West Virginia Shredded the Record Books Against Baylor
By Ken Durbin
Dana Holgorsen’s offense has beeen lighting up the score boards at Milan Puskar Stadium all season. Now, the air raid offense is lighting up the West Virginia record books. Yesterday, against Baylor, the Mountaineers set individual single game records, team single game records, and even a couple career records in the high scoring shoot-out.
September 29, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Stedman Bailey (3) catches a touchdown pass thrown by Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith (not shown) in the second quarter against the Baylor Bears at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Christy-US PRESSWIRE
Let’s first take a look at the individual single game records:
- Geno Smith completed 45 passes, beating his own record of 38 completions against LSU last year.
- Geno Smith threw for 656 passing yards, eclipsing the mark he set against LSU in 2011.
- Geno Smith (surprise, surprise) set the record for passing touchdowns in a game at 8. He previously held the mark for his 6 touchdown passes in the 2012 Orange Bowl against Clemson.
- Geno Smith set the school record for total offensive yards in a game with 687 yards, smashing his previously held record of 468 yards against LSU last year.
- Tavon Austin had a record 14 receptions, one-upping his and Stedman Bailey’s record of 13 (Austin against Maryland this year and Bailey against JMU and Baylor this year).
- Stedman Bailey dismantled the receiving yards in a game record with 303 yards. The record was previously held by Chris Henry with 209 yards against Syracuse in 2003. Tavon Austin also surpassed Henry’s record against Baylor, moving to second on the list with 215 yards.
- Stedman Bailey set the single game receiving touchdown record previously held by teammate Tavon Austin. Bailey caught 5 touchdowns against Baylor, besting Austin’s 4 touchdown performance against Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl.
Give your eyes a break. That is just the individual game records. We now take a look at the team single game record set yesterday.
September 29, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Tavon Austin (1) reacts during a timeout in the second half in the game against the Baylor Bears at Milan Puskar Stadium. West Virginia defeated Baylor 70-63. Mandatory Credit: Rob Christy-US PRESSWIRE
- The Mountaineers offense set the record for most yards in a game at 807 yards. The previous record was 655 yards against Marshall in the season opener.
Finally, we look at the career records set against Baylor.
- Tavon Austin captured the career receiving yardage record with 2,684 yards. Austin passed David Saunders previous mark of 2,608 yards.
- Stedman Bailey beat out teammate Tavon Austin for the top spot on WVU’s all-time receiving touchdowns list. Bailey now hold the record at 26 touchdowns, two better than Austin’s 24 touchdown receptions. The record was previously held by Cedric Thomas with 23 touchdowns.
The Mountaineers offense has been hitting on all cylinders virtually the entire season. The way this offense has been playing, don’t be surprised to see many of the records set during Saturday’s game to be taken down as the season progresses.