The college football regular season is over. It seemed to fly by, as it does every season. While we wait on the first bowl games to get underway, let's look back to the final week of play and the Positive Impact Factor (what's this?).
| Rank | Quarterback | Team | Touches | Total TD | Neg Play | XNeg Play | XPos Play | PIF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | B.J. Daniels | South Florida | 497 | 19 | 34.8 | 15.3 | 3.8 | 53.7 |
| 2. | Zach Collaros | Cincinnati | 319 | 22 | 33.2 | 23.2 | 6.9 | 50.4 |
| 3. | Teddy Bridgewater | Louisville | 334 | 15 | 34.1 | 20.9 | 4.5 | 49.4 |
| 4. | Ryan Nassib | Syracuse | 480 | 24 | 39.6 | 20.8 | 5 | 44.6 |
| 5. | Tino Sunseri | Pittsburgh | 498 | 14 | 38.6 | 21.2 | 2.8 | 43.1 |
| 6. | Geno Smith | West Virginia | 534 | 26 | 38.6 | 24 | 4.9 | 42.3 |
| 7. | Chas Dodd | Rutgers | 252 | 9 | 48.4 | 21.8 | 3.6 | 33.4 |
| 8. | Johnny McEntee | Connecticut | 391 | 12 | 52.7 | 31.6 | 3.1 | 18.7 |
| 9. | Gary Nova | Rutgers | 244 | 11 | 52.5 | 51.6 | 4.5 | 0.4 |
B.J. Daniels slumped into the finish line with a 26.9 PIF against West Virginia in a loss which put the Bulls out of the bowl season. Geno Smith had a 46.1 PIF in the win. Zach Collaros was injured and didn't participate in Cincinnati's win over UConn. The Bearcat defense forced McEntee into turnovers and held him to a PIF of 3.5. Munchie Legaux had a 38.7 in Collaros absence. In what was essentially a one game playoff for a bowl bid, Pittsburgh's Tino Sunseri outdueled Syracuse's Ryan Nassib 46.1 to -45.3. The four-turnover performance was Nassib's worst of the year. Louisville and Rutgers had bye weeks. Nassib had his best season this year, playing almost 10 points above his career PIF average coming into 2011. He also had the highest performance of any Big East QB this season with a 91.7 PIF in a win over West Virginia.
The team offensive averages show a more complete picture of QB play this season:
| Rank | Team | Touches | Total TD | Neg Play | XNeg Play | XPos Play | PIF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Louisville | 442 | 20 | 35.1 | 18.9 | 4.5 | 50.6 |
| 2. | South Florida | 573 | 20 | 36 | 17.8 | 3.5 | 49.7 |
| 3. | Cincinnati | 502 | 24 | 35.1 | 20.1 | 4.8 | 49.6 |
| 4. | Syracuse | 480 | 24 | 39.6 | 20.8 | 5 | 44.6 |
| 5. | West Virginia | 548 | 27 | 38.5 | 24.3 | 4.9 | 42.1 |
| 6. | Pittsburgh | 540 | 14 | 39.8 | 22.6 | 2.6 | 40.2 |
| 7. | Connecticut | 477 | 19 | 48 | 21.8 | 4 | 34.1 |
| 8. | Rutgers | 496 | 20 | 50.4 | 36.4 | 4 | 17.2 |
Louisville finished first in team offensive PIF as Will Stein's 52.4 season raised the Cards average to 50.6. USF dropped to second with a PIF of 49.7 due to Bobby Eveld's 31.2. Cincinnati followed in third with a PIF of 49.6. Munchie Legaux had a PIF of 43.2 in place of Collaros. Syracuse's team average was just Ryan Nassib's PIF. Paul Millard had a 31.4 but didn't have enough touches to impact West Virginia's average. Trey Anderson's PIF of 17.8 lowered Pitt's average. Scott McCummings averaged an 88.6 PIF which raised UConn's PIF up significantly. Chas Dodd and Gary Nova, with 21 turnovers to just 20 touchdowns, produced the lowest team PIF in the Big East.
Now for the defenses:
| Rank | Team | Touches | Total TD | Neg Play | XNeg Play | XPos Play | PIF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rutgers | 446 | 12 | 43 | 30.5 | 2.7 | 29.2 |
| 2. | Cincinnati | 535 | 18 | 41.9 | 31.5 | 3.4 | 30 |
| 3. | Connecticut | 525 | 24 | 42.3 | 30.1 | 4.6 | 32.2 |
| 4. | West Virginia | 486 | 16 | 42.2 | 25.6 | 3.3 | 35.5 |
| 5. | South Florida | 526 | 19 | 40.9 | 23.1 | 3.6 | 39.6 |
| 6. | Pittsburgh | 519 | 17 | 39.9 | 15.8 | 3.3 | 47.6 |
| 7. | Louisville | 483 | 18 | 40.2 | 15.8 | 3.7 | 47.8 |
| 8. | Syracuse | 518 | 24 | 36.1 | 20.3 | 4.6 | 48.2 |
Rutgers has been in first place for most of the season and no team was able to catch them in the final week while the Scarlet Knights rested. Perhaps Rutgers' defense should have been given more respect on the All-Conference team. Cincinnati, one of three co-Big East champions, made things interesting at least when they shutdown Connecticut. Louisville is the only Big East bowl team to not finish in the top five in defensive PIF.
Check out previous weeks of the Big East Positive Impact Factor: