By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
November 28, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When Don Nehlen used to watch quarterback Major Harris on film there were times when he would just stop the projector and look at one of his assistant coaches and say, “Did you see that?”
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| Pat White's 698 yards rushing are sixth-most of any NCAA quarterback this year. All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks | |
Coach Rich Rodriguez admits he finds himself doing the same thing right now with his star-quarterback-in-the-making Pat White. Whether it's a decision White made or a move he put on someone in the open field, Rodriguez sometimes transforms into a fan when he's watching the game tape.
"There are a couple of times when a guy is unblocked on the perimeter and he makes them miss," Rodriguez said. "Some guys make a guy miss and it takes them a while, he can make a guy miss in a hurry and get north-south. That's God-given and blessed by his parents for that. But he also practices that way, too."
It has taken the 6-foot-2-inch, 185-pound redshirt freshman about four games to transform West Virginia’s offense into one of the most potent in the country.
Consider this: West Virginia was averaging 24.2 points and 351.8 yards per game in its first six contests against Syracuse, Wofford, Maryland, East Carolina, Virginia Tech and Rutgers. In their last four since White orchestrated WVU’s 17-point fourth-quarter comeback against Louisville, the Mountaineers have averaged 43.5 points and 415 yards per game. On the ground West Virginia is averaging a staggering 314.3 yards per contest. That’s worth repeating: on the ground West Virginia is averaging a staggering 314.3 yards per contest.
Rodriguez and his players have begun using the expression “chopping wood” to describe how they go about their business on the field. Three hundred fourteen yards per game on the ground isn’t chopping wood -- that’s clearing out the forest. And the nimble feet of Pat White are making it all happen.
The Daphne, Ala., resident has exceeded 100 yards rushing three times so far this year including a season-high 220 yards against Pitt that represents a Big East record for quarterbacks, topping another pretty fair quarterback named Michael Vick.
“The way Pat White has played in the last four ballgames he’s given us another weapon and added another dimension,” said Rodriguez. “He’s solidified himself as a guy that could be a very, very special player for us – and he already is in some respects.”
According to Sunday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, White’s 698 rushing yards are sixth among NCAA quarterbacks this season. Missouri’s Brad Smith leads the country with 1,151 yards and 13 TDs. Penn State’s Michael Robinson has tucked the ball under his arm 148 times for 785 yards and 11 scores. Texas superstar Vince Young has run 117 times for 774 yards and eight touchdowns. Impressively, Smith, Robinson and Young each are averaging more than 5 yards per carry.
But that pales in comparison to what White has done with his 98 carries, averaging an astonishing 7.3 yards per rush. And don’t forget, in college sacks are counted against a quarterback’s rushing total unlike the pros. In really about six full games worth of action White has already had six runs of 20 yards or longer.
His 47-yard jaunt in the first quarter of last Thursday night’s game against Pitt was a thing of beauty. It was supposed to have been a screen pass. At halftime, an exasperated Dave Wannstedt tried in vain to explain how his team could defend West Virginia’s double screen so well and yet still give up 50 yards.
He tried and he couldn’t.
“My hat’s off to that kid,” Wannstedt said after the game. “He did a great job of making things happen.”
Rodriguez was more succinct, “When you can run like Pat it’s hard to chase him down.”
White said it was mainly instincts that made him take off up field when he saw both receivers covered. “I was trying to get the back out of the backfield but the end was peeling and we have a receiver setting up on the backside and it just opened up,” he said.
White’s speed is evident on tape but his teammates say that defenses still underestimate how fast he is when they’re actually out there trying to catch him.
“He’s not fast just north-south, he’s fast east-west, too,” said fullback Owen Schmitt. “He’s so shifty and he’s got so many good moves. He can put a one-stepper on you and make you lose your jock strap.”
Running back Steve Slaton -- WVU’s other burner on offense – agrees with Schmitt, “You take your eyes off him and he’s gone. (Defenses) are so worried about the wide receivers and running backs and they tend to not focus on him. When he takes off it is just hell for them.”
Speed isn’t White’s only asset. Rodriguez says he is beginning to understand all of the complicated reads he has to make in West Virginia’s running game.
“The thing that I’m pleased with that might not be known to the casual observer is that a lot of times in our run game in the shot gun the quarterback has got to make a lot of decisions whether to keep it or hand it off,” said Rodriguez. “Pat plays like he’s been doing this for several years.”
Schmitt, who played in a wishbone rushing offense in junior college, says Rodriguez’ running system can be difficult for defenses to diagnose.
“On our zone play there are reads that the back has to make so it’s not like a specific play – it’s based on what the defense does and what we react to,” he explained. “We also run the option and stuff like that so it’s kind of like a multi-dimensional running game type deal.”
Speed and smarts are great assets, but when you also add the competitiveness and toughness that Pat White possesses then you’re talking about an entirely different type of quarterback.
There was one play in the third quarter of the Pitt game when White kept the ball on an option and an unblocked Panther linebacker was waiting in the hole ready to unload on him. White simply ran over the guy and got about 17 more yards on the play.
“Guys are not expecting the quarterback to be so tough and Pat is probably one of the toughest quarterbacks I’ve ever met,” said running back Steve Slaton. “For him to hit people it just makes you want to go out there and hit people, too.”
“He doesn’t want to be known as a wuss,” added Schmitt. “He’ll lay the wood to you. He’ll fake like he’s running out of bounds and give you the shoulder real quick at the end of the play.”
White says he prefers avoiding contact if at all possible. “You definitely don’t want to take a direct shot,” he said.
Right now White’s first inclination is to run – not unlike most young quarterbacks seeing different defenses and coverages for the first time. The most passes White has attempted in a game were 16 against Connecticut, but he has managed to complete 54.4 percent of his attempts so far this year for 619 yards and six touchdowns with one regular season game remaining. His passer rating of 125.33 is fifth among Big East quarterbacks.
“We’ve made some throws when we’ve needed to make some throws,” said Rodriguez.
WVU’s other famous run-first quarterback Major Harris was at best a scatter-shot passer his first season in 1987. He completed just 8 of his first 29 pass attempts in games against Ohio, Ohio State and Maryland, and didn’t throw for more than 100 yards until his sixth game of the year against Cincinnati. But as he became more comfortable reading defenses he was allowed the freedom to the throw the ball more, making WVU’s offense even tougher to defend.
Despite having great success on the ground, Rodriguez prefers that his offense become more balanced unlike the Oklahoma wishbone teams of the late 1970s.
“Half of our practice is devoted to the throwing game and believe it or not we’re willing and able to throw it a bunch if we have to,” Rodriguez said. “Getting into the shot gun, using spread formations and having 20-some different route packages ... we have that there. We’re just better at running. At some point we’re going to have to throw the ball.
“But if you can run for more than 400 (451 yards against Pitt) maybe you don’t need to throw it,” Rodriguez said.
As for White, he could cares less how many yards he throws for. You can detect the sincerity in his voice. “Stats don’t matter at all,” he said, “just as long as we win.”
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