GLENDALE, Ariz. — Pat White guided West Virginia to a stunningly easy romp over No. 3 Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Then the option quarterback made his biggest pitch of the night.
White ran for 150 yards and threw for 176 and two touchdowns in a 48-28 victory. After it was over, White quickly endorsed Mountaineers interim coach Bill Stewart to become the permanent successor to Rich Rodriguez, who bolted for Michigan last month.
“He deserves it,” White said. “A great man. A great coach. All the players respect him and all the players love him. You couldn’t ask for a better man to lead us to victory today.”
An emotional Stewart wouldn’t lobby for the job. But he relished what he called “a colossal win for our program.”
“I never had a Gatorade bath,” said Stewart, a native West Virginian who has been an assistant most of his coaching career, including a 1990-93 stint as Air Force’s defensive line coach. “It was special.”
The 11th-ranked Mountaineers (11-2) didn’t need Rodriguez. They had White, a relentless defense and a rushing attack that produced 349 yards, most allowed by Oklahoma in a bowl game.
The Mountaineers overcame the loss of star tailback Steve Slaton to a first-quarter leg injury. Noel Devine replaced Slaton and ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns — a 17-yarder and a 65-yarder that clinched the game in the fourth quarter.
The Mountaineers became the first of six teams to win with an interim coach this bowl season. West Virginia improved to 2-0 in the Bowl Championship Series.
“It’s a great night to be a Mountaineer,” Stewart said as he accepted the Fiesta Bowl trophy while thousands of West Virginia fans celebrated in the stadium.
Oklahoma (11-3) has dropped four consecutive BCS games.
“It’s not very positive,” said coach Bob Stoops, who led Oklahoma to the 2000 national title. “You get to this position, you’re obviously doing a lot of things positive and good. But you need to finish out and play well in these games.”
West Virginia 6 14 14 14 — 48
Oklahoma 0 6 9 13 — 28
First quarter: WVU — FG McAfee 38, 5:40. WVU — FG McAfee 42, :02. Second quarter:Okl — FG Hartley 37, 7:46. WVU — Schmitt 57 run (McAfee kick), 6:29. Okl — FG Hartley 24, 4:50. WVU — Reynaud 21 pass from White (McAfee kick), 2:27. Third quarter: Okl — FG Hartley 42, 9:39. Okl — Brown 1 run (pass failed), 6:23. WVU — Devine 17 run (McAfee kick), 3:34. WVU — Reynaud 30 run (McAfee kick), :20. Fourth quarter:Okl — Chaney 19 pass from Bradford (run failed), 13:21. WVU — Gonzales 79 pass from White (McAfee kick), 13:02. Okl — Iglesias 15 pass from Bradford (Hartley kick), 10:20. WVU — Devine 65 run (McAfee kick), 9:21. A — 70,016.
WVU Okl
First downs 17 25
Rushes-yards 39-349 43-177
Passing 176 242
Comp-att.-int. 10-19-0 21-33-1
Return yards 57 13
Punts-avg. 4-58.5 4-47.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-110 13-113
Time of possession 25:43 34:17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — West Virginia, White 20-150, Devine 13-108, Schmitt 3-64, Reynaud 1-30, J. Sanders 1-(minus 1), Slaton 1-(minus 2). Oklahoma, Patrick 14-82, Brown 16-50, Madu 5-43, Gutierrez 1-3. Bradford 7-(minus 1). PASSING — West Virginia, White 10-19-0-176. Oklahoma, Bradford 21-33-1-242. RECEIVING — West Virginia, Reynaud 5-42, Devine 2-47, Gonzales 1-79, J. Sanders 1-6, Slaton 1-2. Oklahoma, Iglesias 8-53, Chaney 4-129, M. Johnson 4-25, Gresham 3-34, Finley 1-4, Patrick 1-(minus 3).
