Mountaineers are new beasts of Big East

Since Miami and Virginia Tech left the Big East, commissioner Mike Tranghese has pitched competitive balance as the league's selling point.

Apparently, West Virginia didn't get the memo from the league office.

The Mountaineers haven't quite reached Hurricanes-level dominance, but over the last three years, they've won 34 games and finished in the top-10 in nation three times, with league championships and BCS victories in 2005 and '07.

Favored to win the Big East again this season behind its Heisman Trophy contender quarterback, there's no doubting West Virginia is the conference's premiere program.

But can the Mountaineers stay on top with Coach Rod in Michigan and Coach Stew running the show in Morgantown?

"We like proving people wrong," senior tackle Ryan Stanchek said. "I think it's great for the football team. I think we do a lot better when we are the underdog. We do better when we have something to prove. So keep telling us that we don't have a coaching staff."

During the tumultuous time after Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia for Michigan, Bill Stewart, a West Virginia native like Rodriguez, directed the Mountaineers to a 48-28 victory against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

Stewart, an affable longtime assistant, was rewarded with a promotion to permanent head coach, putting one of the most talented teams in the country in the hands of a man whose only head coaching experience was three lackluster seasons at VMI.

It seemed all of West Virginia loved coach Stew after the Fiesta Bowl, but that warm and fuzzy feeling won't last if the Mountaineers stumble this season - and he knows it.

"I don't worry about that pressure," Stewart said during Big East media days in Rhode Island earlier this month. "Every game, they're all big. We're going to approach every game in a championship manner."

The mastermind behind West Virginia's spread offense is gone, but the guy who makes it go is back for his senior season. Pat White ran for 1,335 yards and 14 touchdowns and completed 69 percent of his throws.

White expects to throw it even more this season, but it's when he leaves the pocket that he becomes one of the most dangerous players in the country.

"He's very unique. He's slippery," Pittsburgh linebacker Scott McKillop, a third-team All-American and the league's leading tackler last season. "You've got to make sure you have him tackled because if you think you have him tackled he could be 60 yards downfield."