Quarterbacks hurting

There is going to be a tremendous amount of talk about the matchup of Steve Slaton versus Ray Rice in this game. Slaton has 135 carries for 752 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season and has caught 16 passes for 215 more yards and a touchdown. Rice meanwhile gets 135 carries in his sleep. On the season Ray has 204 carries for 999 yards and 13 touchdowns and added 17 receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown. However, the bigger story may be which quarterback is healthy and stays that way.

Although Mike Teel and Pat White play the same position they do so in much different manners. Teel has thrown for 1996 yards, 14 touchdowns and 6 interceptions on the season while rushing for -21 yards (sacks count as rushing yards in college). Teel has attempted 197 passes on the season. Pat White has thrown for 926 yards on 114 attempts. He has 9 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. White has also added 500 yards rushing and 8 touchdowns on 74 rushing attempts. Both quarterbacks are coming into the nooner on Saturday banged up. Mike Teel has a bruised right throwing hand that bothered him against USF, but has vowed to play. Teel has had to overcome the injury since the October 6th loss to Cincinnati. On the otherside Pat White has been battling injuries since the USF loss. White took a couple of big shots in the game last week including a hit on a defensive offsides when the O-line did the "freeze" play made famous in the Gator Bowl. This time the defensive line didn't stop. White has been limited again this week in practice, but says he'll play as well.

Should either quarterback be further injured or unable to go the game will fall to the backups. For Rutgers the backup quarterback is Jabu Lovelace. This is clearly a made up name for someone running from a shamed past. "Jabu" has only attempted 5 passes for Rutgers. For WVU Jarrett Brown has thrown the ball 42 times for 312 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He has also run the ball for 238 yards and two scores. Rutgers also has a punter that showed a lot of promise during a fake punt in Jeremy Ito in case Jabu has to leave for a witness protection thingy.