SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Spread offenses are nothing new to Oklahoma. The Sooners have faced offenses running out of shotgun formations with multiple receiver sets in seven of their 13 games.
No. 11 West Virginia, which the third-ranked Sooners face Wednesday night in the Fiesta Bowl, will make it eight in 14.
But even OU admits the Mountaineers have a dimension it hasn’t seen.
“West Virginia is probably more efficient at running this offense than anybody that we’ve faced,” OU secondary coach Bobby Jack Wright said Sunday. “Nobody runs it to the efficiency that West Virginia does. Any offense that you run where you are averaging 300 yards a game rushing the football, you’re doing a heck of a job running the football. I have a tremendous amount of respect in what they’re doing with this offense.”
The Mountaineers averaged 292.9 yards per game on the ground during the regular season. Only Navy, Air Force and Arkansas averaged more. But none featured a quarterback as dynamic as West Virginia’s Pat White.
“He can beat you by himself,” OU safety Nic Harris said. “And that’s one thing we can’t let him do.”
White’s athletic ability rivals that of former Texas quarterback Vince Young. He’s isn’t as big as Young, standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 185 pounds. But he has a running back’s skills, a wide receiver’s speed and a quarterback’s arm.
OU has used freshman receiver and former Norman High standout Ryan Broyles as the scout quarterback in practices the last couple of weeks. The Sooners didn’t have a comparable athlete among their quarterbacks.
There aren’t any teams that do.
West Virginia has put its offense in White’s hands for the last three seasons and he’s quickly become the straw that stirs the Mountaineers’ drink.
He’s 29-4 as a starter. He’s been in the middle of the Heisman Trophy race the last two seasons and left little doubt he’s the most versatile quarterback playing college football.
He’s rushed for 1,185 yards and 14 touchdowns this season and thrown for 12 TDs and 1,548 yards.
“He’s meant a lot. He’s a good team leader,” West Virginia running back Steve Slaton said. “Whenever we needed a big play, Pat has been the guy.”
Slaton rushed for 1,053 yards this season and wide receiver Darius Reynaud has caught 11 touchdown passes. But White’s importance becomes obvious when the path West Virginia took to get to the Fiesta Bowl is studied.
If White hadn’t suffered a dislocated right thumb in a 13-9 loss to Pittsburgh Dec. 1, he would very likely be leading his team into the BCS national championship game instead of the Fiesta Bowl. If he hadn’t suffered a deep thigh bruise in a Sept. 28 loss at South Florida, West Virginia could very well be undefeated.
OU’s defensive game plan emphasizes in about 100 different ways the importance of hitting, flustering and annoying White.
“Every snap, the ball is going through him,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “Whether you put an end on him or a linebacker on him, or sometimes you try to put two on him, I think the test of time has shown that he is better than most guys most of the time.
“The challenge will be trying to contain him and not allow him to get into a great rhythm of having success in running the football.”
The Sooners have been able to do that this season against every team they’ve faced. No team has run for 200 yards against OU and only five fo 13 have managed 100.
White figures OU will crowd the line of scrimmage.
“That’s what everyone else has done,” he said.
Whatever the case, the Sooners knows they’ll be facing a unique challenge Wednesday night.
“Everybody recognizes that this team can expose you with one guy,” Venables said. “This team has the ability to expose you on any given play when one guy is out of position. You say that every week but this team is just different. It’s difficult because of the run game and the skill at that position.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
White leads a potent offense
Sooners haven't seen a spread like this
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