Michael Hawkins Jr. proves he is all-time West Virginia QB legend in Cincinnati win

If there's one thing that West Virginia fans can take away from the first half of the football season, let it be this: Mike Hawkins Jr. is an exceptional talent.

Before Saturday's win over Cincinnati, Hawkins Jr. had already record some history-making performances this year. One needs to look no further than the Virginia game, where Hawkins Jr. posted the first game since Pat White in 2008 (and just the fourth in program history) where a West Virginia quarterback have three rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns in a game.

And on Saturday, as the Mountaineers ended a three-game losing streak and secured a Homecoming victory with a 45-42 walk-off win against the Bearcats, he once again carved himself a spot in program history – and actually, it was multiple spots.

Inside Michael Hawkins Jr.'s historic performance against Cincinnati

Hawkins Jr. passed for 464 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns in the win, in another five-touchdown performance against a Power 4 opponent. And this time, that combination of yardage was quite special: as he became the first player in program history to pass for over 450 yards and run for over 75 yards in a game.

Hawkins Jr. also established himself among rarefied air with his performance against the Bearcats, as he joined a list with just four other West Virginia quarterbacks in history by throwing for over 460 yards and three passing touchdowns. The others on that list? Will Grier, Skyler Howard, Clint Trickett, and Geno Smith.

His 464-yard performance also is the fifth-most single-game passing yards by a West Virginia quarterback of all-time, trailing behind Smith (656), Grier (539), Howard (532), and Trickett (511). It was also the most passing yards by a West Virginia quarterback since Grier's 539-yard effort against Oklahoma in 2018.

Hawkins Jr. is now the first player in program history to record at least two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns four times in a season. He also set the record for the most passing yards with the least amount of completions in program history, and became the first West Virginia player to hit 14 rushing touchdowns in a season since Pat White and Steve Slaton in 2007.

Those 14 rushing touchdowns place him ninth all-time in program history for single-season rushing touchdowns, and is the first West Virginia quarterback to rushing for a touchdown in seven straight games since Pat White in 2006. He also now has the most passing yards by any quarterback on a Rich Rodriguez team at any school.

West Virginia must scrounge up every penny possible to keep Michael Hawkins Jr.

Hawkins Jr. put up an all-time legendary performance on Saturday, and it's now the second time he's managed to do so this year. And the Mountaineers have only played seven games – so their may be more in the works.

If you're Mike Hawkins Jr., you know your value, and with every performance like Saturday's, your price tag is going up. And if you're the staff at West Virginia, you should probably be on your hands and knees begging Pat McAfee, Ken Kendrick, Ike Morris, and every single big-time donor to the athletic department to drop a massive bag to keep him around.

One thing that will probably help is that Hawkins Jr. plays a pretty unqiue style for quarterback, and it fits Rodriguez's offense like a glove – and he might not fit everyone's elses systems anywhere near as well. But there will certainly be suitors calling for his services this offseason – let's be real, it's probably already happening.

But Hawkins Jr. is a superstar and one of the best quarterbacks to ever come through this program, and he has the remaining eligibility and the potential to be a true Hesiman-level player if he continues playing this way. And the Mountaineers should do everything possible to keep him around.

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