Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Jarrett Brown has been worth the wait.

	John Korduner/Icon SMI
	Jarrett Brown says he has recovered from the concussion he suffered against Marshall.

The fifth-year senior quarterback patiently waited his turn behind Pat White before finally ascending to the starting role this year. The 6-foot-4 Brown is completing 67.1 percent of his passes and has thrown for 1,362 yards and nine touchdowns while leading West Virginia to a 6-1 start.

Tonight, Brown will try to do something White couldn't accomplish two years ago: guide the Mountaineers to victory at South Florida. I caught up with the affable quarterback earlier this week for our Friday Q&A:

Let's start off with your health. How did you respond to the concussion you incurred against Marshall? How much doubt did you have that you would play against Connecticut?

Jarrett Brown: The way I was feeling, I was kind of in-between. But I was taking most of the reps and I was preparing like I was going to play. I was feeling pretty good and my head wasn't hurting too much, so I was able to go full speed without having any problems.

Was that your first concussion?

JB: First time ever, yeah. It was weird, really weird.

Did it affect you at all in the UConn game?

JB: I did feel like my normal self out there, but when I watched the film, I didn't look like myself.

So you think it affected your performance?

JB: I thought it did, yeah.

How are you feeling this week?

JB: I feel better already. I'm just reacting now. I'm just thinking more clearly.

South Florida's defense has had success against you guys the past couple of years. Why is that?

JB: They just have good athletes. I don't think we really played to our potential last year because of our coaching change. Pat was working the kinks out of the offense, and I thought the offense evolved into something much more because coach [Bill Stewart] really changed, not a lot, but changed a few things to make it better. He threw out a few things he didn't like, and we built it on the things we were successful with.

I noticed in the UConn game, when things got dicey, you guys went back to the old zone-read offense to score the winning touchdown. It seems like you can switch back and forth whenever you need to with this offense.

JB: Yeah, we've got the best of both worlds.

How difficult does that make it on a defense, you think?

JB: Any time you can turn into a zone read or triple option team and at the same time you can air it out, it makes it difficult. If you try to take one thing away, the other thing is dangerous.

What do you remember about the game down there two years ago on a Friday night that South Florida won?

JB: It was hostile, very hostile. It was humid. And we had six turnovers. It was really rough.

Speaking of turnovers, you guys had major problems with that earlier in the year, but it seems to have been fixed. How did you correct that?

JB: Just by being more mature. Realizing that it will lose you games. Being more aware of that, and more ball security.

Noel Devine said earlier this week that you guys are the underdogs right now but you're in a great position to win the league. Do you agree with that?

JB: Yeah, I think we're in a great position. I don't want to say we're fortunate, but we lost a game early in the season because of turnovers. And it made us a much better team. We saw our potential, but we also knew that we stop ourselves when we turn the ball over and give the other team points. [Auburn] didn't stop us the whole game. I think that made us so much better and so much more mature, and it was good to have that in the beginning of the season.

Noel has been amazing this year. It's hard to say he's better because he was so good to start with. But what improvements have you seen from him?

JB: He's so much wiser. He always had that talent, always. Just like me, he got smarter. The older you get, the more experience you get and the more you learn about the game of football. And I think he's coming along great.

Silly question, but who do you think would win a game of one-on-one basketball between you, Greg Paulus and B.J. Daniels?

JB: Me. Yeah. Me.

You've got a little bit of size on those guys.

JB: Yeah. I didn't know Paulus was so small.

You're from Florida, as are quite a few of your teammates. How special will this game be for you?

JB: We've got quite a few Florida guys, especially on offense. There's Alric [Arnett], me, Noel, Jock [Sanders]. That's just on offense, and there are a few on defense, too. It will be like a homecoming.