Patrick White played the first game of his last season as a college football player just about as good as anyone could ever wish. Never before had White passed for more than two touchdowns in a single game. He eclipsed that mark with a little more than four minutes in the first half on his way to a staggering five touchdown passes and 208 yards in the air.
Twice, he found Alric Arnett for scores. Will Johnson ran one in after catching it near the sideline, and slot receiver Jock Sanders added a pair of his own touchdown catches.
White also tacked on 63 more yards on the ground (a game-high), but never set foot in the endzone. White’s rushing total did give the running game a spark when needed. This game against Villanova certainly proves that Pat White is not just a running quarterback: he can hurt you in any way imaginable.
Patrick White
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Mortty Ivy had an impressive day not because of the plays he made, but what the plays he made did for WVU for the rest of the game. Late in the first quarter, Villanova was passing and running towards the Mountaineer endzone with almost no trouble when all of a sudden Villanova’s quarterback Antwon Young flung the ball ten yards behind him as he raised his arm to throw. Mortty came swooping in after the ball had be bounced back and forth between players from both teams and took it all the way down to Villanova’s 24 yard line. One play later, Pat White hooked up with Alric Arnett for the first score of the game. That fumble recovery turned out to be the play of the game.
That, however, was not all that Ivy had in store for the Wildcats. With eleven minutes to play in regulation, Mortty intercepted a pass from Young, reversed his field, and took it back 29 yards for the final touchdown the Mountaineers would score on the afternoon. Fittingly, Mortty Ivy was responsible for starting the rout and also finishing it.
Game Balls
Pat McAfee. The senior kicker set a new career-high with his 52-yard field goal in the second quarter. McAfee also averaged 42.5 yards on his pair of punts.
J.T. Thomas. The sophomore linebacker would likely have garnered BlueGoldNews.com Player of the Game honors were it not for Ivy's late pick six. Thomas, starting at Will linebacker, finished the afternoon with six tackles, a pair of sacks and 1.5 TFL's.
Alric Arnett. The junior, who sat out last season after a preseason thumb injury, had quite the impressive Milan Puskar Stadium debut. Arnett finished the afternoon with four catches for 70 yards. His first two career catches went for scores. The last Mountaineer receiver to hold that distinction? Chris Henry in 2003.