MIAMI — Pat White never pinch-hit in high school because he was always in the starting lineup.

Drafted by the Angels, Reds and Yankees, White eventually decided to focus on football instead of baseball, and now he has a pinch-hitting role with the Miami Dolphins.

The rookie quarterback came off the bench three times in the season opener, taking one snap each time with the Dolphins looking for a home run. The latest wrinkle in the Dolphins' innovative offense failed to generate points, and Miami will need to be more productive Monday night to keep up with Indianapolis and Peyton Manning.

"With our offense, there's a lot of big-play potential," White said.

It went unrealized in the first game, a 19-7 loss at Atlanta. The offense was a flop even though the Dolphins dipped into their expanding bag of tricks, which includes the wildcat package that revitalized the franchise last year as Miami made an improbable run to the playoffs.

The formation takes advantage of the Dolphins' depth at running back by getting Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams and Patrick Cobbs on the field at the same time.

"They like getting their athletes out there to make guys miss," Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "You've got to account for everybody."

The wildcat's popularity rapidly spread in the NFL last season, but the Indy defense never faced a significant test from the formation. And now Miami has a new wrinkle with the addition of White, the former West Virginia star who set an NCAA record for rushing yardage by a quarterback.

At Atlanta, White served as a triggerman in the spread offense, a cousin of the wildcat. While his three plays netted 1 yard - an average of 12 inches per snap - his potential in the role was evident when the Falcons' defense, worried about White's running, allowed receiver Ted Ginn Jr. to slip two steps behind the secondary.

White overthrew Ginn by 5 yards.

"We ha d a chance," Sparano said.

"I missed a wide open receiver," White said. "You can't get it back. You've got to work on making it better."

Sparano said White's role is challenging because he's coming off the bench cold - like a pinch-hitter. Throwing on the sideline might tip the defense about what's coming, but White said he found other ways to prepare.

"You stay moving and try to keep a sweat going," he said. "I'm staying loose, staying warm and ready any time they call on me."

White will hardly be the best-known Dolphins newcomer at the team's home opener. Expected to attend are Serena and Venus Williams, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, Jimmy Buffett, and Emilio and Gloria Estefan, who have all forged partnerships with owner Stephen Ross since he completed his purchase of the franchise in January.

Some of the VIPs will make their pregame arrival on a new celebrity orange carpet with Hollywood trappings, and Buffett is expected to perform for tail gaters.

Once the game begins, it's not certain White will be active - he's actually No. 3 on the depth chart behind starter Chad Pennington and heir apparent Chad Henne. But the Dolphins are eager to give White more opportunities after his limited trial at Atlanta.

"There were some things we were trying to get to, but the bottom line is we didn't for some reason or another," Sparano said.

The Dolphins are desperate for more offensive fireworks, which is why they embraced the wildcat last year. While the base offense often found itself forced to grind out long drives, the wildcat - with direct snaps to running back Brown - produced scores of 62, 53, 51 and 44 yards.

"When we introduced it," Sparano said, "there were a lot of people mocking it. Now I think there are a lot of people trying to run it. I find that kind of interesting."

By the end of last season, more than a dozen teams had tried the wildcat, but with three-time NFL MVP Manning at qua rterback, the Colts have yet to use it. And their defense wasn't tested by it last year, in part because opponents had so much success running against Indy, they didn't need trickery.

The Colts did face the wildcat last week, stuffing running back Maurice Jones-Drew after he took the snap on a two-point conversion try in a 14-12 victory over Jacksonville.

"There's not too much difference from defending regular running plays, because there are only so many things they can do out of it," defensive tackle Ed Johnson said.

Some doubt the wildcat's staying power, but the Dolphins' decision to take White in the second round of the draft suggests they're committed to keeping the spread offense in their playbook. White wasn't widely projected as a top NFL prospect in a traditional quarterback role, and his throws were often erratic during training camp.

But he passes better than Brown, creating pressure on the defense in new ways.

"Pat's a dynamic threa t that we're very fortunate to have," receiver Davone Bess said. "He can hurt you running the ball or throwing it."

The NFL's an ongoing chess match, and the Dolphins enjoyed a clear advantage when they first unveiled the wildcat last year, scoring four touchdowns from the formation to upset New England 38-13.

Now defenses have Sparano guessing.

"Maybe we're on the other side now," he said. "Teams have had a whole offseason to go through all of our plays that we ran last year in the wildcat. It's hard to be sure what the adjustments will be from team to team."

The Colts seem to think simpler better. Coach Jim Caldwell said he didn't want to spend too much time preparing for White or the wildcat because it would divert attention from the Dolphins' base offense.

Middle linebacker Gary Brackett said stopping the wildcat and spread offense isn't complicated anyway.

"You line up, play ball and at the end of the day, they've got 11 people out th ere and we've got 11 people out there," Brackett said. "It's football. Go play."