Something about South Florida beats up Patrick White and heats up Jarrett Brown, but the question about which West Virginia quarterback will start this weekend at Syracuse remained a mystery yesterday.

White, who exited with a deep thigh bruise just before halftime of the 13th-ranked Mountaineers loss to South Florida at Tampa Friday, was "a lot better" on an off-day yesterday compared to Sunday's light practice session, said coach Rich Rodriguez. "He's got a little bit more motion. We'll see how he feels at Tuesday's practice."

In South Florida's upset of the Mountaineers in November, White got so banged up -- a turf toe and high ankle sprain on the same right leg -- that he missed the next week's game against Rutgers. Brown started that one, and he might do the same for West Virginia (4-1, 0-1 Big East) at noon Saturday at Syracuse (1-4, 1-0).

"Jarrett didn't play as well offensively as he has in the past," Rodriguez said of Brown's performance in the 21-13 loss at South Florida. His numbers: 11 for 20 passing for 149 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions along with 61 yards on 15 rushes, minus-27 yards in sack losses. "Certainly, that isn't the main reason we lost.

"We weren't doing really well offensively before [Pat's injury]. It was like a nightmare: You talk about fumbled snaps, [six total] turnovers, missed assignments -- things we'd been really good at. It was poor execution all night. It was poor fundamentals all night. We made more mistakes in that one game than we made in the other, what, four games [with four lost fumbles total]. It's baffling."

In his only previous substitute start, Brown combined for 317 yards rushing and passing, threw two touchdown passes and directed West Virginia to a triple-overtime triumph Dec. 2 against Rutgers, 41-39.

If Brown were to start and beat Syracuse, it would mark a third consecutive Mountaineers victory against the Orange with three different quarterbacks -- White, 2005 starter Adam Bednarik and Brown.

Reset

On a weekend when seven of the Top 13-ranked teams lost, causing a major reshuffling among The Associated Press poll, it seemed that West Virginia's tumble from No. 5 to No. 13 may greatly hinder, if not end, its national-title chances. Yet Rodriguez maintained that doesn't alter the team's aim.

"We never sit down and say our goal is to win the national championship. I've never done that," said Rodriguez, whose Mountaineers are about to play their fourth road game in five weeks. "Our goal every year is to play West Virginia football each and every time we get out there and compete for a championship, particularly the Big East championship. I told the team we're behind the ball on that."

The early conference standings appear out of order: Syracuse, Connecticut and South Florida are tied for first place, each at 1-0. West Virginia, Louisville and Pitt inhabit the cellar at 0-1.

"You never know," Syracuse coach Greg Robinson said of the Big East race. "It's going to go back and forth a little bit. It'll be hard to run the table."

Hats off to Bulls

South Florida folks were irked by Rodriguez's comments early last week when he compared the Mountaineers' road show to the New York Yankees -- i.e. they both bring crowds.

Then a handful of West Virginia players stepped off team buses Friday evening wearing Yankees caps, and the Bulls got rip-snorting angry. "You can tell West Virginia they can take those Yankees hats and stick them ... you know what I'm saying," Bulls defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said after South Florida's 21-13 upset. Interestingly, the Yankees' spring-training Legends Field is one block away from the Bulls' home field, Raymond James Stadium.

"We had a few guys who had them on. Big deal," Rodriguez replied. "It's a fact: Every time we go somewhere, we help sell the place out. That's not a slam at the other team. It shows how far we've come."