MORGANTOWN--After breaking numerous records and producing countless highlight video clips during his first two years in Morgantown, WVU quarterback <font color="#1a3461">Pat White</font> often found himself at a loss of words this summer when reporters asked how he planned on improving for the 2007 season. Following his team's 62-24 shellacking of Western Michigan on Saturday, White didn't have to say a word. His performance had already spoken for him. The native of Daphne, Ala., connected on 10 of 18 pass attempts for 192 yards and two touchdowns (on a 20-yarder to <font color="#1a3461">Dorrell Jalloh</font> and a 50-yard catch and run by <font color="#1a3461">Steve Slaton</font>) while rushing for two more touchdowns and 98 yards on nine carries. As incredible as it sounds, White's statistics failed to render justice for his often spectacular play against the Broncos. "Pat White saved us a bunch of times," Mountaineers coach <font color="#1a3461">Rich Rodriguez</font> said. "There were a couple times when guys were unblocked in the hole, and Pat somehow got out of it. That's just Pat being his usual self. Everyone wants to have that special player, the guy that won't only make plays when they are there, but more than anything, when they're not there. He is a tremendous competitor, and he's continued to prove that he's one of the best football players the school has ever had." <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="208" align="right"><tbody><tr><td rowspan="3" width="6"></td><td width="202"></td></tr><tr><td height="3"></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><font size="1">White rushed for two touchdowns and picked up 98 yards on nine carries.</font></td></tr></tbody></table>Particularly awe-inspiring was White's touchdown run early in the second quarter that gave the Mountaineers a 21-6 lead. On a first and ten from the Broncos' 37-yard line, White faked a handoff to Slaton before tucking the ball and taking it into the teeth of Western Michigan's defense. After spinning out of one tackle, White bounced to the left sideline, where he found himself surrounded by three Broncos. Probably any other quarterback in college football would have either given up on the play and ran out of bounds, or simply found himself ensnared by the encroaching Broncos. Nonetheless, White's blazing speed and field vision allowed him to explode past his pursuers for a touchdown that left most of the more than 60,000 fans in attendance shaking their heads. Making White's first-half performance even more impressive is the fact that he sprained his left throwing wrist at some point early in the contest. Said an ice-wrapped White afterward, "It's nothing too serious. I don't even know when it happened. I wasn't even thinking about it." One thing that White was thinking about after the game was a couple of plays in which he and Slaton missed out on chances to hook up for another touchdown. With time winding down in the first half and the Mountaineers having just recovered a fumble in Western Michigan territory, White took a snap on first and ten from the opponents' 22-yard-line and tossed a beautiful arc to Slaton, who had lined up in the slot and sped past his defender into the end zone. Although the ball hit him in the hands, Slaton was unable to haul in the spiral. Then, midway through the third quarter, White again found Slaton streaking wide open in the flat. This time, however, White overthrew his target by at least three yards. It didn't make the 6-foot-2 signal-caller feel any better that his team scored on both possessions despite he and his best friend's miscues. "I didn't say anything to him about (his drop), because I threw the one pass out of bounds. We should have put up more points. We made a lot of mistakes, and we have to get them corrected for Marshall." Despite his quarterback's critical self-assessment, Rodriguez wasn't too concerned about anything that White did in his team's opener. "He'll be the first to tell you that he missed a couple of touchdown passes that were open, but he was making nice throws all afternoon," Rodriguez said. "You can't say enough about having a guy like that at quarterback." If Pat White has his way, he won't have to say anything about his play the rest of the season. His play will tell the whole story.
