Monday, January 27, 2025, 12:16PM |  26°
MENU
Advertisement
WVU quarterback Pat White carries against Louisivlle on Oct. 15, 2015.
1
MORE

No Standing Pat: The day that changed WVU football

Photo by Matt Freed

No Standing Pat: The day that changed WVU football

Days before the game that would start his trek to superstardom, quarterback Pat White was done.

He was done with a lack of playing time and a lack of a role in West Virginia’s offense. He was done being relegated to a secondary role when he believed he was better than the man ahead of him. Most of all, he was done being overlooked.

Heading into an Oct. 15, 2005 game against Louisville, fresh off a game against Rutgers in which he had only three snaps, White’s frustration had reached a peak.

Advertisement

“Honestly, at that point, I was almost ready to give up and give in,” White said.

WVU freshman Steve Slaton scored five touchdowns against Louisville in 2005.
Craig Meyer
PG Oral History: West Virginia vs. Louisville, 2005

So, in a moment of need, this former fourth-round Major League Baseball draft pick and redshirt freshman called his father searching for an answer — should he stay with the Mountaineers or chase a new life in baseball?

“He pretty much told me to go out every day that week, the Louisville week, and give everything I had for every play I was in during practice,” White said. “If, at the end of the week, I felt the same, he would at that time bring me my baseball glove and I was going to head for professional baseball.”

That conversation altered the course of West Virginia football history. That Saturday, White replaced an injured Adam Bednarik in the fourth quarter, erased a 17-point deficit and led the Mountaineers to an improbable, 46-44 triple-overtime victory against the Cardinals.

Advertisement

The following week, he was named the team’s starting quarterback and from there, he and his team would never look back, winning 28 games and two Bowl Championship Series games over the next three seasons. It’s a span that transformed West Virginia’s coach into a hot commodity, its quarterback into a state folk hero and its program into one of college football’s best at the time.

“I would like to think we were on that path anyway because those guys were all young guys and they were going to keep getting better and were going to be good the next several years,” former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. “That probably accelerated that a little bit. There are always moments when you build a program that help you take that next step. I think that game was one of those moments.”

White’s star-making performance, for the most part, happened by accident. With 12 minutes remaining in the game — and with his team trailing the Big East Conference preseason favorite Cardinals, 24-7 — White had only seven snaps. But, when Bednarik injured his right foot with 11:20 remaining, White, a Daphne, Ala., native, got his long-awaited opportunity.

White and running back Steve Slaton led the Mountaineers to three scores to force overtime, running almost effortlessly through a Louisville defense that had been in control much of the game.

Three touchdowns in the three overtime periods gave the Mountaineers a lead, and a tackle from safety Eric Wicks on Louisville’s 2-point conversion attempt ended the game, sending Milan Puskar Stadium into euphoria. From the moment White came into the game, he accounted for 99 total yards while Slaton, a fellow freshman, rushed for 101 yards.

“My level of confidence started to build gradually throughout that season and in practice that week leading up to that game,” White said. “I had a mindset I was going to show them what they would be missing. They don’t think I’m good enough to be a starter, so let me show them that I am.”

Beginning with that game, White and Slaton emerged as a dream combination for Rodriguez’s spread offense and, for three years, they made West Virginia one of the most prolific offenses in college football.

The Mountaineers went on to win their next five games that season, capped by a 38-35 upset win against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Two years later, they were a shocking upset against rival Pitt away from playing for a national championship.

The win against Louisville also was a crucial turning point for the Mountaineers coach. After going 28-21 in his first four seasons at the school, Rodriguez went 32-5 in his final three years at West Virginia before leaving to become the head coach at Michigan.

White and Slaton have retired after short pro football careers. Rodriguez currently is the head coach at Arizona. But 10 years ago, all three were part of a moment that changed everything for West Virginia football.

“Once we got back to work that next week, we all realized — and Rich Rodriguez made us realize — that our ceiling was really, really, really high,” said former West Virginia kicker Pat McAfee, now a punter with the Indianapolis Colts. “We had a chance to be a great football team and a very successful team if we wanted to be. We just had to work for it. That’s what that game did for us. It propelled us into another stratosphere.”

Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG.

First Published: October 15, 2015, 4:05 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, center, calls timeout during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. The Steelers won 16-10.
1
sports
Jason Mackey: Steelers' offseason has been tough to predict and understand
President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
2
news
Trump's executive order on gender draws criticism from Pittsburgh advocates
Pedestrians walk past the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, where the governor's office is located. Republicans are planning their 2026 bid to unseat incumbent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro..
3
news
Pa. Republicans planning 'unified and strategic' approach to unseating Josh Shapiro in 2026
Firefighters responded to a house fire in Upper St. Clair on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. One person was killed, and four were injured, including two police officers.
4
local
A wave of deadly Pittsburgh-area house fires puts a spotlight on safety
The entrance into a waste coal pile, owned by Champion Processing, in Washington County on Jan. 22, 2025. A massive solar and battery project that would have covered up the pile and resulted in renewable energy has been abandoned.
5
business
Solar Eclipsed: The sun has set on Beech Hollow solar, a project planned for the largest coal refuse pile in Washington County
WVU quarterback Pat White carries against Louisivlle on Oct. 15, 2015.  (Photo by Matt Freed)
Photo by Matt Freed
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story