MORGANTOWN - Anyone who watched West Virginia lose 41-30 to Auburn late Saturday night came away with pretty much the same conclusion: Had Jarrett Brown not turned the ball over five times the Mountaineers very likely would have won.

It's hard, though, to pin the loss on the shoulders of this rookie redshirt senior quarterback because of another realization that people are coming to quickly: Brown is one special talent, the kind of player who can lift a team to great heights almost by himself.

And you thought that was gone with the graduation of Pat White, right?

No, Brown is not White, but only in the sense that their styles differ. Where Brown's performance in his first three games as the full-time starter differs is that opponents now prepare for Brown's passing and hope he doesn't hurt them with his feet, whereas White was regarded as a runner who might on occasion make a play with his arm.

While Brown is no Pat White, his performance in the first three games of West Virginia's season is still familiar. The guy looks a lot like Tim Tebow, only with speed.

There are two big differences, though, and they will both have a huge impact on West Virginia's season if they aren't addressed:

First, the scrambling issue.

A week ago in a win over East Carolina, Brown ran the ball 10 times for 73 yards. One was a designed run. At Auburn he ran 19 times. I counted perhaps two that were intentional from the snap, and perhaps three or four others on belly option plays where he kept the ball.

That Brown is so successful running the football is, of course, a plus. In three games he's run the ball 38 times for 208 yards. In the opener against Liberty, you watched him dance out of trouble and had to wonder if he was just taking advantage of lesser athletes - that when the competition improved and those defensive ends and linebackers and safeties chasing him out of the pocket were more on his level they would begin to get him. But that hasn't happened. He's making SEC defenders look just as outclassed at times as he made lesser-quality FCS defenders look.

But as valuable a weapon as that is, it's also curious as to why it's happening. Quarterbacks in a top-flight offense just don't scramble as many as 12 to 15 times in a game, as Brown did at Auburn. And that's something offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen wants to address.

"Maybe Jarrett's not sitting in the pocket long enough. Maybe the offensive line is not protecting. But maybe it's a darn good defense,'' Mullen said after Saturday night's loss. "We had no intention of calling his number that many times.''

It's hard, though, to pin the loss on the shoulders of this rookie redshirt senior quarterback because of another realization that people are coming to quickly: Brown is one special talent, the kind of player who can lift a team to great heights almost by himself.

And you thought that was gone with the graduation of Pat White, right?

No, Brown is not White, but only in the sense that their styles differ. Where Brown's performance in his first three games as the full-time starter differs is that opponents now prepare for Brown's passing and hope he doesn't hurt them with his feet, whereas White was regarded as a runner who might on occasion make a play with his arm.

While Brown is no Pat White, his performance in the first three games of West Virginia's season is still familiar. The guy looks a lot like Tim Tebow, only with speed.

There are two big differences, though, and they will both have a huge impact on West Virginia's season if they aren't addressed:

First, the scrambling issue.

A week ago in a win over East Carolina, Brown ran the ball 10 times for 73 yards. One was a designed run. At Auburn he ran 19 times. I counted perhaps two that were intentional from the snap, and perhaps three or four others on belly option plays where he kept the ball.

That Brown is so successful running the football is, of course, a plus. In three games he's run the ball 38 times for 208 yards. In the opener against Liberty, you watched him dance out of trouble and had to wonder if he was just taking advantage of lesser athletes - that when the competition improved and those defensive ends and linebackers and safeties chasing him out of the pocket were more on his level they would begin to get him. But that hasn't happened. He's making SEC defenders look just as outclassed at times as he made lesser-quality FCS defenders look.

But as valuable a weapon as that is, it's also curious as to why it's happening. Quarterbacks in a top-flight offense just don't scramble as many as 12 to 15 times in a game, as Brown did at Auburn. And that's something offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen wants to address.

"Maybe Jarrett's not sitting in the pocket long enough. Maybe the offensive line is not protecting. But maybe it's a darn good defense,'' Mullen said after Saturday night's loss. "We had no intention of calling his number that many times.''

As long as Brown stays healthy, of course, the issue isn't critical. Some of West Virginia's best plays, in fact, are those when Brown is flushed from the pocket, whether he's running for positive yards or throwing on the run.

But Brown was also banged up a lot last year as White's backup and in his role as a short-yardage back. He got hurt again Saturday night after the outcome had been decided, landing on his non-throwing shoulder and sitting out the last two series in favor of freshman Geno Smith. West Virginia coach Bill Stewart insisted that Brown's injury wasn't serious and that he was in no danger of missing a game against Colorado a week from Thursday, but then Stewart is almost never completely up front about injuries, so who knows?

The bottom line is that while Brown's scrambling is certainly an asset that makes West Virginia's offense even more dangerous, it's not something anyone is willing to start depending on because it is, quite simply, dangerous.

The more pressing concern, though, is the turnovers. It's the most intriguing, too. Against Auburn, Brown was intercepted four times and fumbled once. All came in the passing game (he was in the pocket beginning the throw when he was blindsided and fumbled). Two of the picks and the fumble led directly to short-field Auburn scores (one was actually returned for a touchdown). The other two interceptions halted WVU scoring drives deep in Tiger territory. Assuming only field goals on those two, that's a swing of 27 points. Assuming touchdowns it's a difference of 35 points.

Wow.

In defense of Brown, not all were his fault. The fumble came with WVU ahead 14-3 and after Mark Rodgers had returned a kickoff to midfield, providing another terrific opportunity. He was in the pocket (one of those rare times he didn't scramble out) and was blindsided when the protection broke down. Later, Wes Lyons cut short a route inside the 10-yard line and Brown overthrew him in the fourth quarter. A touchdown there would have put the Mountaineers back in front.

But he also overthrew Bradley Starks and was picked off early in the second quarter with a chance to go up 28-10 and maybe put the thing away. His other two picks were a shovel pass that he threw too high for 5-foot-7 Noel Devine and an ill-advised middle screen into traffic. Those two set up the go-ahead and clinching touchdowns for Auburn.

Here's the thing, though. In several of those instances, Brown was being aggressive and taking chances. Those weren't the only times. Some of West Virginia's best plays were when Brown completed balls while on a dead run or threw into tight spaces.

The point is, take away that aggressiveness and free-wheeling style and Brown's game suffers. And then so does West Virginia's offense. Yes, there are a lot of weapons on this team - Devine, Jock Sanders, Starks, Alric Arnett, etc. - and Brown doesn't have to do it all. But the Mountaineers are a whole lot better when he's out there playing fearlessly. Were he to back off a bit, maybe he turns the ball over less. But does the offense suffer as a consequence?

That's the dilemma Mullen faces as the season goes on - to rein Brown in and play safer or risk some unwanted consequences of that fearless style.

"He's a special talent. In the first couple of quarters he made a lot of people miss and made a lot of big plays,'' Mullen said. "I just think at the end of the day I've got to do a better job coaching him and we've got to give credit to Auburn. The things he was able to get away with in the first couple of games he wasn't able to get away with in this one.''

What he's able to get away with - and how much he's allowed to try - from here on out will be interesting to watch.

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.