CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -Over the last three weeks, West Virginia’s Pat White twice tweaked a thumb and got hit in the head hard enough to knock him out of a game. He’ll be ready Saturday, and Syracuse knows all too well that even a banged-up White is dangerous.
White danced around the Orange in blowout wins the last two years.
“He’s a difference maker,” Syracuse safety Bruce Williams said. “He’s just so fast. That changes things. He can scare a lot of people.”
Lately, the quarterback has been scaring his own coaching staff and trainers.
White was gang tackled in the third quarter Saturday against Rutgers. He got up, walked off the field, was taken to the locker room temporarily and returned to watch backup Jarrett Brown close out the 24-17 win.
White remembers little about the game, let alone the hit that sent him to the sidelines.
“I’ve never had my bell rung like that, but playing football, you are going to get hit,” said White, who indicated he feels normal.
r a concussion but was not allowed to return to the field.
It marked the second straight game that White didn’t finish. In a 27-3 win over Marshall, White reinjured his thumb on his throwing hand, which he had dinged in a loss at Colorado a week earlier.
White did not participate in recent practices as a precaution.
“Could he get take a full blow to the head? Probably,” Stewart said. “Would that be smart? No. So we’re not going to do it.”
The thumb still isn’t 100 percent, either.
“I don’t know if he could play the drums. But I don’t know if he could play them before, either,” Stewart said. “He’ll be OK.”
A year ago White was listed as day-to-day leading up to the Syracuse game after bruising a thigh the week before. By the time he got hurt again – a bruise to his non-throwing shoulder in the third quarter – White had completed 12-of-15 passes for 148 yards and one TD and carried 14 times for 89 yards and another score in the 55-14 win.
Just think what White can do for the Mountaineers (3-2, 1-0 Big East) when he’s healthy.
Two years ago he ran for a career-high 247 yards and four touchdowns against Syracuse in a 41-17 win in Morgantown.
on the field. Vince Young was fast, but this guy is faster.”
At least the Orange (1-4, 0-1) won’t have to worry about a national record being set against them.
White’s injuries have limited him to 428 rushing yards this season, an average of 86 per game. That’s down significantly from a year ago, when he averaged 103 yards per game and compiled 1,335 yards, the sixth-highest total for a quarterback in Bowl Subdivision history.
White needs 356 rushing yards to break the career record of 4,289 set by Missouri’s Brad Smith from 2002-05.
Against Syracuse, he’s looking to go 4-0.
“We’ve got to get after him,” said Syracuse defensive tackle Arthur Jones, who leads the team in tackles for loss. “We have to get into his head early. Tackling is going to be key.”
White can’t wait for the challenge.
“Since I’ve been here, Syracuse always flies around and gets after it and they are going to do that for four quarters,” he said.
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AP Sports Writer John Kekis in Syracuse, N.Y., contributed to this story.
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