Tony Pike is headed to the BCS

After clinching a BCS bowl last week with the win over Pittsburgh, Tony Pike and the Cincinnati Bearcats set out to win the Big East Championship outright with a win over Syracuse on Saturday.

Pike led the Bearcats to their 10th win of the season, tying a school record. Cincinnati looks downright unstoppable right now thanks to the steady play of its junior quarterback.

Next up for the Bearcats is a trip to the islands to face Hawaii. One more chance for Tony Pike to perform in front of the Heisman voters and get his name on the list early for next season.

The Tony Pike Stat Line
Passing: 28/44 (63.6%) for 272 yards, 2 td, 1 int
Rushing: 9 attempts for -2 yards

See sidebar for season stats

Tony Pike is Unstoppable

In the thick of races for both the Big East title and the Heisman, Tony Pike played the best game of his career in a huge victory over rival Pittsburgh on Saturday. Pike led the Bearcats to their first victory over Pitt in the school's history, and inched closer to clinching the Big East title.

Pike was nearly perfect throwing the ball (only 6 incomplete passes in 32 attempts), but most impressive were his rushing attempts. Despite playing with a broken left arm, Pike was called on to run a handful of quarterback draws. Pitt had no answer. Take it from Dave Wannstedt:

"We had no answer fot that quarterback. He was incredible."

That's right, Pike was "incredible." That's no surprise to us here at Pikes Picks though.

A win over Syracuse next week will guarantee Cincinnati a slot in the BCS, which means a Pike will finally get to play in a BCS game.

The Tony Pike Stat Line
Passing: 26/32 (81.3%) for 309 yards, 3 td, 0 int
Rushing: 9 attempts for 33 yards

See sidebar for season stats

Tony Pike Update

Surprise surprise. Cincinnati finally got a Pike at quarterback and they won the Keg of Nails for the first time in six years.

It was a soggy Friday night, but that didn't stop junior quarterback Tony Pike from throwing for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns against rival Louisville. Despite trailing 17-14 at halftime, Pike and the Bearcats dominated the second half en route to a 28-20 win.

Unfortunately Pike was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury.

The Tony Pike Stat Line
Passing: 19/33 (57.6%) for 250 yards, 2 td, 1 int
Rushing: 3 attempts for 2 yards

See sidebar for season stats

WEEK TWELVE - Midweek Games

#19 Virginia Tech @ Miami

(Thursday, 6:30 pm, ESPN)
Miami’s group of super-frosh encounter yet another hurdle tonight with the 19th ranked Hokies coming to town. Virginia Tech has a freshman phenom of its own in running back Darren Evans. Evans ripped off 253 yards on the ground a week ago in the Thursday night win over Maryland. He’ll need to keep up the production because both Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon are suffering through nagging injuries. In fact, Taylor might have to sit out his second straight game thanks to an injured ankle. In the end it won’t matter which quarterback plays though. Miami’s Sean Spence and Marcus Fortson will be more than enough to slow down Evans and the Hokie offense. Also look for dazzling freshman return man Travis Benjamin to exploit the sub-par Virginia Tech special teams with a big punt return to break the game open at some point.
J.Pike’s Pick: Miami 26, Virginia Tech 13

#20 Cincinnati @ Louisville
(Friday, 7 pm, ESPN 2)
Don’t ever bet against a Tony Pike-led team. Not even on the road. Cincinnati is finally hitting their stride now that they have a healthy quarterback to stabilize the offense. Pike led the Bearcats to a big win at West Virginia a week ago. Louisville on the other hand has not looked good during its current two game losing streak. The Cardinals got hammered by Pitt last week 41-7, and lost to cellar dwelling Syracuse two weeks ago.
J.Pike’s Pick: Cincinnati 27, Louisville 20

Tony Pike Update

Tony Pike led Cincinnati into Morgantown and beat Big East leader West Virginia in overtime Saturday night. The win propelled the Bearcats into a tie for first place in the conference and proved Pike has the moxie to lead his team through thick and thin. Despite allowing 13 points in the final 1:11 of regulation, Pike maintained his poise and found Kazeem Alli in the end zone for the game winning touchdown in overtime. Pike also ran for a touchdown late in the second quarter. His left arm is getting better every day, but so is Dustin Grutza's broken leg. Will Pike remain the starter when Grutza returns? Stay tuned.

The Tony Pike Stat Line
Passing: 16/30 (53.3%) for 178 yards, 1 td, 0 int
Rushing: 7 attempts for -9 yards, 1 td

See sidebar for season stats

Tony Pike Update

Playing with a soft cast on his broken left arm, Tony Pike played one of the best games of his career in leading Cincinnati to a 24-10 win over South Florida Thursday night. Despite taking several crushing hits, Pike hung in there and steadied the offense while leading the Bearcats to their 6th win.

The Tony Pike Stat Line
Passing: 20/28 (71.4%) for 281 yards, 2 td, 1 int
Rushing: 2 attempts for -15 yards

Tony Pike Update

After missing the last two contests with a broken left arm, Tony Pike got the start for Cincinnati on Saturday against Connecticut. Unfortunately his return didn't last long. After leading Cincy to a 13-10 halftime lead, he lost feeling in his left hand and had to sit out the second half. With Pike out of the lineup, the Huskies home field advantage kicked in and UConn reeled off the final 23 points of the game to secure a 40-16 victory.

The Tony Pike Stat Line
Passing: 10/27 (37%) for 136 yards, 1 td, 1 int
Rushing: 3 attempts for -15 yards

Tony Pike Update

All systems go for launch. Tony Pike's broken left forearm is healed enough for the super-human to take the field wearing a protective pad around his cast. Cincinnati (5-1) will get their star quarterback in the lineup to face Connecticut. Head coach Brian Kelly said his junior Heisman candidate will "do the things we ask him to do within our offense and we won't change anything. It's a green light." That means UConn's scoreboard operator had better be prepared because he is going to get a workout on Saturday.

News & Notes

*Just when you thought Georgia’s injury situation couldn't get any worse, there's this. Running back Knowshon Moreno suffered a severely bruised elbow against Alabama and might have to miss the game against Tennessee in two weeks.

Tight end Tripp Chandler is also doubtful for the Tennessee game due to an aggravating shoulder problem. He also has an aggravating habit of dropping passes, but that’s another story. Backup tight end Bruce Figgins didn’t play against Alabama thanks to a separated shoulder that will likely require surgery. That leaves redshirt freshman Aron White and converted tackle Kiante Tripp to man the position in their absence.

If that isn’t enough, stud linebacker Dannell Ellerbe injured his knee in the first quarter against Alabama. Mark Richt said he “has an outside shot to play in the next game,” but he won’t be 100%.

*Cal running back Jahvid Best dislocated his elbow in the third quarter against Colorado State so he’ll be out of this week’s game against Arizona State. His 215.5 all-purpose yards per game (#3 nationally) will be missed, especially now that Jeff Tedford is giving Nate Longspare another chance to win the starting quarterback job.

*Undefeated UConn will be without their starting quarterback for at least the next 6 weeks. Tyler Lorenzen broke his foot against Louisville and will be replaced in the lineup by Zach Frazier. That means you can expect running back Donald Brown to continue getting the ball 30 times a game for the next several weeks. Tight end Steve Brouse is also expected to miss the next 6-8 weeks due to a broken leg.

*Thanks to Jonathan Crompton’s awful play so far this season, Phil Fulmer has opened up the quarterback job at Tennessee. Crompton was 8/23 for 67 yards against Auburn last week, and has only thrown 2 touchdown passes all season (both against lowly UAB). Nick Stephens will get more opportunities in practice and will probably see significant action against Northern Illinois in the hopes that one of the quarterbacks will step up in time to lead the offense against Georgia in two weeks.

*Cincinnati Heisman candidate and Pikes Picks favorite Tony Pike broke his left (non-throwing) forearm against Akron. Luckily he will probably only miss the next two games, which means redshirt freshmen Zach Collaros and Chazz Anderson only have to hold down the fort against Marshall and Rutgers until Pike gets back for the matchup with UConn at the end of October.

*Colorado lost starting offensive tackle Ryan Miller for the season. Miller suffered a broken left fibula in the loss to Florida State and will apply for a medical redshirt for this season. That doesn’t leave Colorado in good shape up front against a Texas team that racked up 7 sacks a week ago.

*Washington quarterback Jake Locker suffered a broken right thumb against Stanford and will probably miss the next 6-8 weeks recovering. Ronnie Fouch will start in his place as Washington looks to avoid their first 0-5 start in 39 years. One interesting note: Locker has expressed interest in playing another position once he has a cast for his right (throwing) hand if it will help out the team. You can’t question the guy’s heart, that’s for sure.

Tony Pike Update

Tony Pike's Heisman hopes took a serious blow Saturday when he broke his left arm in the 17-15 win over in-state rival Akron. Luckily it was his non-throwing arm so he should only be out for three to four weeks, but missing that many games will mean he'll have to take his already super-human numbers to another level when he returns if he wants to stay in the minds of Heisman voters. Prior to leaving the game, Pike posted these numbers:

23/34 (67.6%) for 320 yards, 2 tds, 0 ints
Rushing: 2 attempts for 6 yards

See the sidebar for his season stats to date. Obviously with the broken arm, Pike is doubtful for next week's game at Marshall. Pike's are a tough breed though, so don't be surprised if you see Tony in the lineup anyway.

WEEK FIVE - Preview

UPSET WATCH

Maryland @ #16 Clemson
Why it could happen: Clemson isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. For all their talent, they haven’t managed to put together a complete game yet this year. Maryland on the other hand seems to be hitting their stride since Chris Turner took over at quarterback.
Why it won’t happen: Clemson’s defense won’t allow Turner to make the same plays he made against Cal. James Davis and the running game put up 249 rushing yards against the Terps last year, and I expect them to approach that again this weekend. But it won’t be easy.
J.Pike’s Pick: Clemson 26, Maryland 18

Marshall @ West Virginia
Why it could happen: Marshall was up on West Virginia at halftime in last season’s matchup, and Mark Snyder finally has the Herd back on the winning track in 2008.
Why it won’t happen: West Virginia has struggled to find an identity early on, but they at least got back to the running game last week against Colorado. Pat White and Noel Devine have too much speed for the Marshall defense and they’ll find their way to the end zone more times than the Herd offense will.
J.Pike’s Pick: West Virginia 32, Marshall 27

UPSET WARNING

Northwestern @ Iowa
Why it will happen: Northwestern is better than anybody is giving them credit for so far. They play solid defense and have two playmakers on offense (QB C.J. Bacher & RB Tyrell Sutton) that Iowa can’t match. Northwestern can flat out manufacture more points than Iowa. Bacher will have a big day.
J.Pike’s Pick: Northwestern 27, Iowa 17

Colorado vs Florida State
(@ Jacksonville, FL)
Why it will happen: Florida State is one of the worst offensive teams in the nation right now. The play they have gotten from their quarterbacks the past 7+ years has been atrocious, and it has led to the deterioration of the offense to the point it’s at now. The Noles still like to talk trash and attempt to intimidate their opponents before the game (see photo evidence from last week's loss to Wake Forest), but that doesn’t work as well when you’re a .500 team. In fact it just makes you look like a bunch of morons. Colorado running back Rod Stewart will send Florida State away on a Downtown Train with a 2-2 record.
J.Pike’s Pick: Colorado 21, Florida State 13

Northwestern (+8) over Iowa
There’s no way Iowa is 8 points better than Northwestern because I think Northwestern is better than Iowa straight up.

Ole Miss (+23) over Florida
Florida isn’t clicking offensively yet this year and Urban Meyer is too busy complaining about the new clock rules to fix it. Last year it was his running backs’ fault the Gators couldn’t run the ball. You might want to take a look in the mirror sometime, Urb? Houston Nutt will have Ole Miss ready to play and they’ll make it a game into the fourth quarter.

Cincinnati (-10) over Akron
Now that Tony Pike has proven himself at quarterback, I expect Cincinnati to continue putting up 40 point games against inferior opponents such as Akron. Cincy wins big as Pike continues his late bid for the Heisman Trophy.

Rice (-18½) over North Texas High
Rice quarterback Chase Clement is actually pretty good. Facing one of the best high school teams in the state of Texas might be imposing for Hurst L.D. Bell, but Clement will have no problems. Rice will roll to a four touchdown win. At least North Texas High can get back to concentrating on winning their district and making State after this beat down.

Other games I like, but don’t feel good enough about to give them “Lock” status:
Duke (-7) over Virginia
Arkansas (+27½) over Texas
Colorado (+6) over Florida State
Purdue (+2½) over Notre Dame
Marshall (+15½) over West Virginia
Navy (+16) over Wake Forest
Oregon (-19½) over Washington State

Tony Pike Update

In the Battle for the Victory Bell, Tony Pike was flawless in his execution of the offense. Filling in for the injured Dustin Grutza, Pike led Cincinnati to a big win over in-state rival Miami(OH), 45-20. He did throw 4 incomplete passes, showing there is still room for improvement, but his performance easily puts him in the running for the Heisman Trophy. Here’s the stat line:

20/24 (83.3%) for 241 yds, 3 td, 0 int
Rushing: 5 attempts for 33 yards (6.6 avg)

News & Notes

*As expected, Oregon quarterback Justin Roper is going to be out 2-4 weeks nursing a partially torn MCL suffered in overtime of the Purdue game on Saturday. Freshman Chris Harper and JC transfer Jeremiah Masoli will take his place in the lineup, but I’m not sure how excited they are – Oregon has lost three quarterbacks to knee injuries in the last 10 months!

*The East Carolina defense took a blow this weekend when Quentin Cotton injured his knee against Tulane. This week the Pirates learned they will probably be without their star linebacker for the rest of the season.

*Texas A&M quarterback Stephen McGee is throwing again in practice this week. McGee injured his throwing shoulder two weeks ago in the first quarter against New Mexico and hasn’t been able to throw since then. I wasn’t aware he could throw before the shoulder injury, so that part is news to me. Anyway, Mike Sherman hasn’t decided if he’ll play against Miami this weekend or not, but I’m pretty sure Jarrod Johnson will be taking all the meaningful snaps the rest of the year.

*The best news of the week is that Cincinnati quarterback Dustin Grutza will likely be out for the rest of the season. The ligament damage he suffered against Oklahoma will be re-evaluated in three weeks, and the Cincinnati coaches aren’t expecting it to be healed. Why is this good news? Because it opens the door for Tony Pike to go live. Pike has been riding the pine all three years he’s been on campus thanks to the steady play of Ben Mauk and Grutza. But Saturday night in the Battle for the Victory Bell against Miami(OH) we'll finally get to see a Pike starting at quarterback for a major college football team.

*Finally, in case you didn’t notice, in the sidebar I have updated the leading candidates for each of the three major awards we’ll be giving out here at Pikes Picks. The top three for the Bo Jackson Award were pretty obvious to me. Chase Daniel, Knowshon Moreno, and Jeremy Maclin are just a step ahead of everybody else at this stage of the game.
(See LINK for a list and description of all our awards)