BIG EAST FOOTBALL Freshman QB gets nod for Mountaineers game tonight

Pat White will make his starting debut in tonight's matchup.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Pat White has come off the bench all season to lift West Virginia's offense. That won't be necessary tonight.
The redshirt freshman will get his first start at quarterback in place of injured Adam Bednarik when No. 18 West Virginia (6-1, 3-0 Big East) plays Connecticut (4-3, 1-2).
White led West Virginia to a 24-point fourth quarter to beat Maryland. Against Louisville, he brought the Mountaineers from 17 points down, leading them to scores on their final six possessions for a 46-44 win in triple overtime.
Freshman still learning
"I've been getting a lot better at it. I don't feel like a redshirt freshman at all," White said. "It took a couple of games. I was always confident. It's just that sometimes [defenses] confused me a little bit."
Connecticut's Dennis Brown knows all about being thrust into the starting role because of injury.
He hadn't even played this season when he became the Huskies' third starting quarterback against Rutgers on Oct. 22, Connecticut's last game. Brown had a respectable debut, completing 18-of-35 passes for 196 yards with two touchdown passes and an interception in the 26-24 loss.
West Virginia linebacker Jay Henry recalled watching film of Brown throwing a touchdown pass while getting hit.
"Seems like he is pretty composed for how young he is," Henry said.
Now comes the rough part -- starting on the road for the first time in one of the conference's most hostile environments.
"It's going to be tough," Brown said. "I'm just going to take it as another football game."
Coach says Brown ready
Connecticut coach Randy Edsall believes Brown is ready for a more difficult assignment. He should be after the noise at practices was cranked up to test his concentration and simulate what he'll hear in Morgantown.
"We tried to do everything we possibly could during this week of preparation to get him distracted on the practice field. I thought he handled things very well," Edsall said. "We'll just have to just see if it carries over. I'm hoping the weather will be rainy and keep people away."
Forget that. The sky is expected to be mostly clear with temperatures falling into the 40s.
The atmosphere will feel like fall, but to West Virginia, it's as if the season is starting over.
Long layoff
The Mountaineers haven't played since Oct. 15, a span of 18 days. An Oct. 22 game at South Florida was rescheduled for Dec. 3 because of Hurricane Wilma.
The layoff stopped the Mountaineers' early momentum. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez welcomed the break to give injuries time to heal, but that didn't happen. Five key players, including Bednarik, aren't back to full strength.
The down time also gave the first-place Mountaineers premature thoughts about a possible Bowl Championship Series berth that eluded them last year.
"That's all they heard after the Louisville game," Rodriguez said. "But there's so many things that happen. You've still got four games left. Everybody is going to come gunning for you."