Player of the Year
December 06, 2006 01:06 PM | General
December 6, 2006
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| Patrick White |
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – West Virginia sophomore quarterback Patrick White was named Big East offensive player of the year, the conference announced Wednesday.
All selections were made by the league’s head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own players.
White had a terrific 2006 campaign, completing 109 of 164 pass attempts for 1,524 yards and 11 touchdowns in 11 games. White also became the first quarterback in conference history to rush and pass for more than 1,000 yards in a season, gaining 1,074 on the ground to rank 25th all-time in NCAA history among quarterbacks.
White broke his own Big East rushing record for quarterbacks earlier this year when he ran for 247 yards against Syracuse. He ranks eighth nationally in both scoring (9.3 ppg.) and point responsibility (15.3 ppg.). White becomes only the second WVU player to earn conference offensive player of the year honors; quarterback Rasheed Marshall claimed the award in 2004.
White was also one of four West Virginia players named to the all-Big East offensive team. The other three were Jeremy Sheffey, Dan Mozes and Steve Slaton, the nation’s third-leading rusher averaging 144.4 yards per game.
Junior defensive tackle Keilen Dykes and senior safety Eric Wicks were named to the all-Big East first team.
Recognized on the all-Big East second team were wide receiver Darius Reynaud, offensive tackle Ryan Stancheck and returner Vaughn Rivers on offense.
Pitt’s H.B. Blades was honored as the Big East’s defensive player of the year; Rutgers’ Greg Schiano was selected as the coach of the year while South Florida’s Matt Grothe (rookie of the year) and Ean Randolph (special teams player of the year) were also major award winners.
Blades finished the year with a league-best 147 tackles with more than 30 tackles more than the next closest player. Blades is the first Pitt player to be named Big East defensive player of the year.
Schiano led Rutgers to a 10-2 record and the first top 10 ranking in school history. The Scarlet Knights are also making their first back-to-back bowl appearances, heading to the Texas Bowl to face Kansas State.
Randolph is a dual threat as a punt returner/wide receiver who was tops in the Big East averaging 14.7 yards per punt return. That figure ranks sixth nationally.
Grothe is the nation’s top freshman in total offense (258.5 yards per game) and has completed 196 of 307 passes for 2,495 yards while also rushing for 607 yards and nine TDs. Randolph and Grothe are the first USF players to win Big East postseason awards.
There were five repeat choices from the 2005 all-Big East team: kick Art Carmody (Louisville), cornerback Darrelle Revis (Pitt), tight end Clark Harris (Rutgers), Blades and Mozes.
Blades, Harris and Mozes are three-time first-team all-Big East performers.
