White runs for two touchdowns in WVU win

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Pat White ran for 177 yards and two

touchdowns Saturday night, leading West Virginia to a 28-13 victory

over South Florida in the 12th-ranked Mountaineers' final tuneup

for a Bowl Championship Series appearance.

Nine days after running for 220 yards against Pittsburgh to

break the Big East rushing record for a quarterback, White was just

as impressive in helping the conference champions finish unbeaten

in league play for the first time since 1993.

The redshirt freshman scored on second-half runs of 65 and 76

yards and finished with his fourth game with at least 100 yards

rushing. He also completed 5 of 10 passes for 89 yards and a

touchdown as the Mountaineers amassed 394 yards of total offense --

305 of that on the ground.

The victory was the sixth straight for West Virginia (10-1, 7-0)

and gave the Mountaineers at least 10 wins in a season for the

first time since 1993 and just the fifth time in school history.

The dominating performance dispelled any notion that the

Mountaineers lacked motivation to win their regular-season finale

after wrapping up the Big East title and the league's automatic BCS

berth when USF (6-5, 4-3) lost at Connecticut last week.

Steve Slaton rushed for 89 yards and one TD for the

Mountaineers, and West Virginia's defense limited Big East rushing

leader Andre Hall to 75 yards on 20 carries for South Florida.

Despite finishing with a two-game losing streak, USF still

expects to receive its first invitation to play in a bowl game.

The Bulls were eliminated from contention for the conference

title and the league's spot in the BCS when they lost at UConn,

however representatives of the Meineke Car Care Bowl and Motor City

Bowl remained interested in the nation's newest Division I-A

program.

West Virginia set the tone by driving 66 yards on 12 rushing

plays to take a 7-0 lead on Slaton's 16th touchdown (14th rushing)

in the freshman's last six games.

White put the Mountaineers up 14-3 with a 7-yard TD pass to

Darius Reynaud, then answered a South Florida field goal with his

65-yard run on West Virginia's first offensive play of the third

quarter. His 76-yarder made it 28-6 early in the fourth quarter.

USF had lots of success moving the ball against the Big East's

top-ranked defense. However, the Bulls stalled both times they

drove inside the West Virginia 5 and settled for two short field

goals by Kyle Bronson.

The Bulls finally got in the end zone with 1:20 left in the

game, scoring on an 11-yard run by backup quarterback Carlton Hill.