PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Of his Big East-record-and-counting 2,671 rushing yards for a quarterback, West Virginia junior Patrick White has gained exactly minus-3 against Rutgers. On two carries. In his career.

In two years, this 2006 Big East offensive player of the year and onetime Heisman Trophy hopeful has played the sum total of two series against the Scarlet Knights. Maybe it's a quirk of fate. Maybe it's a turn of luck. Whatever, No. 25 Rutgers (5-2, 2-1) may well face for the first time a heaping helping of White when No. 6 West Virginia (6-1, 1-1) invades sold-out Rutgers Stadium at noon today on ABC.

Adam Bednarik, Rutgers knows -- he started that rainy Oct. 8, 2005 day when Steve Slaton made his first collegiate start and West Virginia prevailed by 27-14.

---

Scouting Report

• Matchup: West Virginia (6-1, 1-1 Big East) vs. Rutgers (5-2, 2-1), noon, Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, N.J. Mountaineers are favored by 6.
• TV-Radio: WTAE-DT, WTRF-TV Wheeling, W.Va., and WBOY-TV Clarksburg, W.Va.; WWVA-AM (1170) and Mountaineer Sports Network. Games also can be heard at www.MSNsportsNet.com.
• West Virginia: QB Patrick White (chest muscle) is healthier, but backup Jarrett Brown remains ready -- he's 1-0 vs. Rutgers after triple-OT victory Dec. 2. ... Chris Neild may again start at NG, moving all-Big East Keilen Dykes to DE. "
• Rutgers: QB Mike Teel (thumb) should be better after three extra days' rest following Oct. 18 upset of then-No. 2 South Florida.
• Hidden stat: Rutgers, the birthplace of college football and owner of 138 seasons of football history, has never before played Top 10 teams consecutive weeks. It likewise has never played host to ranked teams consecutive weeks.

---

Jarrett Brown, Rutgers knows -- he made his first and, as yet, only collegiate start Dec. 2, 2006, with White hobbled by two leg injuries from the South Florida loss a week earlier, and directed West Virginia to a triple-overtime triumph, 41-39.

White? He remembers his fleeting mop-up role at Rutgers two years ago. "I had two series, and I got hit pretty hard," said White, who last Saturday gave way to Brown and rested his strained chest muscle the second half of the Mountaineers' 38-13 defeat of Mississippi State. "It's a hard-hitting series."

And one with little White flavoring: two rushes for minus-3 yards, one incomplete pass -- his lowest totals in 32 career games to date. To think he has accounted for 63 touchdowns running and passing in his 2¹/₂-year career, and nary a one against Rutgers. He has amassed 6,080 yards, but just minus-3 against Rutgers.

Oddly enough, West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez and Rutgers linebacker Brandon Renkart agree that it's all about the system, not the quarterback.

"We were talking about that the other day," Rodriguez said of the White-out against Rutgers "[But] when Jarrett was playing last year, and Adam a couple of years ago, it was really the same offense. We talked about it -- really, there isn't anything we've done differently [without Pat in there]."

"It doesn't matter who's in," Renkart added. "[White's] a little more shifty than the backup. But the game plan is the same."

However either side chooses to spin it, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano stressed the difference White makes: "Pat White ... can really fly. If we make a mistake, we won't catch him from behind. He's so fast, he can accelerate from nothing to full speed like that, and his full speed is faster than anyone on the field."

White is, after all, 21-3 as West Virginia's starter, though none of those came against Rutgers. With rain in the forecast, with White still hobbled a mite, such a dynamic player could prove to be an X-factor. "