A day late this time, but game week begins again. Every beginning comes from some other beginning’s end, so let’s wrap up week one before preparing for the anticipated ECU rematch.

Big East rankings

1. Cincinnati: There can be no arguing this. None. Not after completely undressing Rutgers. On national TV. In week one. And they saying afterward “our offense can be better.”

The Bearcats did it whichever way they picked and seemed to have a heck of a lot of fun. This is alarming — best QB in the Big East, best receiver in the Big East, three starters back on the offensive line, three good running backs (seriously, the backup didn’t play and Isaiah Pead is somehow third string),  four receivers who can catch the ball and go, a reliable tight end, on and on. Screens, draws, rollouts, shotgun, under center and even a Wildcat set. Good luck preparing for that offense.

That said, the defense is what eventually drew my attention. Their guys were everywhere. There were four or five players on seemingly every tackle and when someone made a play his teammates couldn’t wait to rush over and celebrate … and that was supposed to be their weakness.

2. Pitt: The preseason favorite is here more because of what UC did. Pitt was fine and the game was never in doubt, but it wasn’t wildly impressive, mostly because of the opponent. It’s harder to open eyes against a Youngstown State than it is against a Rutgers. Also, it took the Pit fans about 20 minutes to begin booing Bill Stull.

3. South Florida: Slow start and the Bulls needed Wofford to make some mistakes, but the Bulls finished strong. The game was delayed 25 minutes because of weather and USF had issues defending the option, but eventually their speed and talent prevailed. Matt Grothe needs 90 yards to break Pat White’s Big East total offense record. Carlton Mitchell needs less time on his hands.

4. West Virginia: I wouldn’t say there are more questions than answers, but some of the same questions remain: Can the Mountaineers get off to a good start, can they defend kickoffs, can they get touchdowns rather than field goals in the red zone, can they pressure the quarterback? WVU was more vanilla on defense than offense — the big reason the pressure question remains unanswered, to be fair — and did a fairly good job on third down on both sides of the ball. The team also has a kicker now and one wonders if and how Tyler Bitancurt changes Bill Stewart’s game management philosophy.

5. UConn: Randy Edsall was “visibly upset” about the 23-16 win against Ohio, a game UConn fans were furious they couldn’t watch on TV, but were ultimately spared from. It was an irregular and inconsistent performance. UConn can still run the ball — two backs over 100 yards and an Andre Dixon sighting! — which is good because Zach Frazer struggled mightily.

6. Rutgers: “R-U ready?” Um, no. One reason UC looked so good, especially on defense, was because Rutgers looked so bad. And there’s definitely a quarterback controversy in Piscataway. All in all, an absolute bummer for the Scarlet Knights.

7. Louisville: I really wrestled with this because things do not look good for the Cardinals this year … but they won and Syracuse didn’t so, for this week, at least, they avoid the basement. Indiana State is a very, very bad football program. You’d have a hard time finding a worse operation in FBS, FCS or even NAIA. The Sycamores led Louisville 7-3 at the end of a quarter and were down just 17-7 at the half. Louisville won 30-10, but had the opponent been someone else, perhaps even from the FCS, it may have been a very different story.

8. Syracuse: The Orange looked organized, confident and, generally speaking, like a very improved football team. Minnesota’s solid, too, so don’t think Syracuse got nice on a weak team. Fact remains, though, Syracuse had chances and couldn’t close the gap and Greg Paulus’ bonehead interception looked like a desperation 3-pointer at the end of a shot clock. So which was the aberration here? Good Paulus or Greg Paulus? Upstart Orange or disheartening Orange?