MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia's defense has gone largely unnoticed this season because of its occasional letdowns, and the Mountaineers' thriving offense.

But the defense was solid Wednesday night, pinning Connecticut deep in its own territory to set up several short scoring drives as No. 18 West Virginia cruised to a 45-13 win, giving the Mountaineers' Pat White a successful first start at quarterback.

"Our defensive coaches thought we could get some pressure on them," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. "When you make somebody one-dimensional, your chances of winning the game are pretty good."

West Virginia had allowed more than 30 points in two of its previous three games. But the Mountaineers held an opponent to under 15 points for the fourth time this season and sacked UConn freshman Dennis Brown six times in his first road start.

West Virginia (7-1, 4-0 Big East) set up two touchdowns with turnovers and limited UConn to 12 rushing yards and 129 overall, the fewest allowed by the Mountaineers in three seasons.

"We knew since they had a young quarterback they would try to run the ball. We stopped that, and after that we were able to tee off a little bit," linebacker Jay Henry said.

White led the Mountaineers to touchdowns on five of their first eight drives.

He ran for two scores and threw for another in a three-minute span of the second quarter.

"The more you do it, the easier it gets," said White, starting in place of the injured Adam Bednarik. "I liked playing the entire game, but I will go wherever they put me. I'll play wherever."

West Virginia (7-1, 4-0 Big East), playing for the first time in 18 days, built a 35-3 halftime lead.

The nation's ninth-best rushing attack used a rotation of backs to compile 228 yards against the Huskies (4-4, 1-3). UConn had one of Division I-A's top defenses statistically, but four of its opponents have a combined record of 3-29.

"Our main focus was to stop the run, but obviously we didn't do it," UConn defensive end Shawn Mayne said. "The run killed us."

White ran for 63 yards on 12 carries and at times frustrated UConn with his arm.

He hit Brandon Myles with a 20-yard TD pass early in the second quarter. On the first play of the ensuing drive, West Virginia's Warren Young recovered a fumble at the UConn 20.

White then leveled two UConn players on a block that saved teammate Steve Slaton from a big loss.

"I enjoyed that hit a lot," White said.

Two plays later, White eluded three defenders on a bootleg run to the right and scored from 14 yards out for a 28-3 lead.

"Pat's got a different gear, and I think everybody saw that," Rodriguez said.

Brown threw an interception that Anthony Mims returned 32 yards to the UConn 14 midway through the second quarter. That set up White's second TD run, a 14-yard bootleg to the left.

Brown finished 10-of-19 for 97 yards.

"He gutted it out, but there are a lot of things he has to work on," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "He has to learn not to hold the ball so long in certain situations."

White went 7-of-16 for 106 yards with an interception.

Slaton, a freshman who ran for 188 yards and set a school record with six TDs in a triple-overtime win over Louisville on Oct. 15, left with a sore hip late in the first half and did not return. He led West Virginia with 71 yards rushing.

The first-place Mountaineers, in pursuit of their first Bowl Championship Series bid, have road games left against Cincinnati on Nov. 9 and South Florida on Dec. 3 and a home contest against Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving night.

"I told our guys in the locker room after the game that especially this time of year, the more you win, the more is at stake," Rodriguez said. "Our guys know that every game we play from here on out is for the Big East championship."