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West Virginia faces Miss St in final non-conference game

Oct 3, 2006 - 6:55 PM No. 4 West Virginia (4-0) at Mississippi St (1-4) 2:30 pm EDT

STARKVILLE, Mississippi (Ticker) - West Virginia is starting to get full on cupcakes. Hopefully it saved some room for the main course.

The fourth-ranked Mountaineers have their final non-conference matchup Saturday when they match up with Mississippi State for the first time in school history.

After Saturday, West Virginia (4-0) kicks off its Big East Conference slate, beginning with a home meeting with Syracuse. But first the Mountaineers have to take care of their final non-conference opponent and, considering how the first month of the season went, that should not be a problem.

The Mountaineers have posted their wins by a collective score of 166-47, including a 27-10 triumph at East Carolina on September 23. That contest kicked off a stretch of four road contests in five outings for West Virginia, which won its 11th straight game - second-best in the nation - and also extended its road winning streak to seven games.

Patrick White threw for a career-high 216 yards, completing 17-of-24 passes with a pair of touchdowns. Steve Slaton had 24 carries for 80 yards, by far the worst game of the season for the sophomore sensation, who has 503 rushing yards and six touchdowns through four games.

Mississippi State was pounded by then-No. 9 Louisiana State last Saturday, dropping a 48-17 decision to fall to 0-3 in Southeastern Conference action. Omarr Conner was 15-of-28 for 212 yards and Tony Burks had 103 receiving yards and a touchdown for the Rebels.

MSU has allowed at least 30 points in three of its last four games. That is bad news because West Virginia is 36-0 since 2000 when reaching the 30-point plateau.