A familiar foe will be scheming on the opposing sideline Thursday night when West Virginia hosts Auburn.
Although West Virginia will meet the Southeastern Conference team for the first time, Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads is no stranger to the Mountaineers.
Rhoads was Pitt's defensive coordinator last season and had a lot to do with ruining West Virginia's national championship hopes. Pitt stymied West Virginia's usually explosive offense in a 13-9 win that kept the Mountaineers from playing in the BCS title game.
But Rhoads didn't give himself too much credit for unranked Pitt's victory against then-No. 2 West Virginia.
"I think it was a few things,"
Rhoads said. "One, it's such a tremendous rivalry game as people like to say, and I think at times it's accurate. When two big rivalries get together, you can throw out the talent and the teams tend to play up. And we tackled extremely well that night."
Rhoads didn't reveal any secrets as to how he shut down quarterback Pat White while he was in the game. White left with approximately five minutes remaining in second quarter with a dislocated thumb. Even before his exit, Rhoads created problems for West Virginia's offense. The Mountaineers squandered two scoring opportunities in the first quarter, missing short field goals, and finished the game with a season-low 183 yards.
Unlike most of West Virginia's opponents, Rhoads had an answer for White, who was reinserted in the fourth quarter but proved to be unproductive. Still, Rhoads knows how dangerous White can be, considering that White helped the Mountaineers defeat Pitt in each of his first two seasons by a combined score of 90-40. White rushed for 220 yards and two touchdowns in each of those games and threw for 204 yards and two more touchdowns against the Panthers in 2006.
"He's a great decision-maker,"
Rhoads said. "When he makes a decision to go, he's very, very fast. I think he's a very good throwing quarterback. I was fortunate to have a chance to go against Michael Vick back in the early part of the decade. I think, in college, Pat White throws a better ball than Michael Vick did in college."
Rhoads isn't the only member of the Auburn staff who is familiar with White, an Alabama native who was recruited by Auburn. The Tigers even said they'd play him at quarterback when many of White's suitors wouldn't give him that chance. But White never bought into the hype surrounding the hometown teams.
"I wasn't too impressed since early childhood with Auburn or Alabama,"
he said. "It's just not where I wanted to be, so I came here. I was always looking to get out of state. I just didn't really like them that much. I was more of an LSU fan than Auburn or Alabama."
In his first game back since a concussion kept him out of West Virginia's game against Syracuse two weeks ago, White will look to get the best of his hometown team and the guy who had a hand in tarnishing his season last year.
"Pat is a sharp individual, and he's mentally on top of the game,"
West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said. "That being said, he has emotions just like everyone else. To play against a state that has named him their 'Amateur Athlete of the Year' the past two years, that's big. I'm sure he wants to look good. It's a national TV game, and Pat has done very well"
