MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Playing without an ailing Patrick White and with the burden of being a three-touchdown-plus favorite, West Virginia performed much the way it did the last time these circumstances befell it: offensively to fans, inoffensively on Mountaineer Field.

West Virginia lost to Pitt last December under such conditions, but today it survived woebegone Syracuse in a 17-6 victory. The crowd of 58,133 booed on a couple of different occasions and a few thousand fans drifted away and left before the end.

Sophomore tailback Noel Devine salvaged the victory almost single-handedly for West Virginia (4-2, 2-0 Big East), winners of three in a row heading into an Oct. 23 home date against Auburn. Devine, who had 88 yards on just 11 carries before halftime but inexplicably carried just once in the third quarter, had 96 yards rushing by the crucial, third-and-seven play from West Virginia's own 8-yard line with 4 1/2 minutes left. Syracuse (1-5, 0-2 Big East) had called its final two timeouts in hopes of getting the ball back at midfield facing a 10-6 deficit and a chance to upset the 23??-point favorite Mountaineers at home.

Then Devine, on that third-down zone sweep left, turned the corner and motored 92 yards for a game-sealing touchdown. It was the offense's season-longest play from scrimmage, the longest of his career and the second-longest run in school history - behind only Pat Randolph's 96-yard run against Northern Illinois in 1986.

That gave Devine a career-high 188 yards rushing on 18 carries. That 10-yard average on so few carries should help to explain why the home crowd booed at least six times, four of them following screen passes - Syracuse entered with the sixth-to-last total defense in Division I-A and 106th rushing defense of 119 teams.

The Mountaineers, nearly four-touchdown favorites in that infamous, 13-9 loss to Pitt at Mountaineer Field last December, didn't get many yards rushing or passing from Jarrett Brown, who started for the second time in his career for the apparently concussed White. White sat out the game after leaving the victory over Rutgers in the third quarter a week earlier after having been "dinged," Coach Bill Stewart said. White's only other missed start, after 19 straight and 35 of 36, was in December 2006 against Rutgers.

The West Virginia defense withstood two late Syracuse drives inside the Mountaineers' 20-yard line in the final five minutes. The first one, with the home side nursing only a 10-6 lead, was where the defense held on four downs and turned over the ball to its offense at the West Virginia 5. On the third play from there, after two Syracuse timeouts, Devine did his magic.

Morgantown native Patrick Shadle kicked a 53-yard field goal among his two for Syracuse, the longest ever at Mountaineer Field.