Now that the games began, let the gauntlet begin for the Bearcats.

After opening the season with a win over 1-AA Eastern Kentucky, Cincinnati enters the maze that is the 2006 football schedule this Friday night with its Big East opener against Pittsburgh.

Now, while the Panthers were only picked to finish third in the conference, they opened their season with an impressive hammering of ACC foe Virginia last Saturday – and they represent the start of a killer three-week period that, in turn, just represents the start of more.

If you don’t know it by now, the Bearcats have to play four nationally ranked teams on the road this season – including No. 5 West Virginia.

“We have a schedule that’ll go Pitt, Ohio State and Virginia Tech (these next three weeks),” Cincy coach Mark Dantonio told Monday’s Big East media call. “We’re going to find out how good we are here in the next three weeks and I think that’s a positive for this program. We choose to embrace the hand we’re dealt and that’s what we’re going to do so we’re excited about going.”

He’s also upbeat about opening the conference schedule this early. While Pitt counterpart Dave Wannstedt is worrying about going on the road for a league game in Week 2, Dantonio is “good with that” when it comes to a league opponent coming in.”

Last year, the Panthers also represented the conference opener for the then-young Bearcats – Pitt winning, 38-20, Oct. 8. Now, both teams appear better and this should be a decent Friday night match-up for the country to see.

The Bearcats come into the game still ready to use the two-headed monster at quarterback, with Dustin Grutza starting and Nick Davila coming on. It worked in the opener and Dantonio is sticking with it until something needs to be changed.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: The old adage that if you have two No. 1s at any position you don’t really have any could be in trouble with this Cincinnati team. Bearcat coach Mark Dantonio likes the fact he has two guys who can play, a lefty and a righty who created scouting problems for the opposition. “Both had success (last week) and any time you can do that you’re not one-dimensional,” Dantonio said of his pair of Dustin Grutza and Nick Davila. Grutza will start again this week. “I feel like if players play well, they deserve to play,” the coach said.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: Hey, a shutout’s a shutout –- whether it’s over a 1-AA opponent or anyone else. The Bearcats picked off three passes against Eastern Kentucky last week and the defense felt it made a statement. Pitt and quarterback Tyler Palko, however, could present a whole different set of concerns.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “We wanted to make a statement that we’re not going to roll over. We wanted to make sure that everyone knows we’re ready to play in the Big East.” –- Cincinnati safety Haruki Nakamura after the Bearcats’ 31-0 win over Eastern Kentucky is last week’s opener

THIS WEEK’S GAME: Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, Sept. 8 – The conference opener for both teams, and a game that could tell us a lot about the postseason aspirations of both teams. With the killer schedule that lies ahead, Cincinnati can’t afford to lose a game it has a chance to win, while the Panthers are hoping to stake a claim at more than just third place in the Big East. Pitt has lost Friday night road games at Toledo and Ohio in recent memory.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

QBs Dustin Grutza and Nick Davila – Cincy coach Mark Dantonio thinks both deserve to play and both played well in the season-opening win over Eastern Kentucky. Having the pair both part of the game presents some matchup problems (one’s a lefty, the other a right, for one thing) and the coach just feels playing both is the right thing to do.

FS Haruki Nakamura – The junior had one of the Bearcats’ three interceptions in the opener and also made six tackles to earn Big East weekly honors mention. He thought the 31-0 opening win allowed the Bearcats to “make a statement.”

TE Brent Celek – The senior All-Everything set a career high with 81 receiving yards (on six catches) in the opener. He had grabs of 20 and 23 yards in the first half of the game. He has caught at least one pass in 13 straight games.

ROSTER REPORT: The Bearcats came out of the Eastern Kentucky game in good shape – physically and mentally.

--All the talk about the roster lately seems to revolve around the quarterback situation. Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell said, “We haven’t rules anything out yet” when it comes to Grutza and Davila but the plan for this week appears to be remaining the same – Grutza to start and Davila on in relief.

--LB Corey Smith, who is on the Butkus Award watch list, missed the opener with a hamstring. He’s practicing and will be a coach’s decision Friday night.