TAMPA, Fla. - Jarrett Brown clearly remembers West Virginia's last trip to Raymond James Stadium.

Specifically, the night was humid, WVU and South Florida were in a close game and the Mountaineers had opportunities to win despite a staggering six turnovers.

Oh, and Brown played. A lot. And at the time that was unusual because it was in Pat White's heyday.

While West Virginia's first-year starter at quarterback is facing a lot of teams this season that he's faced before - either in mop-up roles or in relief of White - this is actually one of the few road venues with which the fifth-year senior is intimately familiar. Of WVU's five road games this season, he has played little or not at all at most. He did have some experience at the Carrier Dome because that was another place at which he had to fill in for an injured White in 2007.

That was a week after Brown had to take over for White and play more than a half in then-No. 5 WVU's 21-13 loss to South Florida.

If he wasn't nervous about doing it back then as a largely raw sophomore, he's not likely to be rattled tonight when the No. 20 Mountaineers (6-1, 2-0 Big East) face South Florida (5-2, 1-2) at Raymond James Stadium.

"It was no pressure. Of course, I was much younger,'' Brown said. "You just go out there and play.''

Make no mistake, though, when Brown takes the field for the 8 p.m. game (televised by ESPN2), there's something a little different. It's the same for all of West Virginia's Floridians, who number nearly two dozen this season.

TAMPA, Fla. - Jarrett Brown clearly remembers West Virginia's last trip to Raymond James Stadium.

Specifically, the night was humid, WVU and South Florida were in a close game and the Mountaineers had opportunities to win despite a staggering six turnovers.

Oh, and Brown played. A lot. And at the time that was unusual because it was in Pat White's heyday.

While West Virginia's first-year starter at quarterback is facing a lot of teams this season that he's faced before - either in mop-up roles or in relief of White - this is actually one of the few road venues with which the fifth-year senior is intimately familiar. Of WVU's five road games this season, he has played little or not at all at most. He did have some experience at the Carrier Dome because that was another place at which he had to fill in for an injured White in 2007.

That was a week after Brown had to take over for White and play more than a half in then-No. 5 WVU's 21-13 loss to South Florida.

If he wasn't nervous about doing it back then as a largely raw sophomore, he's not likely to be rattled tonight when the No. 20 Mountaineers (6-1, 2-0 Big East) face South Florida (5-2, 1-2) at Raymond James Stadium.

"It was no pressure. Of course, I was much younger,'' Brown said. "You just go out there and play.''

Make no mistake, though, when Brown takes the field for the 8 p.m. game (televised by ESPN2), there's something a little different. It's the same for all of West Virginia's Floridians, who number nearly two dozen this season.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think my mom said she's bringing two buses,'' said Brown, who went to school in West Palm Beach, a good 31/2 hours to the south, but still by far the closest to home he is scheduled to play. "But J.T. [Thomas] has even more coming [from even more distant Fort Lauderdale]. I think he's got about 80 tickets. West Virginia is going to travel well to this one.''

Brown, though, hopes the end result is different this time than it was when he filled in during that 2007 game. That night the Mountaineers turned the ball over four times in the first half, six times total and, despite moving the ball well with both White and Brown in the game - 437 yards and 10 more minutes of possession time - scored on just two field goals and didn't get into the end zone until less than six minutes remained.

Of West Virginia's six turnovers, four came with the Mountaineers in USF territory at the 30, 30, 9 and 40, and a fifth resulted in linebacker Ben Moffitt's interception return for a touchdown. And that doesn't even count a disastrous near-turnover. Shortly after taking over for White, Brown had WVU inside the USF 5-yard line late in the first half when a center snap sailed over the 6-foot-4 quarterback's head. The Mountaineers recovered, but because of that had to settle for a field goal.

Given all of that, there seems plenty of incentive for Brown - and many others - to have some extra motivation in order to prove they can play in front of the home folks. Brown, though, seems genuinely averse to even suggesting that he will go into tonight's game with anything but a business-as-usual attitude.

"I always tell myself I would never try to do something that would impress the crowd,'' Brown said. "I want to stay within myself. I want to do all the things correct that we [practiced] during the week, just making the right reads. Then everything will take care of itself.

"Sometimes it's tough because your emotions start to take over. I think that's natural. But you've got to understand what you're trying to accomplish while you're out there. You have to keep the team under control. You have to be the thermostat.''

One thing that could be the same this year as it was in 2007 is the humidity that Brown recalls. The temperature in Tampa reached 90 degrees Thursday and the heat index was near 100 degrees. It is expected to be only slightly cooler today, although by the 8 p.m. kickoff the forecast is for temperatures near 80 and the humidity at nearly 80 percent and rising.

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