Twenty-five for 33, 208 yards and five touchdowns?

Big deal.

"Last year he threw for 200 yards against us and completed 88 percent of his passes,'' Holtz said.

Actually, the East Carolina coach shortchanged White's numbers from a year ago. The West Virginia quarterback's completion percentage was actually 90 (18-of-20), although he threw for only 181 yards.

The point, though, is well taken. One of the biggest reasons West Virginia was able to pummel the Pirates 48-7 a year ago in Morgantown was because White did exactly what everyone now seems amazed he was able to do in the 2008 opener - throw the ball efficiently and effectively and make the Mountaineers' offense much more than one dimensional.

So when the teams meet again on Saturday in Greenville, N.C., it's not like Holtz will have something new to worry about in devising a way to slow down West Virginia's offense.

But just because it's not a new problem doesn't mean it's an easy one to address.

"I could call pretty much everybody they've played and I don't know that anybody has come up with [a way] you defend them,'' Holtz said Tuesday. "Go back and ask Oklahoma. It's not like [White has] only had success against three or four people. He's had success in every bowl game, he's had success in the regular season and when you look back at [West Virginia's loss to Pitt last season] that's one of the only games he didn't finish.

"I think if you look at West Virginia's record over the last three years, they're pretty much an unprecedented success. And I don't think it's any mistake that Pat White's back there handling the ball every time it's snapped.''

Somehow, though, Holtz was able to defend White and the Mountaineers up until last season.

Twenty-five for 33, 208 yards and five touchdowns?

Big deal.

"Last year he threw for 200 yards against us and completed 88 percent of his passes,'' Holtz said.

Actually, the East Carolina coach shortchanged White's numbers from a year ago. The West Virginia quarterback's completion percentage was actually 90 (18-of-20), although he threw for only 181 yards.

The point, though, is well taken. One of the biggest reasons West Virginia was able to pummel the Pirates 48-7 a year ago in Morgantown was because White did exactly what everyone now seems amazed he was able to do in the 2008 opener - throw the ball efficiently and effectively and make the Mountaineers' offense much more than one dimensional.

So when the teams meet again on Saturday in Greenville, N.C., it's not like Holtz will have something new to worry about in devising a way to slow down West Virginia's offense.

But just because it's not a new problem doesn't mean it's an easy one to address.

"I could call pretty much everybody they've played and I don't know that anybody has come up with [a way] you defend them,'' Holtz said Tuesday. "Go back and ask Oklahoma. It's not like [White has] only had success against three or four people. He's had success in every bowl game, he's had success in the regular season and when you look back at [West Virginia's loss to Pitt last season] that's one of the only games he didn't finish.

"I think if you look at West Virginia's record over the last three years, they're pretty much an unprecedented success. And I don't think it's any mistake that Pat White's back there handling the ball every time it's snapped.''

Somehow, though, Holtz was able to defend White and the Mountaineers up until last season.

It's easy to forget, given that the Mountaineers ran for 397 yards and passed for 202 in that lopsided win in 2007, but in each of the previous two seasons the Pirates did as well as anyone in stuffing West Virginia's ground game. It didn't translate into victories, but in 2005 ECU limited WVU to 127 rushing yards in a 20-15 loss in Morgantown. A year later in Greenville, the Mountaineers gained only 153 yards on the ground, but lost 27-10.

That all change last season because of what White was able to do throwing the football. Villanova wasn't his first victim.

"The biggest difference was the emergence of Pat White as a thrower, how he has evolved as a quarterback,'' Holtz said. "The first couple of years we felt like we needed to stop the run and we were going to make him beat us left-handed, we were going to make him beat us throwing the ball.''

And for two years it worked.

"We'd bring our safeties way downhill and almost cheat in the back end to try and get an extra defender in the box to slow the running game down. And we were able to do that,'' Holtz said. "But last year Pat White comes out and goes [18-of-20] or something crazy like that and made us pay for it. We tried to do some things we had done in the past and he threw the ball extremely accurate . . . He loosened us up because of the way he was throwing the ball and proved he was good enough to beat us that way. And when we'd back off to stop the bleeding in the passing game, then the running game would start going.

"That's why I say they're so difficult to stop and that's what makes him one of the best players in college football.''

So what's next for Holtz in the evolution of stopping West Virginia's offense? Well, no coach worth his salt is going to be up front about what he might have planned, so Holtz simply goes back to how difficult it is.

"Coach Hudson [ECU defensive coordinator Greg] probably put it best. He said playing against West Virginia is going to be like trying to herd cats,'' Holtz said. "Now that [White] has three years under his belt, he's not just an athlete who plays quarterback. He is truly becoming a great college quarterback. He can beat you with his feet, he can beat you with his arm and he can beat you with his mind.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.