But White was injured for the second straight week, leaving the game late in the
third quarter after being tackled on a 10-yard run. Coach Bill Stewart said afterward
that White was hit in the head and could have returned to the game but remained
on the sideline as a precaution.
White rushed for 59 yards to move past Indiana's Antwaan Randle El, who ran
for 3,895 yards from 1998-2001. White has 3,934 career yards and is 356 yards
away from breaking former Missouri star Brad Smith's mark set from 2002-05.
With Major Harris and other members of the 1988 West Virginia team that finished
undefeated in the regular season on hand, the Mountaineers (3-2, 1-0 Big East)
improved to 16-0 at home against Rutgers (1-4, 0-1).
The last time Rutgers came to Morgantown, Mike Teel's 2-point conversion pass
in triple overtime was broken up and the Scarlet Knights lost 41-39.
Teel got another chance Saturday, throwing for one score and running for another
to rally Rutgers from a 17-3 deficit.
Plagued by overthrows and dropped passes, Teel was sharp on a 58-yard drive
midway through the fourth quarter, going 5-for-8 for 49 yards, including a 14-yard
TD to Tim Brown.
The Scarlet Knights took over with 1:54 left at the West Virginia 45 after
Mountaineers backup quarterback Jarrett Brown was stopped on fourth-and-inches.
But Teel overthrew one receiver and Mason Robinson dropped Teel's next attempt.
On fourth-and-5, Teel's pass was broken up by Scooter Berry and West Virginia
survived.
Teel finished 14-for-32 for 170 yards. Kenny Britt caught 12 passes for 151
yards.
A long punt return by Ellis Lankster in the first quarter set up White's 26-yard
scoring pass over the middle to tight end Tyler Urban, a freshman who made his
first career catch.
Late in the second quarter, White threw a screen pass to Jock Sanders, who
made several nice moves to get into the end zone for a 14-yard score and a 17-3
lead.
West Virginia has given up several long kickoff returns this season, so Stewart
decided to keep the ensuing kickoff on the ground, but it backfired. Rutgers
took over on its 44, Teel threw three completions to the West Virginia 5 and
he finished the drive with his first career rushing TD. That ended the Mountaineers'
streak of not allowing a touchdown at eight quarters.
Zac Cooper went 18 yards on a fake punt to the Rutgers 27 midway through the
third quarter. Brown converted a pair of third down runs on the drive and scored
from 1 yard for a 24-10 lead.