All Business
August 15, 2005 03:19 PM | General
August 15, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Pat White, West Virginia’s multi-talented redshirt freshman quarterback, has just about everything in the world going for him. He’s polite and well mannered, he’s smart and comes from a wonderful family, he’s got movie-star good looks and he’s an outstanding football player.
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| Redshirt freshman quarterback Pat White is competiting with sophomores Adam Bednarik and Dwayne Thompson, and freshman J.R. House for the starting quarterback job.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
The bright lights have shined on Pat White from the moment he turned down a lucrative contract from professional baseball’s Anaheim Angels last summer to play college football at WVU.
White was one of the best high school football players in Alabama his senior season in 2003, finishing third in the voting for Alabama’s Mr. Football award by the state’s sportswriters. He helped his high school team to 14 straight wins before losing in the state championship game his senior season, accumulating a total of 46 touchdowns both running and passing the football.
White had college recruiters beating down his door and his final two choices came down to LSU and West Virginia – his mind only made up at the last moment because of the persistence and diligence of West Virginia assistant head coach Rick Trickett.
He was a star centerfielder on the Daphne High School baseball team whose speed and athletic ability had major league scouts both intrigued and mesmerized. In the end, though, he chose West Virginia University for the opportunity to continue to do the one thing he has done since he was four years old: play football.
White has come on and performed well in his short time at WVU, displaying a knack for making plays and moving the football. He played particularly well in the spring game when he produced 235 yards of total offense and was responsible for three touchdowns.
Currently White is locked in a competitive battle with sophomore Adam Bednarik for the starting quarterback job. Bednarik was third on the depth chart last year behind Rasheed Marshall and Charles Hales, but Rodriguez took both Bedarnik and White on all of the trips to get them accustomed to what they would encounter this year. Bednarik missed all of spring practice recovering from shoulder surgery allowing White to take most of the reps.
This fall, both have had their moments and Rodriguez isn’t about to tip his hand on which one might be leading.
“Pat and Adam have gotten the majority of the reps and they’re kind of alternating with the ones,” Rodriguez said Monday morning. When pressed, Rodriguez says it’s too close to call as to which one will be the starter.
“It’s a good thing because both of them have gotten better,” Rodriguez said.
White’s straight-ahead speed is similar to Marshall's, though Rodriguez isn’t sure which one is faster.
“Fast is fast,” he said. “Pat is definitely fast and he’s got a little bit of wiggle to him so he adds a dimension there.”
The coach said the starter could very well come down to who performs better in the games this season. He also mentioned that both quarterbacks will probably play against Syracuse in the opener.
For his part White prefers to do most of his talking on the field, which makes him a tough assignment for reporters paid to pry. White is economical with his words, mostly answering questions in a short, to-the-point fashion. Ask him how he’s doing this fall and he politely responds, “Fine.”
Ask him what he needs to do to win the starting quarterback job and he flashes his bright smile and answers, “Make plays.”
Ask him if he prefers running or passing and he says succinctly, “I’m a quarterback. I’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
At times there can be awkward moments of silence between his responses: White patiently waiting while his questioners scramble to come up with another way of getting him to open up and reveal what is on his mind.
How is camp going?
“Pretty good -- I’ve still got a lot to learn,” he answered.
So Pat, what is it that you bring to the table that the other quarterbacks in camp may not have?
“You can’t really break down what’s different.”
Are you picking up Coach Rodriguez’ complicated system of pre-snap checks?
“He’s taught me and I’m learning.”
What in your mind makes up being a good leader?
“Somebody that does what the program asks for both on and off the field.”
Are you vocal on the field?
“I can be.”
You had a great spring game despite having some average scrimmages leading up to it. Would you consider yourself more of a game player?
“Hopefully I’m an all-around player.”
Last year Rasheed Marshall proved that you can move the sticks in other ways; you don’t necessarily have to throw the ball to move the chains. You can beat teams with your feet and your mind … there are a lot of different ways of doing that isn’t there?
“Yes.”
No luck. After about 10 minutes, the handful of reporters gathered around him inside the Milan Puskar Center became resigned to the fact that they weren't going to penetrate much deeper than Pat White’s disarming smile on this day.
Perhaps that will come another day.
Briefly:
“We’re crossing our fingers that guys don’t get hurt but at the same time you’ve got to practice: you’ve got to practice in pads and you’ve got to be physical to get them ready,” he said. “That’s the fine line: what is too much?”
Rodriguez said his staff is beginning to narrow down the list of true freshmen they have identified as being able to help the team this year. The list includes both running backs Steve Slaton and Jason Gwaltney, wide receiver Jeremy Bruce, defensive backs Charles Pugh and Quinton Andrews, and linebackers John Holmes and Ovid Goulbourne, as well as place kicker Pat McAfee.
“Most of the freshmen will get redshirted but there are probably more that won’t then in the past couple of years,” he said.
“This has been his best time as a Mountaineer and we’re pretty pleased with him,” said Rodriguez. “Warren Young is probably playing his best football, too. There are seven guys that are ready and then we’ve got a redshirt freshman in Doug Slavonic who is close, too.”
“I’m really proud of Thandi,” said the coach. “He came here as a non-qualifier out of Youngstown, Ohio, walked on for three years, and he graduated this summer and earned his fourth year back so he’s got a scholarship for the fall. He’s a backup corner and he’s played a good bit for us on special teams.”
