New West Virginia coach Bill Stewart has a simple, to the point way of describing his star quarterback, Pat White.
"He is the greatest winner in college football today," Stewart said.
While arguments surely could be made for other players as well, White's
case is certainly a strong one. During his career, the senior from
Daphne has led the Mountaineers to a pair of Big East conference
titles, three straight 11-win seasons, three straight bowl wins and
three straight top-10 finishes.
QB White honored by home state
Monday, June 02, 2008
By BEN THOMAS
Sports Reporter
New West Virginia coach Bill Stewart has a simple, to the point way of describing his star quarterback, Pat White.
"He is the greatest winner in college football today," Stewart said.
While arguments surely could be made for other players as well, White's case is certainly a strong one. During his career, the senior from Daphne has led the Mountaineers to a pair of Big East conference titles, three straight 11-win seasons, three straight bowl wins and three straight top-10 finishes.
Last year, White passed for 1,724 yards, ran for 1,335 and accounted for 28 touchdowns as West Virginia went 11-2 and blew out Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. He was named Big East offensive player of the year for the second straight season and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
"It's like Coach (Don) Nehlen says, 'Whatever it is, Patrick White's got it.' And whatever it is, Patrick has plenty of it," Stewart said.
White now has another award for his trophy room.
He's been named the state's amateur athlete of the year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association and will be honored at the group's annual convention Sunday night at the Birmingham Sheraton.
"It means a great deal to me to know that, even though I've been gone from Daphne four years, I still have the support of the state of Alabama and people are still following me down there," White said. "It's really special considering I'm at West Virginia, and they have such a great tradition of football right there in Alabama."
White is the second straight player to take home the honor after leaving the state to play college football. Former LSU star and Mobile native JaMarcus Russell was honored last summer. Four of the last five ASWA amateur winners have been quarterbacks.
"It's a honor for Pat that his home state has recognized him as the state amateur player of the year," Stewart said. "He is a great young man with outstanding character and leadership ability. He deserves any accolade he receives because he works hard and wants to continually improve himself."
White averaged 253 yards of total offense a game a year ago, ran for 100 yards or more in four straight games and six overall and completed at least 60 percent of his passes in all but one game. He scored the winning touchdown against Louisville on a 50-yard run in the final minute and scored at least one rushing touchdown in all but two games.
He is the career leader in rushing yards by a quarterback in the Big East with 3,356 yards and needs 934 yards to pass Missouri's Brad Smith and become the NCAA all-time leader.
"I've been fortunate to be put in a good position with good players around me," White said. "I was given a great opportunity here at West Virginia. No doubt."
White's junior year wasn't completely fulfilling, however.
Standing at 10-1, the Mountaineers had a shot to get into the BCS title game with a win over underdog Pittsburgh at home in the regular-season finale but instead lost 13-9.
In the weeks following that game, head coach Rich Rodriguez bolted WVU to become head coach at Michigan.
"Any strong family of any sort moves on from a devastating situation," White said. "I think we had a devastating situation last year, losing that game and Coach Rod leaving. But we really tried to pull together and become stronger.
"I personally just tried to make sure everyone had a smile on their face and still enjoyed playing the game of football because, in the end, that's what it's all about. You have to enjoy doing whatever you're doing."
Mission accomplished. West Virginia got off the deck and whipped the Sooners 48-28 in the Fiesta Bowl, basically guaranteeing then-interim coach Stewart the permanent job as head coach.
White said he doesn't expect the Mountaineers' offense to change much under the new coach. He says the team still will be exciting and more players likely will become threats under Stewart. He's also already pointing to one specific game.
West Virginia hosts Auburn on Oct. 23.
"It's definitely gonna be special playing one of the big teams from my home state in my last year," he said. "It's where I grew up, it's what I grew up hearing. I just wish we could play in Auburn so more of my family might be able to come up and see the game."
White said his main goals for 2008 are to win "quite often" and make the most of his final year in college. Barring injury, more awards surely will follow.
But what has meant the most to White in his college career so far? The wins? The awards? The rushing records? Hardly.
"The fact that my parents can walk around Daphne, Ala., with their heads held high and say proudly that I'm their son," he said. "That means everything to me."
MOUNTAINEER FOOTBALL IS WEST VIRGINIA--THRU AND THRU
I would like to tell you the story of a very courageous young man and several other young men that made his dream come true. I am a teacher at James Wood High School, and several years ago I was approached by a student in the hallway who was very excited because I was wearing a WVU jacket. His name is Kevin Freeland, and Kevin is not an ordinary young man. He has the courage of a soldier, the compassion of a nurse, the innocence of child at their first Christmas, a love of WVU football like a seasoned Mountaineer, and the faith of a minister. Kevin also has an inoperable brain tumor that threatens his young life. In the past 5 years he has had 29 surgeries. At times he has had to learn how to walk, speak, and eat all over again. Complications from the tumor have also caused Kevin to need a tracheotomy to help him breath. More than once Kevin's gentle spirit and positive disposition has been the topic of conversation in the teacher's lounge. Many of us have tried to make Kevin's dream of meeting the WVU football team come true. A colleague of mine, Bruce Fowler, was able to make that happen. Bruce attends church with the parents of Nate Sowers, and Nate made it possible for Kevin's dream to come true on April 11, 2008. I was lucky enough to be invited to come along, and the entire experience was one that I will cherish for all of my life.
Mike Kerin welcomed us to the practice facility around 4:00 in the afternoon. As we walked through the doors of the practice facility, Kevin had to literally be held in the standing position because his knees were shaking so badly. As we watched the team practice, Kevin, was awestruck. He was screaming for Pat White, almost passed out when he realized that the person he had just bumped into was in-fact Noel Divine, and sat in awe as he watched his idols play. During this time, Reed Williams came to the sidelines to talk to Kevin, take pictures, and welcome Kevin to the practice.
At the end of the grueling practice, although the exhaustion was evident on the faces of the players, one by one they filed off the field, and instead of heading to the much anticipated showers and rest of the locker-room, they crowded around Kevin, welcoming him into their fold. I was afraid that Kevin would literally pass out. The pure innocence and ecstasy of his face is something that I will never forget. The players treated him as if he were a member of the team. Each one let Kevin hug them, signed autographs, laughed with him, and made the day so amazingly special, that it brought tears to many eyes.
Patiently waiting at the back of the pack, was Patrick White. When Kevin met our humble quarterback, he screamed and fell to the Astroturf. I thought he had passed out, but he was mimicking the motions of a worshiping an idol. Though slightly taken off guard, Pat handled it all in stride. He treated Kevin as if he were an old friend. He patiently chatted with one of Kevin's friends via cell phone, he let Kevin hug him again and again, and spent over half an hour talking with all of us. He made Kevin's dreams come true. The most touching moment of the afternoon was when once again, Kevin got to his knees to do the "We're not worthy", and Pat White returned the gesture and said "No, Kevin, you are my hero".
Bill Stewart also spent several minutes of his precious time with Kevin and his family. When I told him how impressed I was with the team's willingness to make Kevin's day so special he replied, "I am not raising young athletes, I am raising young men". Truly this team is full of men who possess not just great athletic ability, but hearts and moral fiber that commands recognition.
From the depth of my heart, I would like to thank Mike Kerin, Nate Sowers, Reed Williams, Pat White, Bill Stewart, and all of the WVU football team who made this young man's dream come true. They have no idea how giving of a little of their time made a world of difference to Kevin. I would also like for all of West Virginia to know what an amazing group of young men we have representing our state, and what a classy gentleman we have leading them.
Sincerely,
Karen M. Kile-Carr
Resident of Martinsburg, WV
Teacher of Mathematics at James Wood High School.
