with mock wide-eyes — and to a round of cheers.

Davis was once Rutgers’ most highly-touted recruit. Now he’s the Scarlet Knights’ most highly-touted NFL prospect. The junior is uniformly pegged as a first-round pick, across all sorts of draft prognostications. But just when the ever-amiable Davis’ head might get big, he has his teammates ready with a balloon-popping needle. And South Florida’s defensive ends coming to town.

“Those guys can make you look silly. They are athletes,” Davis said, drawing out that last word as he spoke of George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul.

It’s a different kind of silly then the one his line-mates try on him. And even as that one-time, one-quarter suspension has own line-mates still teasingly calling him “Ginobli” — in honor of the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, Manu Ginobli — both they and Davis ultimately know the tone the left tackle sets from the start, against the two-time All-American Selvie, could key this game.

Keep reading here.