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West Virginia looking to take command in Big East race

Nov 8, 2008 - 11:17 AM Cincinnati (6-2) at (23) West Virginia (6-2), 7:00 pm EST

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia (Ticker) -- West Virginia is starting to play like the team that was picked to win the Big East Conference in the preseason.

Coming off an impressive victory at Connecticut last week, the 23rd-ranked Mountaineers seek their sixth straight victory Saturday when they host Cincinnati.

West Virginia (6-2, 3-0 Big East) has rebounded from early-season losses to East Carolina and Colorado and continued its surge with a 35-13 win last week.

For the second time in as many weeks, the Mountaineers rallied with a dominant second half after trailing at the intermission.

In a 31-17 win at Auburn on October 21, West Virginia scored 31 unanswered points in the second half after trailing, 17-3, at halftime.

Last week, the Mountaineers outscored the Huskies, 28-0, in the second half after falling behind, 10-0, in the first quarter.

West Virginia enters Saturday's contest alone in first place in the Big East - one game ahead of Cincinnati (6-2, 2-1) and Pittsburgh.

Against UConn, quarterback Pat White rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns and completed 11-of-18 passes for 121 yards and a score. The senior became just the second quarterback in NCAA history to reach the 4,000-yard mark in career rushing.

White now has 4,051 career yards and needs 239 more yards to break Brad Smith's NCAA record of 4,289 yards for quarterbacks set in 2005 at Missouri.

"Pat White is the great winner in college football today," West Virginia coach Bill Stewart.

Cincinnati rebounded from an embarrassing 40-16 loss to UConn two weeks ago to defeat South Florida, 24-10, last week.

Despite wearing a soft cast to protect his surgically repaired left forearm, Tony Pike completed 20-of-28 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns in his second game since suffering the injury.

White threw two touchdowns and rushed for 155 yards in last season's 28-23 win over Cincinnati.