**Read the feature on Cincy QB Tony Pike here***
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — With its 47-15 beatdown of Rutgers on Labor Day at Rutgers Stadium, Cincinnati has now seized early control of the Big East standing.
The Bearcats are 1-0 and alone in first place, while Rutgers, at 0-1, is by itself in last place.
Due to the quirky scheduling of the Big East, those teams will remain in those spots until Oct. 2, when Pittsburgh plays at Louisville (8 p.m., ESPN2). The following day, South Florida plays at Syracuse.
The Bearcats don’t play another league game until Oct. 15 when they visit South Florida.
Cincinnati has three road games (USF, Syracuse, Pitt) and three home games (Louisville, UConn, West Virginia) remaining.
“The schedule in the Big East obviously is geared towards the four and three break,” Bearcats coach Brian Kelly said. “What year do you get four at home? We can now count this as a great win because we had the four on the road, so it’s huge from that standpoint.
“Now it’s a three-three situation for us going into the Big East, and that really helps us a lot. That’s how important this game was because now it puts that game back into play for us, that if we can hold serve we put ourselves in a better situation.”
Rutgers, meanwhile, doesn’t face another Big East foe until hosting Pitt Oct. 16 on ESPN.
They have three Big East home games left — Pitt, South Florida (Nov. 12, ESPN) and West Virginia (Dec. 5) — and three road games — UConn (Oct. 31), Syracuse (Nov. 21) and Louisville (Nov. 27).
(Photo courtesy Cincinnati athletics)
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