MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Brandon Hogan's body starts at cornerback, and West Virginia teammates and coaches consider him a sight to behold after just two games there.

His heart and mind, though, linger a while longer on the other side of the line.

"I wouldn't mind playing offense. I'd play both," this Mountaineers sophomore said. "I've been talking to coach [Jeff] Mullen. I don't know if he's serious or not."

Darius Butler does it. Connecticut allows that star cornerback to double as a receiver, where Butler owns eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown along with a 13-yard run on a reverse. And he'd been a defensive player his entire, five-year Connecticut career.

Hogan has been a cornerback for less than two months. And the recently converted slotback -- he and Jock Sanders, with a dozen catches as freshmen, were the Mountaineers' second-leading returning receivers when camp opened -- has adjusted to his new environs rather well, earning rave reviews as a starter for the past two games.

"I played offense my whole life," said Hogan, the 2006 Virginia player of the year who, as a quarterback, steered Osbourn High School to the highest-classification state title on the strength of 4,274 yards and 59 touchdowns rushing and passing as a senior. "To come in here and switch is big for me. But I really like it. I'm all right with it now."

Listen to others around the program, and they'll tell you he's more than all right.

"I tell you what: He's going to be a great cornerback," red-shirting middle linebacker Reed Williams said. "He may be the best player on our defense in the coming weeks. He's got a load of talent."

"When we put him out there, we thought he was a guy who had the ability to do it," cornerbacks coach David Lockwood added. "He's learning every day. ... He can be as good as he wants to be. I thought the Colorado game, he got in there and looked like the player he's capable of being."

After making six tackles in Boulder, Hogan wrested a starting cornerback job from fourth-year junior Kent Richardson the next game, at home against Marshall. Hogan gives no indication he's going to give it back.

This 5-foot-11, 170-pound newfound cornerback not only amassed five tackles, a team-leading three pass break-ups, one fumble recovery and two near blocks of Marshall point-after and field-goal tries, but he also helped to put the clamps on receiver Darius Passmore. The NCAA leader was limited to just 39 yards receiving, roughly 80 below his per-game average, in a Mountaineers romp.

Then, Saturday against Rutgers, Hogan slipped up for only the second noticeable time this season. Against East Carolina on its opening drive, he peeked at the quarterback and lost Jamar Bryant on a double move that resulted in a 35-yard gain. Against Rutgers, Hogan quickly forgot about giving up Tim Brown's 14-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown in the end-zone corner and returned to business. Hogan made five tackles in that 24-17 defeat of Rutgers, including the Mountaineers' final one: an open-field, tripping-from-behind, third-and-10 takedown of all-Big East receiver Kenny Britt after a 5-yard gain.

"There were probably [fans] who wanted me to fire Brandon Hogan again," coach Bill Stewart said, referring to the Brown touchdown. "He just took the cheese down in that end zone. But who made that tackle in the end? Brandon Hogan. He came back and made the play dragging Britt down."

Offered Hogan, "No, I'm not surprised [to start]. Coach told me I had the opportunity to get the job. I just had to show him." Now he wants to persuade the offensive coordinator to give him a side job, too.

NOTES -- Quarterback Patrick White sat out a chunk, if not most, of yesterday's practice while wearing a green, no-contact jersey. "I feel pretty much normal," said a wan White later.