Hakeem Nicks, Pat White Set Career Highs as West Virginia Takes Out North Carolina

FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.

Pat White will go out pretty high up in West Virginia football history -- h'es somehow the only player in the history of the NCAA to win four bowl games, and in his final outing as a Mountaineer, he set a career high for passing yards (328) and tacked on three touchdowns to boot.

Hakeem Nicks -- who became a star wide receiver at North Carolina after Brandon Tate was injured -- picked up a hat trick too, registering three touchdowns and a ridiculous 217 yards, the 20th player to cross the 200 yard plateau in NCAA history.

Naturally, his blowup was aided by the absence of West Virginia cornerback Brandon Hogan, who was absent for "personal reasons" (it appears as if someone in his family is sick, because he's not suspended and there are "thoughts and prayers" being tossed around).

The game itself was equal parts insanity (i.e. offensive firepower) and poor decisions; two fourth down attempts -- the Tarheels near the goal line and the 'Neers on a fourth and one late in the fourth quarter -- encompass the latter. The former was more or less made up by the first quarter, which ended with West Virginia up 21-14 on the 'Heels. It's only insane, point totals aside, because it seemed like it happened on exactly five plays: Nicks with two huge touchdown catches and White throwing darts all over the field.

Bill Stewart was "slightly" more enthusiastic about White's performance (and couldn't possibly be any less sane) but I suppose it's understandable -- White's four seasons at WV have been pretty incredible. He's been locked as the starter there for some time, and really, it's the complete opposite of Carolina's situation, wherein T.J. Yates returned to take Cameron Sexton's job.

The switch by Butch Davis looked pretty smart early on, as Yates connected several times with Nicks and ran in a score, but backfired late when a horrible interception by Yates allowed the 'Neers to seal the win. Possibly the most interesting story arc though, was seeing two programs that could potentially be headed in opposite directions. That's not to say that Stewart can't keep the Mountaineers as a dominant football force, but it's a tougher job when White's not hanging around; Carolina, certainly, despite the 31-30 loss, is headed in the right direction.