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News Nuggets, 08.23.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

ECU hit-man Moore in chase for elite award

East Carolina's Chris Moore, one of the nation's more prolific tacklers last season, will have a chance to compete for a trophy that one of ECU's greatest all-time players missed by a virtual hair more than a decade ago.

Moore is one of only three players from Carolinas teams selected to the 65-man Butkus Award Watch List announced last week by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando. The award, in its 20th season, is presented to the nation's best collegiate linebacker.

The Watch List will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists on Thursday, Oct. 14, and trimmed down to three via a national teleconference with the players, coaches and members of the media, and Butkus Award officials on Thursday, Nov. 11.

Several ECU linebackers have been in the running for the Butkus Award over the years, with consensus All-American Robert Jones coming closest to nabbing the prestigious honor. Jones was chosen one of the trio of finalists in 1991, only to see that year's award go to Michigan's Erick Anderson.

ECU officials recently announced that Jones — who went on to an NFL career that netted him two Super Bowl title rings — will be enshrined in school's Athletics Hall of Fame during the upcoming football season.

A junior from Havelock, Moore is joined on the 2004 list by Leroy Hil of Clemson and Pat Thomas of N.C. State.

In addition to Moore, six other standouts from Conference USA schools are nominees for the award. Consensus preseason All-America Michael Boley of Southern Mississippi, Jamar Enzor of Cincinnati, Robert McCune of Louisville and Zac Woodfin of UAB — all seniors — and sophomores Wade Koehl of Houston and Stephen Nicholas of South Florida made the preliminary cut.

Three future C-USA schools also placed players on the list: Nick Bunting of Tulsa, Stanford Rhule of Central Florida and Robert Rodriguez of Texas-El Paso.

Smooth sailing to BCS bowl for West Virginia?

The path to the Bowl Championship Series has never been smoother for the Big East champ.

Miami and Virginia Tech, which have dominated the conference for years, are gone — lured away by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida will give the league a boost next year when they relocate from Conference USA at the same time Boston College joins the Hokies and Hurricanes in the ACC.

For now, though, seven teams remain, and among them only defending conference co-champion West Virginia enters the season in the Top 25. And even the 10th-ranked Mountaineers aren't viewed as unbeatable.

``We have seven programs here who all think they can win this league,'' Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said. ``The beauty of it is that the winner of this league is going to represent this conference in a BCS game.''

Or as Boston College tight end Dave Kashetta put it, ``There's no one team that the road to the BCS goes through.''

The folks in Morgantown believe otherwise, and with good reason.

Coach Rich Rodriguez enters his fourth year at his alma mater with a 12-2 conference record over the past two years. Last year, the Mountaineers came within the length of Kellen Winslow's outstretched arms of upsetting the Hurricanes and getting their first BCS bid.

The Mountaineers return most of last year's starters, including dual-threat quarterback Rasheed Marshall, speedy receiver Chris Henry and one of the best offensive lines in the country. They are the league's overwhelming favorite.

``We're definitely going to have to work harder because when you're that team that everybody wants to knock off to make a name for themselves, you're going to have to be on your 'A' game every week,'' Marshall said.

Rodriguez's job is to make sure the Mountaineers don't buy into the hype.

``We can't control what people are saying to them or what they're hearing outside of our little circle,'' Rodriguez said. ``We've got to bring them back down to earth. It makes it more difficult in some respects, but it's a better problem to have than always trying to pump them up.''

The Mountaineers' defense was mediocre last season and needs to plug some holes for West Virginia to do better than just Big East champs. All-American linebacker Grant Wiley is gone, so fellow linebackers Adam Lehnortt and Scott Gyorko need to step up.

WVU will begin its quest for national prominence when it hosts East Carolina Sept. 4.

Boston College looks like West Virginia's main competitor with the league's best defensive player, 6-foot-8 sack master Mathias Kiwanuka. The Eagles shouldn't expect a fond farewell from the Big East.

BC is being sued by Connecticut, West Virginia and some of the other holdovers, who allege that BC and Miami conspired to weaken the Big East.

Fair or not, the Eagles, original members of the league, are viewed as traitors by most Big East fans — and will be treated accordingly.

``We talked about this last year,'' coach Tom O'Brien said. ``We went through it when we went to Connecticut and Syracuse. The players understand. The media might add to some of the hostility.

``We're used to it and able to ignore it.''

Pittsburgh is coming off a disappointing 8-5 season and has to replace the best player in the league in receiver Larry Fitzgerald along with most of its offense.

``I think we will forever be trying to replace Larry Fitzgerald,'' Walt Harris said. ``His is a rare commodity.''

Replacing Fitzgerald got even harder when the Panthers lost Princell Brockenbrough, who caught 35 passes for 616 yards last year, for the season to a knee injury.

Syracuse has won only 10 games the past two seasons, putting Orange coach Paul Pasqualoni in need of a turnaround in his 14th season. Running back Walter Reyes, who set a school record with 21 touchdowns, will get plenty of opportunities as Pasqualoni sorts through inexperienced quarterbacks.

The Big East is counting on big things from UConn, which became a football member a year ahead of schedule to fill the holes left by the ACC departures. The Huskies have won 15 games in their first two seasons playing Division I-A and have a pro prospect in quarterback Dan Orlovsky.

There is hope at Rutgers after a 5-7 season, but the same can't be said for the league's other perennial cellar dweller, Temple. The Owls are also in their last season in the Big East, but unlike the other defectors, they were asked to leave.

A capsule look at the teams in their predicted order of finish:

WEST VIRGINIA — TB Kay-Jay Harris replaces Quincy Wilson, who ran for 1,380 yards last season. The 240-pound Harris averaged 5.8 yards backing up Wilson. ... The offensive line, which returns intact, allowed only 14 sacks last season. ... Marshall needs 383 yards rushing to pass Donovan McNabb as the Big East's career leader for quarterbacks.

BOSTON COLLEGE — The Eagles have had a 1,000-yard rusher each of the past six seasons. TB Jeff Ross might be next up with career rushing leader Derrick Knight gone. ... Boston College has been to a bowl in five straight seasons, winning four straight. ... QB Paul Peterson, who took the starting job from Quinton Porter for the final three games last season, had the third-best passer rating in the league.

SYRACUSE — Reyes has run for more than 1,100 yards the past two seasons and was the team's second-leading receiver last year with 38 catches. ... The Orange (no longer the Orangemen) don't have a quarterback who has completed a college pass. ... The defense allowed a league-high 22 TD passes and had only 20 sacks.

CONNECTICUT — RB Terry Caulley will miss the season, still recovering from last year's knee injury. He was leading the nation in rushing with 607 yards and seven touchdowns last year when he was hurt. ... Orlovsky has thrown a TD pass in 24 straight games and has 61 touchdown passes in his career.

RUTGERS — Eight offensive starters are back, including QB Ryan Hart who threw for a school record 2,714 yards. That's great news for a team that had its best offensive season in 10 years. ... FB Brian Leonard, WR Tres Moses and WR Shawn Tucker each caught at least 50 passes.

PITTSBURGH — With Brockenbrough out, WR Greg Lee becomes the Panthers top wide out. The sophomore caught 10 passes for 211 yards in eight games. ... Special teams took a hit with season-ending injuries to WR-KR Terrell Allen (wrist) and K David Abdul (leg). ... Offense returns only two starters, though OT Rob Petitti is one of the best linemen around.

TEMPLE — Quarterback appears well stocked with Mike McGann (26 career starts) and Walter Washington, who became the first Temple quarterback to run for 100 yards in a game. ... Temple lost three overtime games last season.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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