MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The beginning of the Bill Stewart era at West Virginia came to something of a strange end: five touchdown passes by the quarterback previously known for his legs?

Heisman Trophy candidate Patrick White threw for a career-high and Mountaineer Field-record five scores, three to fellows who gathered their inaugural collegiate touchdown catches, and the No. 8 Mountaineers cruised to a season-opening victory over Villanova, 48-21, before a sellout home crowd of 60,566. Only Marc Bulger in Mountaineers history ever threw for more, with a half-dozen against Pitt in 1998.

For Stewart, it was his first regular-season victory in almost 12 years, since he was VMI's head coach last in 1996. Yet lumped together with the rousing Fiesta Bowl triumph over then-No. 3 Oklahoma last January when he was an interim head coach for just a few more hours, Stewart owns a 2-0 start for his homestate university.

The vaunted West Virginia rushing attack was relatively non-existent except for White. He rushed for 59 of its 100 yards through three quarters, but Noel Devine in the fourth started to shine. After a mere 13 yards on seven rushes in those opening three quarters, Devine gained 34 yards on just two carries amid a scoring drive early in the fourth, before Stewart called it a day for the first-team offense.

Sophomore Jock Sanders and redshirt junior Alric Arnett each caught two of White's touchdown passes and sophomore tight end-fullback Will Johnson the other.

Throwing three times to every two rushes in the new-fangled spread offense at West Virginia, White completed 25 of 33 passes for 208 yards while including five different receivers in the fun - and having four more passes dropped. His lone interception was tipped into Villanova hands by receiver-quarterback Bradley Starks.

The Mountaineers punted on their opening possession, and then watched Villanova's spread offense drive to the West Virginia 14. A fumble by Villanova quarterback Antwon Young was picked up by linebacker Morrty Ivy, the Gateway High product who later scored on a 29-yard interception return. After that fumble, White promptly threw 24 yards to Arnett for a touchdown and 7-0 lead, and the Mountaineers never looked back. They scored three more touchdowns and two field goals, conjuring points on five consecutive possessions.

The frolic quickly turns serious, though: Stewart's troops travel next Saturday for an ESPN-televised date at East Carolina, which toppled No. 17 Virginia Tech by 27-22 and may well nudge into the Top 25.

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