Bruce Irvin leads defense for No. 11 West Virginia

Associated Press

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.

West Virginia’s offense has received so much attention that defensive end Bruce Irvin recalls being asked about it by fans.

Now Irvin can brag about what his side of the ball has been doing.

With the help of his team-leading seven tackles for loss, the defense, which lost seven starters from a year ago, is beginning to find its identity to accompany Geno Smith and the high-scoring offense.

Although no one has stopped Irvin lately to talk about his unit, he says flying below the radar is what the Mountaineer defense thrives on.

LSU suspends 3

BATON ROUGE, La.

No. 1 LSU has suspended cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, along with defensive back Therold Simon and running back Spencer Ware for Saturday’s home game against Auburn.

Mathieu has forced four fumbles, recovering three and returning two for scores. He also has two interceptions and 42 tackles including 11/2 sacks.

Ware is the leading rusher for the unbeaten Tigers with 512 yards and six touchdowns.

Simon has one interception and 29 tackles.

Big East

NEW YORK

Big East commissioner John Marinatto says conference leaders were working on a plan to hand over the member’s most lucrative television rights to the league before Syracuse and Pittsburgh decided to leave.

Marinatto says the league plans to revive discussions about grant of rights when the conference becomes more stable.

A grant of rights is a contractual agreement between a conference and a school that makes switching leagues virtually impossible. The school would have to leave its TV rights behind.

Oregon QB expects to play

EUGENE, Ore.

Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas, injured in last weekend’s game against Arizona State, says he expects to play Saturday against Colorado even though there has been no official word about his status.

Thomas practiced Wednesday with the No. 9 Ducks, and afterward was asked if he could play. He said, “Expect to.”

Oregon’s junior quarterback was hurt when an Arizona State player landed squarely on his legs in last weekend’s 41-27 victory over the Sun Devils.

If Thomas doesn’t start against the Buffaloes (1-6, 0-3 Pac-12), the job will go to redshirt freshman Bryan Bennett.