Bearcats take Big East lead

Tony Pike threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns and No. 22 Cincinnati remained in the hunt for the Big East Conference title with a 28-20 victory over reeling Louisville on Friday night at Louisville, Ky.

The victory gives the Bearcats (8-2, 4-1) a half-game lead over idle West Virginia and No. 21 Pittsburgh in the conference title race. Cincinnati beat the Mountaineers last week and plays host to the Panthers on Nov. 22.

Dominick Goodman caught nine passes for 134 yards and a touchdown for Cincinnati and John Goebel ran for 77 yards and a score as the Bearcats won the Keg of Nails for the first time since 2002.

Hunter Cantwell threw for 204 yards and a touchdown but couldn’t stop the Cardinals (5-5, 1-4) from dropping their third in a row for the first time since 1997.

Seminole trouble

Five Florida State wide receivers will miss tonight’s game against Boston College for their roles in a midweek campus fight, Coach Bobby Bowden said Friday.

Taiwan Easterling, Bert Reed, Corey Surrency, Cameron Wade and Richard Goodman will sit out the crucial Atlantic Coast Conference game.

“The police report has not been concluded, but from the information that I have gathered, I’m suspending five players who were apparently involved,” Bowden said.

No charges have been announced by campus police, who are trying to find out who threw a chair that injured a female bystander during Wednesday’s altercation.

Easterling is the team’s leading receiver with 26 catches and has been a favorite target for sophomore quarterback Christian Ponder.

W. Va. trouble

Two West Virginia football players facing battery charges have been indefinitely suspended from the team.

Coach Bill Stewart announced the suspensions of junior running back Maxwell Anderson and sophomore special teams holder Jeremy Kash.