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TBTQB (Wednesday Edition): Pat White

“He and Steve Slaton were fun as hell to watch Together. That’s what I remember about him” -Austin Brown

“Pat White Broken Finger was my history 101 when i started” -Cody 

“Part of the greatest college football video game team ever.” -Brandon

“Pat McAfee cost him a Championship” -Unknown In The Slack Chat 

After asking in our slack messages for some QB’s to write about, I was given about 200 suggestions. And then our Bossman, Brandon, whispered Pat White out of the chaos and it caught my eye. I never really watched him or this WVU team and the only person I can remember being successful from WVU is Pat McAfee. So, going into this blindly and without a single clue who this is, I present TBTQB: Pat White

High School/Recruiting

Pat White is from Daphne, Alabama, and played both football and baseball at Daphne High School. He didn’t get a lot of traction on the recruiting scene until his senior year due to the 3 years playing better on a diamond than on the gridiron. However, after finishing 3rd in Mr. Alabama voting thanks to an electric season of 2,000 yards rushing and 31 TD’s on the ground, combined with 1500 and 15 coming through the air . He was being recruited by big name school such as Auburn, Kentucky, and LSU, but there was a catch. None of those teams wanted him as a QB, but rather as a WR. Only one team guaranteed him a spot at QB: West Virginia University. Shortly after he was given an offer from WVU, he committed and signed with the Mountaineers.

College Career

Shortly after arriving at WVU, Pat was offered a 6 figure salary from the Los Angeles Angels to go play Minor League baseball. White denied this offer and chose to stay at WVU.  He was going head to head with Bednarik in a QB competition, and it was announced that they would both co-start. In his first college games, he was very quiet with not many ticks on the stat sheet. This would all change in a game against Louisville in which Bednarik got injured and White took over as the full time starter. He took over the Louisville game with the help of Steve Slaton, a RB, and WVU won 46-44 in a Triple OT Victory. After this, White did not take his foot off of the pedal and led the mountaineers to a bid in the Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs. This was seen as White’s real “coming out party” as he tore up the bulldogs on their home turf (the game was moved to the Georgia Dome due to weather) and coming out victorious, 38-35. Him and Slaton would now be in the national spotlight as WVU had found a dynamic duo in the form of QB/RB.

The 2006 season started with White and Slaton earning national attention with a cover on Sports illustrated. White followed up a tremendous freshman season with a great sophomore season, in which he passed for 1,655 yards and 13 TDs and rushed for 1,219 yards and 18 touchdowns on his way to being named the Big East Offensive Player of the Year and the first-team all-Big East squad. In a bowl game against Georgia Tech, White battled injuries of his ankle and back, but still helped WVU win 38-35, coming back from a 35-17 deficit.  Once again in the national spotlight, White earned a key to his hometown of Daphne. Following the season, Georgia Tech linebacker Philip Wheeler said, when asked the three players he liked to watch in college football, “Three? Forget it. How about one? Pat White. Dude is unbelievable. I mean, he can do it all. He’s fast, he’s stronger than he looks and he can throw it. Yeah, I love watching him — as long as he’s not doing it to us.”

The 2007 Season had high hopes for the WVU team, and White and Slaton were expected to exceed expectations. However, after clinching a Big East championship, things started to go downhill for the team. In a game against Pitt, WVU was expected to clinch a BCS championships birth. However, due to injuries to white, miscues all around for the team, and poor play, WVU would fall to Pitt. This “Backyard Brawl” loss would cost WVU a chance at the National Championship and instead of the big game, WVU learned they would be playing Oklahoma in the fiesta Bowl.

In a 48-28 victory, White won MVP of the game by  passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 150 yards. ESPN has his performance in this game ranked as the 9th best performance in a Bowl Game ever.

In 2008, Pat was named to the Preseason All-American team and expectations were that WVU would be fighting for another BCS bid. In the first game, WVU destroyed Villanova 48-21 following White’s 208 yards on 25 of 33 passes and a career-best and stadium-record five touchdowns. He also added 63 yards on the ground. But in the next 2 games, WVU would lose against ECU and Colorado and the chances of a BCS bid became a dream more than a reality.

When Big East play started up, WVU won four in a row despite White sitting out one game with a head injury. WVU would then lose Cincinnati, which officially knocked them out of all BCS chances. They would turn it around with a pummeling of Louisville. Finally, in Whites last game in WVU colors (except for a bowl game), the university held a White Out Game as a dedication to Whites career.

White had a going away party and leave his last game in Morgantown, passing for 141 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 40 yards on a snow-covered field to finish his career at West Virginia in front of 48,000 white-clad fans. The Mountaineers’ lone touchdown in the win, White’s pass, was his 100th career touchdown and credited him with the milestone of 10,000 career total yards.

White would finish his career playing against the Tar heels of North Carolina. He passed for a career-high 332 yards and three touchdowns on 26-of-32 attempts, adding 21 rushes for 55 yards, as the Mountaineers defeated the Tar Heels 31–30. In the victory, White became the first player in college football history to win four bowl games as a starting quarterback and was named the game MVP for the third consecutive bowl game.

White would finish his college career as one of the most decorated rushing QB’s to grace the college scene and left a legacy at WVU that may never be matched for years to come.

Pro Career

White would accept an invite to play in the Senior Bowl and put on the WVU helmet one last time. However, speculation is that many of big name scouts and NFL GM’s did not see him as a QB, but a WR. White denied a switch to WR, and was labeled as QB4 for the draft. Many predicted him to go in the 2nd-3rd round.

White would be given the chance to prove to the haters he belongs as a gunslinger. The Miami Dolphins drafted him 44th overall. He was thrown into a QB battle with Chad Pennington and Chad Henne. After a solid preseason, he was only used in spread formations or other situations where he would excel.

However, in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, White rolls out of the pocket and gets tackled on the side line.

White suffered a concussion and was taken to the hospital due to the severity of the hit. He wouldn’t suit up for the rest of the season and in the next season, he was waived by the team.

After taking a 2 year hiatus from football, the Washington Redskins signed White. He would make 4 preseason appearances but then get waived by the team before the start of the regular season.

Pat White was insane in college. After watching some film on him for this article, it’s safe to say he was Lamar Jackson before Lamar Jackson. The WVU team he was leading had some true potential and I wished we could have seen what they looked like in a BCS championship. I find myself at the end of every one of these articles rooting for these play callers to truly succeed. Pat White in today’s CFB would be one of the most talked about names and I really wish his career worked out for him.

The only way to end this article is with WVU’s best Tradition (other than choking in March Madness/Big 12 play). I get goosebumps every time I see this:

 

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