West Virginia's Kevin White, in the mix to be the first senior wide receiver taken in the 2015 draft, finished his college career strong in Monday's Liberty Bowl.
White had seven catches for 129 yards and a touchdown in the Mountaineers' 45-37 loss to Texas A&M. It was his ninth 100-yard game of the season, but just his second in the final six games. White ends the season with 109 catches for 1,457 yards and 10 touchdowns.
White (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) had a breakout season as a senior; he caught 35 passes last season in in his first year with WVU after transferring in from junior college, then emerged as the Mountaineers' go-to receiver this season.
While White lacks elite speed, an AFC college scouting director described him as "big, physical, a good athlete with strong hands" to NFL Media's Albert Breer. And NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah has called White a "pretty special talent."
White, who has accepted an invitation to the Reese's Senior Bowl, was working with backup quarterback Skyler Howard; regular starting quarterback Clint Trickett announced last week that he was giving up football because of concussion issues. WVU's offense struggled in the second half against A&M, surprising since the Aggies were shredded on an almost-weekly basis during the regular season. A&M did a good job with its run defense, basically forcing Howard to win the game with his arm. While he threw for 346 yards and three TDs, he also completed just 44.4 percent of his passes (20 of 45).
Meanwhile, A&M's offense rolled up 529 yards, including 235 on the ground. An offensive line headed by highly touted tackle Cedric Ogbuehi and guard Jarvis Harrison dominated up front.
West Virginia kicker Josh Lambert was 3-of-3 on field goals, making him 30-of-39 for the season; he set the FBS record for attempts in a season and finished one shy of tying the record for most made field goals in a season.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
