CHARLOTTE, N.C. — During four record-breaking seasons at West Virginia, Pat White made comeback victories and bowl wins routine.
His grand finale, though, was unique. The most prolific running quarterback in college football history had the best passing game of his career, cementing his status as one of the best players in school history and perhaps showing he can take his game to the NFL, too.
White threw for 332 yards in his final college game, including the game-winning 20-yard touchdown pass to Alric Arnett midway through the fourth quarter in West Virginia’s 31-30 victory over North Carolina on Saturday in the Meineke Bowl.
The senior was voted MVP of a bowl for the third straight year and finished 4-0 in postseason games, helping West Virginia (9-4) end a disappointing season on a positive note.
“I’m sitting by the greatest winner in college football today,” West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said of White. “He’s the greatest to ever wear the old gold and blue. It’s a fitting tribute that this man’s the MVP.”
It took a great performance to beat out Hakeem Nicks, who caught eight passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns for the Tar Heels (8-5). And T.J. Yates otherwise strong game was marred when he was intercepted by Pat Lazear with less than 2 minutes left, ending coach Butch Davis’ hopes of a bowl win to complete his turnaround season at North Carolina.
“It’s disappointing to lose this game, but I’m very proud of this football team and the strides we’ve made,” said Davis, whose team was 4-8 last year and playing in their first bowl since 2004.
Entering the season as prohibitive favorites to win the Big East, the Mountaineers started 1-2. They recovered to win five straight, only to go 2-2 over their final four games to end their BCS bowl hopes.
White made sure they went out a winner.
North Carolina routinely put eight men on the line of scrimmage to stop the NCAA’s all-time leading rushing quarterback. White was held to 55 yards rushing, finishing with 4,480 in his career.
Facing questions about whether he can be an NFL quarterback, White made a strong case. He completed 26-of-32 passes with three touchdowns, one interception, and a clutch fourth-quarter drive.
After West Virginia’s J.T. Thomas recovered Shaun Draughn’s fumble at the West Virginia 30, White threw a 41-yard pass over the middle to Jock Sanders picked up 9 yards on a running play and then rifled a pass between two defenders to Arnett for the go-ahead touchdown with 7:14 left.
“Knowing that this is the last time I’m going to put on this uniform, I definitely wanted to go out on top,” White said. “We accomplished that.”
West Virginia 21 0 3 7 — 31
North Carolina 14 9 7 0 — 30
First quarter: WVU — Devine 18 run (McAfee kick), 8:56. NC — Nicks 73 pass from Yates (Barth kick), 7:22. WVU — Arnett 44 pass from P. White (McAfee kick), 5:11. NC — Nicks 66 pass from Arnold (Barth kick), 4:57. WVU — Starks 35 pass from P.White (McAfee kick), 2:35.
Second quarter: NC — Safety, 13:23. NC — Nicks 25 pass from Yates (Barth kick), 10:37. Third quarter: WVU — FG McAfee 25, 9:00.
NC — Yates 4 run (Barth kick), 4:29. Fourth quarter: WVU — Arnett 20 pass from P.White (McAfee kick), 7:14. A — 73,712. WVU NC
First downs 20 15
Rushes-yards 42-123 29-93
Passing 332 277
Comp-att-int 26-32-1 16-26-1
Return yards 13 0
Punts-avg. 3-44.3 5-40.0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 1-10 4-37
Time of possession 33:44 26:16
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — West Virginia, Devine 13-61, P.White 21-55, Sanders 3-10, Brown 1-2, Arnett 1-0, Team 3-(minus 5). North Carolina. Draughn 17-65, Little 3-34, Houston 4-4, Team 1-(minus 1), Yates 4-(minus 9).
PASSING —West Virginia, P. White 26-32-1-332. North Carolina. Yates 15-25-1-211, Arnold 1-1-0-66.
RECEIVING — West Virginia, Arnett 7-93, Sanders 5-70, Jalloh 5-36. Starks 4-61, Urban 2-42, Johnson 2-16, Devine 1-14. North Carolina. Nicks 8-217, Draughn 3-11, Little 2-36, Ri.Quinn 1-5, Arnold 1-4. Rome 1-4.
