To say that defense was optional in September 29th, 2012 would be an understatement. West Virginia’s inaugural football game in the Big 12 turned into basketball on turf. The Mountaineers won 70-63 over the Baylor Bears in front of a sold out Milan Puskar Stadium. Stellar performances filled the stat sheets for both the Mountaineers and the Bears, but one stood out above the rest.
According to WVUSports, Geno Smith set the school-record for both single-game passing yards (656), and single-game touchdown passes (8) against the Bears. Looking almost superhuman, Smith also finished with 88.8% completion for the game, going 45 for 51. Yes, Geno Smith finished with more touchdowns than incompletions against the Bears. Placed firmly as the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy at the conclusion of the game, Smith did not let the spotlight of the National stage affect him.
While the stats are undoubtedly eye-popping, astoundingly, many of the passes from Smith were deep down the field. The Dana Holgorsen led offense had became know for the shovel pass which was ran with Tavon Austin quite often. Many would argue that this was a boost for the stats of Smith. In the case of Smith’s thrashing of the Baylor defense, he continuously found receivers open deep down the field. Four times over the course of the game, Smith tossed touchdown passes of over 45 yards. Not a bad feat for a quarterback who seemed as if he could not throw beyond the line of scrimmage.
What will go down as possibly the greatest performance by a Mountaineer, Geno Smith showed that the air-raid offense had finally arrived in Morgantown. The Mountaineers and Smith had quite the inauguration into the Big 12.
