MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The Bill Stewart era started not on the right foot, but on the left arm, with a quintet of touchdown tosses and a 60-40 pass-to-run percentage the inverse of what the coaches planned.

Welcome to ... Air Stew?

Before anyone declares the spread dead at No. 8 West Virginia, the new coach explained the reason why Heisman Trophy candidate Patrick White disdained his fleet feet for his baseball arm yesterday, when he tossed a Mountaineer Field-record and career-high five touchdown passes in a 48-21 victory against Villanova.

"As I tried to say way back when nobody believed me ... if you put nine people in the box, we're going to throw the football," Stewart said after his first victory -- second if you count his Fiesta Bowl interim duty -- since coaching Virginia Military Institute a dozen years ago. "That's the only thing I know to do. I'm not that smart."

White's passes were smart bombs, hitting hands regularly until pass attempt No. 27 when he threw behind an open Alric Arnett. Stewart counted "five or six drops" plus the one Bradley Starks tipped into Villanova arms for an interception, meaning White could have finished far better than his already career-bests of 25 completions in 33 tries.

"He very well may have been 31 of 33 with no picks," Stewart said of a noted running quarterback who compiled 208 yards through the air, impressing the sellout home crowd of 60,566 and quite possibly the East Carolina staff preparing for next weekend's apparent Top-25 game in Greenville, N.C. "Patrick White was on target."

"He proved today he's as good passing as he is running," Villanova coach Andy Talley said.

White capped a perfect day for folks in the Mountain State: West Virginia won big, and losing were Pitt, Virginia Tech and former coach Rich Rodriguez in his Michigan debut.

Sophomore slotback Jock Sanders and redshirt junior receiver Alric Arnett each caught two of White's touchdown passes and sophomore tight end-fullback Will Johnson another, their first college scoring receptions. For Arnett, they were his inaugural receptions.

"If he's going to do that, I'm going to get him the ball," White joked.

On Arnett's first score, a post pattern in the first quarter after Mortty Ivy's return of a fumble by Villanova quarterback Antwon Young, whom he dragged halfway across the field, White fired what Stewart called a "perfect throw." Arnett said, "Coming out of the huddle, Pat told me he was coming to me. He'd seen something in the coverage."

After West Virginia punted on its first possession, White and the new-fangled offense -- running more of a pro-style plan -- scored on its next six possessions: Four on touchdown passes and two by field goals from Plum's Pat McAfee, whose 52-yarder on the first half's final play was a career long for him. White completed consecutive seven passes while running up a 21-7 Mountaineers margin. Then, after three drops among his next six attempts, he completed another seven in a row before that one poor throw behind Arnett.

"He was a great passer last year," Arnett said of White. "We were more of a bubble-screen team than downfield. He always had this in him."

Now opponents have this in their game films: West Virginia just might be able to throw it over, and around, a crowded line of scrimmage.

"I think it's going to back them up a little bit," said White, who added that he never threw for as many touchdowns in his football career. "We'll see what happens."

NOTES -- Senior middle linebacker Reed Williams didn't dress while recovering from offseason surgery on both shoulders, a decision made by Stewart, who said, "Reed'll be close to playing next week." ... The first-team defense didn't allow but two touchdowns to a Villanova team that marched inside Mountaineers' territory on seven of its first 11 possessions. Still, though, the defense showed it needs work: It permitted the Wildcats 87 snaps (to West Virginia's 56) and 37 minutes, 22 seconds of possession (to 22:38). "They have to figure out a way to get off the field," Stewart said.