Big East’s Best, Week 4: Anderson, Brooks fresh princes

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, September 25, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: JOURDAN BROOKS, RUTGERS.

The Rutgers football team lost to Navy last week, 23-21, but it wasn't Jourdan Brooks' fault. The 6-foot-1, 245-pounder rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns against the Middies -- not bad for a guy whose name sounds more like a men's clothing line than a bruising between-the-tackles weapon.

Some credit must also go to the Scarlet Knight offensive coaches for keeping Brooks out of the hands of the defense -- their own. He was, after all, recruited heavily as a middle linebacker out of Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, Md.

And Brooks got some relief last Saturday from a classmate, Joe Martinek. The all-time leading prep rusher in New Jersey, Martinek ran for 61 yards and scored the other Rutgers touchdown.

Big freshman wideout Josh Chichester (6-7) of Louisville snagged four passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.

Elsewhere, junior college transfer Antwon Canody had four tackles and a tackle for loss for Louisville against Kansas State, while safety Nico Scott of Syracuse posted four tackles against Northeastern and Pitt QB Greg Cross -- another JUCO transfer -- ran for 17 yards and scored a touchdown as a Tim Tebow-style option/run specialist.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: DAVE BRYTUS, PITT.

It isn't often that a punter deserves a game ball, but that was Brytus against Iowa -- specifically, the ball that he launched 57 yards to the Iowa 1 with his team clinging to a 21-20 lead and under 3 minutes to go. Iowa struggled to get out of its hole, eventually fumbled and Pitt held on to win.

Syracuse placekicker Patrick Shadle nailed field goals of 46, 32 and 21 yards as the Orange won its first game of the season, 30-21, over Northeastern.

Ellis Lankster of West Virginia brought back three punt returns for 36 yards.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: SCOTT McKILLOP, PITT.

The second such award for the Panther senior this year, and probably not the last. Against Iowa, McKillop notched 10 tackles from his middle linebacker position and nailed three Hawkeyes for losses, including a quarterback sack.

Cincinnati DB Mike Mickens hauled back an interception 72 yards to score against Miami of Ohio, and also turned in seven tackles.

Safety Carlton Williams of South Florida shook off the effects of a collision with teammate Bruce Mompremier that sent the latter to the hospital and went on to lead his team with eight tackles against Florida International. Bulls linebacker Tyrone McKenzie, on track for another 100-tackle season, had seven stops and a tackle for loss, while DE George Selvie collected his usual sack.

Rutgers sophomore Joe Lefeged, like teammate Brooks from Germantown, Md., gouged the Navy defense for nine tackles and a tackle for loss.

West Virginia's Lankster also had 11 tackles, while secondary mate Quinton Andrews amassed 15. Meanwhile, Mountaineer D-lineman Scooter Berry contributed a fumble recovery, a sack and four tackles and was named defensive player of the game by his coaches.

Woodny Turenne of Louisville had two interceptions versus Kansas State.

Connecticut's linebackers continued to lead the defense. Greg Lloyd Jr. topped the stat chart with 10 stops and 2.5 tackles for loss, while Scott Lutrus accumulated two tackles for loss.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: VICTOR ANDERSON, LOUISVILLE.

Last week, the stumpy Louisville freshman was named Newcomer of the Week. This time around, he was old news -- and good news for the Cardinals, after darting for 176 yards and three touchdowns.

Anderson's teammate, Brock Bolen, provided the inside punch to help free up Anderson outside, banging away at the K-State defense for 102 yards.

The Donald Brown Express rolled over Baylor, piling up another 150 yards and two more touchdowns in a Connecticut victory. So what else was new?

Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike, stepping in for the injured Dustin Grutzu, completed 20-of-24 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns in the Bearcats' conquest of Miami of Ohio.

LeSean McCoy of Pittsburgh still doesn't have a 100-yard rushing game (he went well over 1,000 last year), but his 82 yards and short touchdown run helped his team knock Iowa from the unbeaten ranks.

Louisville WR Doug Beaumont continued to pile up the most impressive receiving stats in the league, grabbing nine Hunter Cantwell passes for 119 yards versus Kansas State.

Syracuse finally got its running game on track, with Curtis Brinkley gaining 145 yards in the Northeastern game and sophomore Doug Hogue totaling an even 100.







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