James Lang – US Presswire
The West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0) are ranked 7th in the current Rant Sports Top 25 and the majority of the credit undoubtedly goes to quarterback Geno Smith and wide-receiver Tavon Austin. Smith and Austin share a similar love. The both simply love to pile up numbers for their stat lines.
Smith, the 6’5, 215 pound senior quarterback, is the best Mountaineer signal-caller in school history. The kid from Miami holds several team records as well as some national records.
Aside from being the team’s all-time leader in career completions, passing yards, and touchdowns, Smith also holds a few bowl game records. Smith threw six touchdowns, a record, and accounted for seven total, another record during the 2012 Orange Bowl victory over the Clemson Tigers.
Heading into this 2012 season, Smith had 56 passing touchdowns with only 15 interceptions. After only three games this year, Smith already has 1,072 yards through the air with 12 touchdowns and no interceptions. His 82% completion rate is looking pretty too.
Sure, the best team the Mountaineers have played is the Maryland Terrapins, but like I said, Smith just loves numbers. It doesn’t matter who he plays.
The beneficiary of Smith’s gaudy stats is his favorite weapon, wide-receiver Tavon Austin. Austin, a senior as well, gets the utmost talent out of his 5’9”, 175-pound frame. Like Smith, Austin had a filthy good 2011 season as he was named a first-team All-American.
Charles LeClaire – US Presswire
He lead the nation in all-purpose yards, caught 101 balls for 1186 yards and tallied up 11 total touchdowns. Perhaps what was most impressive about his junior campaign was his 11 receptions for 187 yards against the Louisiana State Tigers defense. That LSU defense was arguably NFL ready!
Austin too will leave school with some records of his own. He holds the single-game record for receptions with 13, the career receptions record, and he is narrowing in on the career receiving yards record. And just like Smith, he will look to put his records out of reach for years to come. Austin already has 43 grabs for 345 yards and 5 touchdowns this year.
Austin’s game reminds me of Philadelphia Eagles WR DeSean Jackson. Jackson may have a slight edge in top-speed, but Austin has world-class field vision and just knows how to find the end-zone.
The Mountaineers have a difficult schedule ahead, but if they can navigate to a Big 12 Championship or even a National Championship, these two fellas can expect some hardware at season’s end. Perhaps a Heisman, or a Biletnikoff Award?
Paul Bentley is a contributor for Rant Sports
Follow Bentley on Twitter at @KKingBentley
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