Post by dehayes35 on Sept 6, 2007 16:27:20 GMT -5
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
One of the West Virginia Mountaineers' offensive principals revealed a previously hush-hush secret.
You heard of the naked bootleg?
Quarterback Patrick White runs the blind draw.
"I just closed my eyes and hoped I slipped through," White recalled of the 38-yard touchdown run Saturday in which he somehow escaped the grasp of two Western Michigan defenders at the line, scooted past another and, around the 5, slowed for blockers against converging Broncos to finally burst through to the end zone.
OK, so he was kidding about that eyes shut part.
With White and fellow Mountaineers standout/roommate Steve Slaton, seeing truly is believing.
"You just look for openings," White continued. "Part of it is skill, part in your head and part adrenaline."
Displaying their many attributes in the opening game of another expectation-filled season, juniors White and running back Slaton accounted for four touchdowns apiece in third-ranked West Virginia's 62-24 rout against Western Michigan last weekend. They combined for one score, on a 50-yard screen pass. They could have combined for a couple of others, with Slaton failing to secure a White lob into the end zone in the second quarter, and White overthrowing a wide-open Slaton around the visitors' 10 in the third.
No matter. Four plays after the dropped pass, Slaton scored on a 1-yard plunge. And the play after that overthrow, White bolted 22 yards around left end for a touchdown.
In all, Slaton rushed for 109 yards and three scores, and caught two passes for 61 yards and another touchdown. White rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns, and completed 10 of 18 passes for 192 yards -- the fourth-highest total of his career -- and two more scores. Together, they rushed for 206 of West Virginia's 316 yards on the ground, and White passed for 192 of West Virginia's 226 yards in the air. That's 73 percent of the Mountaineers' total yardage and 77 percent of their touchdowns from two players.
No wonder Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit, a former Stanford assistant whose defense bunched around the line of scrimmage in an attempt to stop Slaton and White, made this kind of comparison after the game:
"Reggie Bush comes to mind," Cubit said. "Those guys have that kind of presence on the field. You knew Reggie was on the field when he was [at Southern Cal]. It's the same with them.
"The [spread-offense] system helps them, but they'd be good in any system."
Defenses, beginning with Marshall in Huntington, W.Va., Saturday, will continue to try to corral White and Slaton all season long above all else, much like teams did last season. It largely did not work last year as both rushed for 1,000-plus yards while White became the Big East offensive player of the year and Slaton a consensus All-American.
Last season, a prime response for the Mountaineers was their option run, with White keeping or giving up the football depending upon a defense's response. This year, if Saturday was any indication, the Mountaineers may well counter with their passing game, Slaton included.
Five of West Virginia's opening 14 plays were passes, and White completed them all for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Leading only 28-14 at intermission, West Virginia came out in the second half and attempted passes on its opening five plays.
"We have playmakers on the field," White said, meaning that the Mountaineers intend to use them.
That may explain why only fourth receiver Nate Sowers subbed for any of the offensive starters in the first three quarters.
Still, plays such as White's 38-yard scamper amaze even the folks who see him and Slaton regularly.
"I remember I was on the headsets with Calvin Magee [the offensive coordinator] ... and I said, 'Golly, can you believe he got out of that?' " coach Rich Rodriguez said. "In practice ... you see him run around a little bit. When it's live, he seems to move even faster. He made one of those highlight-reel runs again.
"They're [both] so competitive, you kind of expect them to do something all the time. Steve is feeling good because, obviously, he feels healthy [after January wrist surgery] for the first time in a long time. Pat continues to improve. ... I think he's one of the best football players in the country.
"If anybody could bottle that and set that up, you could make multi-millions of dollars."
NOTES -- Pat McAfee's miss after the Mountaineers' final touchdown Saturday ended his streak of 106 consecutive extra points, dating to Game 4 of his freshman season -- when he missed on his third point-after try against East Carolina. He made the remaining 36 that year, all 62 last season and his first eight Saturday. ... Rodriguez said he would not keep Slaton and White in games to run up stats and impress award voters: "Never will. I mean, our philosophy on keeping them in the game, we're going to play our best players as long as it takes to have the game won. When you have the game secure, then you substitute." The starters played three quarters Saturday and exited with a 49-21 lead.
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
One of the West Virginia Mountaineers' offensive principals revealed a previously hush-hush secret.
You heard of the naked bootleg?
Quarterback Patrick White runs the blind draw.
"I just closed my eyes and hoped I slipped through," White recalled of the 38-yard touchdown run Saturday in which he somehow escaped the grasp of two Western Michigan defenders at the line, scooted past another and, around the 5, slowed for blockers against converging Broncos to finally burst through to the end zone.
OK, so he was kidding about that eyes shut part.
With White and fellow Mountaineers standout/roommate Steve Slaton, seeing truly is believing.
"You just look for openings," White continued. "Part of it is skill, part in your head and part adrenaline."
Displaying their many attributes in the opening game of another expectation-filled season, juniors White and running back Slaton accounted for four touchdowns apiece in third-ranked West Virginia's 62-24 rout against Western Michigan last weekend. They combined for one score, on a 50-yard screen pass. They could have combined for a couple of others, with Slaton failing to secure a White lob into the end zone in the second quarter, and White overthrowing a wide-open Slaton around the visitors' 10 in the third.
No matter. Four plays after the dropped pass, Slaton scored on a 1-yard plunge. And the play after that overthrow, White bolted 22 yards around left end for a touchdown.
In all, Slaton rushed for 109 yards and three scores, and caught two passes for 61 yards and another touchdown. White rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns, and completed 10 of 18 passes for 192 yards -- the fourth-highest total of his career -- and two more scores. Together, they rushed for 206 of West Virginia's 316 yards on the ground, and White passed for 192 of West Virginia's 226 yards in the air. That's 73 percent of the Mountaineers' total yardage and 77 percent of their touchdowns from two players.
No wonder Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit, a former Stanford assistant whose defense bunched around the line of scrimmage in an attempt to stop Slaton and White, made this kind of comparison after the game:
"Reggie Bush comes to mind," Cubit said. "Those guys have that kind of presence on the field. You knew Reggie was on the field when he was [at Southern Cal]. It's the same with them.
"The [spread-offense] system helps them, but they'd be good in any system."
Defenses, beginning with Marshall in Huntington, W.Va., Saturday, will continue to try to corral White and Slaton all season long above all else, much like teams did last season. It largely did not work last year as both rushed for 1,000-plus yards while White became the Big East offensive player of the year and Slaton a consensus All-American.
Last season, a prime response for the Mountaineers was their option run, with White keeping or giving up the football depending upon a defense's response. This year, if Saturday was any indication, the Mountaineers may well counter with their passing game, Slaton included.
Five of West Virginia's opening 14 plays were passes, and White completed them all for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Leading only 28-14 at intermission, West Virginia came out in the second half and attempted passes on its opening five plays.
"We have playmakers on the field," White said, meaning that the Mountaineers intend to use them.
That may explain why only fourth receiver Nate Sowers subbed for any of the offensive starters in the first three quarters.
Still, plays such as White's 38-yard scamper amaze even the folks who see him and Slaton regularly.
"I remember I was on the headsets with Calvin Magee [the offensive coordinator] ... and I said, 'Golly, can you believe he got out of that?' " coach Rich Rodriguez said. "In practice ... you see him run around a little bit. When it's live, he seems to move even faster. He made one of those highlight-reel runs again.
"They're [both] so competitive, you kind of expect them to do something all the time. Steve is feeling good because, obviously, he feels healthy [after January wrist surgery] for the first time in a long time. Pat continues to improve. ... I think he's one of the best football players in the country.
"If anybody could bottle that and set that up, you could make multi-millions of dollars."
NOTES -- Pat McAfee's miss after the Mountaineers' final touchdown Saturday ended his streak of 106 consecutive extra points, dating to Game 4 of his freshman season -- when he missed on his third point-after try against East Carolina. He made the remaining 36 that year, all 62 last season and his first eight Saturday. ... Rodriguez said he would not keep Slaton and White in games to run up stats and impress award voters: "Never will. I mean, our philosophy on keeping them in the game, we're going to play our best players as long as it takes to have the game won. When you have the game secure, then you substitute." The starters played three quarters Saturday and exited with a 49-21 lead.
