BIG EAST \ Saturday’s games

No. 5 Cincinnati 41, Louisville 10

CINCINNATI — Standing on the sideline in a sweat suit and baseball cap, injured quarterback Tony Pike watched his backup do a nearly perfect job. Sophomore Zach Collaros threw only two incompletions while passing for 253 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, steadying fifth-ranked Cincinnati to a victory over Louisville in the Bearcats’ first game without their marquee quarterback. The Bearcats (7-0, 3-0 Big East) are off to their best start since 1954 despite losing Pike, a senior whose strong arm is the perfect fit for their no-huddle, spread offense. He didn’t suit up four days after having surgery on his non-throwing forearm, watching from the sideline with his left arm tucked inside his jacket. His understudy proved to be a quick study against lowly Louisville (2-5, 0-3). In his first collegiate start, Collaros went 15 of 17, repeatedly finding receivers running open through one of the conference’s worst defenses. His 31-yard pass to Mardy Gilyard made it 31-10 midway through the third quarter and left the senior receiver tied for the school record with 22 career touchdown catches. Collaros also ran for 52 yards against a defense that is by far the worst in the conference at stopping the run. He gave way to third-string quarterback Chazz Anderson for the final series of the third quarter with Cincinnati up 38-10. Isaiah Pead added a pair of touchdown runs, including a 67-yarder in the third quarter. Nothing went well for Louisville during its most lopsided loss to Cincinnati since a 38-0 drubbing in 1951. The Cardinals fell to 4-13 against Big East teams during coach Steve Kragthorpe’s three seasons. They also lost top running back Victor Anderson, who hurt his shoulder in the second half.

No. 20 Pittsburgh 41, South Florida 14

PITTSBURGH — Bill Stull threw for two touchdowns, Dion Lewis ran for two and Pitt scored on all five possessions in the first half to rout South Florida to extend its best start to a season in 27 years. The Panthers (4-0 in Big East) are 7-1 for the first time since 1982 — Dan Marino’s senior season and the last time Pitt was ranked No. 1. They made this one look easy as Stull completed his first 11 passes against a Bulls defense that appeared geared to stopping Lewis at the start, before he took over and run for 111 yards in three quarters to push his season’s total to 1,029 yards. South Florida (5-2, 1-2) repeatedly hurt itself early with penalties — the Big East’s most-penalized team drew the game’s first eight penalties and ended with 71 penalty yards.

Associated Press