MORGANTOWN - Judging by the reaction of some, there are apparently good points and bad to having a backup quarterback serving as a utility back in a college football offense.

Personally, I'm trying to figure out just what those minuses might be as far as West Virginia is concerned.

So is Bill Stewart.

And, oh boy, so is Jarrett Brown.

"I love it,'' Brown, the backup quarterback in question, said this week. "I love my new role.''

Brown's new role, of course, is as West Virginia's everyman. In making his debut Saturday against Marshall, he was everything from a slot receiver to a short-yardage fullback to a tailback and a quarterback. He ran the ball, caught the ball, threw the ball and generally created nightmares for every defensive coordinator that still has West Virginia penciled into the schedule.

OK, so there is one obvious risk. The great thing about having a backup quarterback with Brown's talents is that sometimes you actually need a backup quarterback. West Virginia needs one perhaps as much as any team in the country because its starting quarterback, Pat White, is a) as valuable a commodity as there is in the game, and b) prone to getting beaten up every once in a while.

And so putting Brown in harm's way isn't exactly the safe play.

What, so now we're criticizing Stewart for not playing it safe?

Not here, we're not.

Stewart knows how risky the move is.

"But it's going to continue,'' the West Virginia coach said. "You've got to play playmakers.''

In a way, not playing Brown would be almost like not playing White for fear he might be injured. Or not playing Ryan Stanchek. Or Mortty Ivy. Or Reed Williams (OK, bad example).

Personally, I'm trying to figure out just what those minuses might be as far as West Virginia is concerned.

So is Bill Stewart.

And, oh boy, so is Jarrett Brown.

"I love it,'' Brown, the backup quarterback in question, said this week. "I love my new role.''

Brown's new role, of course, is as West Virginia's everyman. In making his debut Saturday against Marshall, he was everything from a slot receiver to a short-yardage fullback to a tailback and a quarterback. He ran the ball, caught the ball, threw the ball and generally created nightmares for every defensive coordinator that still has West Virginia penciled into the schedule.

OK, so there is one obvious risk. The great thing about having a backup quarterback with Brown's talents is that sometimes you actually need a backup quarterback. West Virginia needs one perhaps as much as any team in the country because its starting quarterback, Pat White, is a) as valuable a commodity as there is in the game, and b) prone to getting beaten up every once in a while.

And so putting Brown in harm's way isn't exactly the safe play.

What, so now we're criticizing Stewart for not playing it safe?

Not here, we're not.

Stewart knows how risky the move is.

"But it's going to continue,'' the West Virginia coach said. "You've got to play playmakers.''

In a way, not playing Brown would be almost like not playing White for fear he might be injured. Or not playing Ryan Stanchek. Or Mortty Ivy. Or Reed Williams (OK, bad example).

Let's say the two best players on your basketball team are versatile point guards who both can run the floor, distribute and shoot. Are you really going to sit one of them down or are you going to make him your shooting guard?

Well, White and Brown can both run, throw, catch and do any of a number of other things. And if you're going to sit one of them because you're worried about getting one of them hurt then you aren't doing your team justice.

"I don't [worry about getting hurt],'' Brown said. "When you do that, that's when the injury occurs. It can happen walking down the street.''

The fact of the matter is Brown adds a dimension to West Virginia's offense that it has never had - shoot, that not many offenses have ever had. Who else can put, almost anywhere on the field, a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder who has the ability to run with power or speed (or both), catch the ball and - here's where he separates from the rest - take snaps and throw the ball with even more power and accuracy than the starting quarterback? And who else has a starting quarterback who can then line up at any of a number of other positions and still be perhaps the most dangerous player on the field?

And when Rutgers has to face that this weekend, remember that West Virginia has shown only part of what it can do with the White-Brown combination. Think that doesn't cause a few more hours of work even for defensive mastermind Greg Schiano?

"I would think he's going to say, 'Wow, [Brown and White] back there. Now what else are they doing?''' Stewart said. "What it does is it gives them something to work on. We ran a reverse. We ran that counter. We threw the ball to Jarrett. Jarrett threw the ball. There are a few more things we can do and we will do. You've not seen enough of Butch and Sundance. They're going to get in there and have some fun.''

Still, the injury question lingers. But whose potential injury are we talking about here, White or Brown?

If it's White, well, playing Brown in that new role is actually the best thing that could have happened. Think about it. White actually did leave the Marshall game with his thumb injury and Brown didn't miss a beat. He'd played the whole game and was ready to go - much more so than had he been standing on the sidelines.

"You saw that Saturday. Jarrett Brown went to quarterback and, man, he was rolling. He was loose,'' Stewart said. "You go out there and stand 35 minutes or an hour and then jog in at halftime and tell him to get loose. How fast? It's not like baseball. You can't take him out there in that bullpen and let him warm up for an hour.''

OK, but the real question is what if Brown gets hurt? Well, from a purely quarterback context, the problem would not come until White, too, was injured. It doesn't matter if your backup quarterback is hurt if the starter is healthy.

In the event of that double whammy, sure, it's a problem. But are you going to limit the offense just to avoid the possibility of losing both?

Now that would not be very smart.

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