Not Standing Pat
August 30, 2008 05:26 PM | Football
The Daphne, Ala., native completed 25-of-33 passes for 208 yards and a career-high five touchdowns en route to leading WVU to a 48-21 victory over the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday afternoon at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.
White’s ability to spread the ball around to his receivers allowed for satisfying performances by receivers Alric Arnett and Jock Sanders. Arnett had four catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns while Sanders hauled in eight receptions for 62 yards and two scores.
“The balls to Sanders, Will Johnson and Arnett couldn’t have been threaded any better,” Head Coach Bill Stewart admitted. “No one could have passed those balls better. Pat White was on target – bulls eyes all day. He could have been 31-of-33 with no picks.”
In Stewart’s home debut, the Mountaineers showcased the versatility in their offense that offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen hopes can continue throughout the season. A healthy balance of passing and rushing paved the way for the Mountaineers to win their fifth consecutive season opener.
“Offensively, I tried to say way back – particularly to most of the experts in this room – if you put nine people in the box, we’re going to throw the football,” Stewart said. “I don’t know how to run with nine in the box. I hated to throw the ball at the end, but they wouldn’t take nine men out of the box.”
Equally impressive was a defensive unit that forced three turnovers. Linebacker J.T. Thomas racked up six tackles, including two sacks. He also blocked a punt with 6:47 left in the third quarter that led to Pat McAfee’s 33-yard field goal to give WVU a comfortable 34-7 lead.
Sam linebacker Mortty Ivy had a superb performance, including a 29-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter to extend WVU’s advantage to 48-14. Strong safety Boogie Allen led the defense with nine tackles and also recorded a sack.
“I was a little concerned the defense was on the field a lot,” Stewart said. "Defensively, we came out a little better in the second half and we stopped them from big plays. We played a lot of people today, and we wanted to do some things with a lot of people.
“We couldn’t really have too many great drives offensively because we scored with big plays, so it didn’t really help the defense much.”
The Wildcats won the offensive battle in the beginning of the game, churning out 90 total yards while WVU only musterd 43 yards after the first quarter. Although Villanova was thrilled with its early game plan of limiting the touches of WVU’s potent offense, it was unable to come away with any points thanks to an opportunistic Mountaineer defense.
After letting Villanova control the time of possession on its second drive and march 72 yards downfield to the WVU 19, linebacker John Holmes came up huge on third down by sacking quarterback Antwon Young and forcing a fumble. Ivy returned the loose ball 30 yards to the Villanova 24. The Mountaineers took advantage on the next play when White hooked up with Arnett down the left side for a 24-yard touchdown, giving WVU a 7-0 lead. It was the first as a Mountaineer for Arnett.
Stewart’s promise that (Will) Johnson would be used in all assortments came to fruition in the second quarter. With White and Devine leading the 10-play, 47-yard charge into Villanova territory, Johnson caught a 3-yard play-action pass from White after lining up in the backfield to give the Mountaineers a two-touchdown advantage.
The Wildcats showed some grit by traveling 80 yards in what culminated with a 3-yard score by Young on a QB keeper, cutting the deficit to 14-7.
White completed his third touchdown pass on a double-fake, 34-yard connection to Arnett to extend the lead to 21-7 with 4:35 left in the second quarter. It marked the first time the heralded quarterback reached three touchdown passes in a game, adding another milestone to an already illustrious career.
The same play also catapulted White into first place on WVU’s all-time list for career total offense, putting him at 7,834 yards to pass former quarterback Marc Bulger.
McAfee ended the half with a career-long 52-yard field goal to extend the Mountaineer lead. The field goal was slated to be a 47-yarder but was pushed back five yards due to a delay of game penalty.
“I thought McAfee kicked excellent,” Stewart said. “His hang times were excellent. Every kickoff was four-plus. Our special teams were good.”
The second half was highlighted by big plays from the Mountaineers, as they had to compensate for losing the total offense battle to the Wildcats, 399-354.
Sanders’ two second half scores – 9-yard and 17-yard plays – gave WVU all the offense it needed to start the season on the right foot.
The Mountaineers will prepare for their next game against Conference USA foe East Carolina, which upset 17th-ranked Virginia Tech in its opener, on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 4:30 p.m. at Dowdey-Ficklen Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN.
SCORING SUMMARY
WV - Arnett 24 pass from White (McAfee kick)
WV - Johnson 3 pass from White (McAfee kick)
VU - Young 3 run (Marcoux kick)
WV - Arnett 34 pass from White (McAfee kick)
WV - McAfee 52 FG
WV - Sanders 9 pass from White (McAfee kick)
WV - McAfee 33 FG
VU - Ball 2 run (Marcoux kick)
WV - Sanders 17 pass from White (McAfee kick)
WV - Ivy 28 interception return (McAfee kick)
VU - Whitney 1 run (Marcoux kick)
