Cincinnati ? A pair of tough-to-catch freshmen is keeping No. 16 West Virginia out of everybody’s reach in the Big East.

Pat White ran for 111 yards Wednesday night, taking off on quarterback draws that set up Steve Slaton’s four touchdowns and a 38-0 victory over Cincinnati and its one-step-slow defense.

The Mountaineers (8-1, 5-0) are in position to clinch the conference title heading into their final regular-season games against Pittsburgh and South Florida, its closest pursuer with one conference loss.

“They look like a team that can play with just about anybody,” Cincinnati coach Mark Dantonio said.

Last year, West Virginia also was in position to win the title outright, but lost its last two games and then its Gator Bowl appearance against Florida State. The emphasis has been on avoiding another fade.

White, Slaton and one of the nation’s toughest defense led the Mountaineers to their most lopsided victory of the season and their first shutout since 2002.

White, a red-shirt freshman making his second start in place of banged up Adam Bednarik, spent the night tormenting the nation’s youngest defense. He ran straight up the middle on draws, turned upfield on option fakes, and took off on passing plays.

“I was hoping I’d get loose on a couple,” White said.

He picked his spots perfectly, looking nothing like an inexperienced quarterback on a first-place team.

“He’s calm and composed out there,” coach Rich Rodriguez said. “It’s not like he’s a freshman at all.”

Cincinnati (4-5, 2-3) couldn’t contain him or catch up with him. His runs of 17, 34 and 13 yards sparked three first-half touchdown drives.

“They’ve got an exciting quarterback who can take a bad play and make it a good one,” Dantonio said. “He’s special. And they’ve got a tailback that’s elusive.”

Slaton, a first-year freshman, finished them with runs of four, one and nine yards for a 21-0 halftime lead. Last year, the 5-foot-10, 195-pound tailback was MVP of the Philadelphia Catholic League.

“He still made a couple of mistakes, but not as many as a first-year player usually makes,” Rodriguez said. “He has the right temperament for that position. He runs hard and he has a burst.”

The only thing that slowed the Mountaineers’ offense was a 10-minute power outage in the first quarter.