Know Your Enemy: Keys to the West Virginia Mountaineers

The 4-0 start for Texas has been filled mostly with treats, but Halloween may come early this Saturday when Geno Smith, the most terrifying quarterback Texas will see all season, and Big 12 newcomer West Virginia bring their bag of tricks to Austin. The match-up between unbeaten teams offers both their first shot at a marquee win and also gives the winner a leg up in the race to be crowned Big 12 champion.

The Mountaineers, with a high-octane offense and atrocious defense, … [s2If current_user_is(s2member_level1)] feel right at home in the Big 12. They also, in case you haven’t noticed, have a superstar quarterback in Geno Smith. We will discuss the Heisman front-runner Smith but any football fan will tell you that there’s no such thing as a one-man team. With that in mind, Horns Illustrated gives you the goods on the mighty men from Morgantown. It’s time to “Know Your Enemy.”

Heisman Hysteria

Texas fans are experiencing deja vu as senior Geno Smith has drawn comparisons to Robert Griffin III, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner. We don’t need to be reminded of how crafty Griffin III was in last year’s 48-24 win in Waco, but Smith’s play in 2012 is remarkably similar to RGIII”s last year, especially in terms of passing inefficiency. Smith has thrown 224 passes without an interception so far and has completed 83% of his passes in 2012. That insane number would easily pass Colt McCoy’s current completion record of 76.7 percent if Smith can keep it up.

The fundamental difference in Smith and Griffin’s game lies in their passing preferences. Smith’s passes and mechanics are sound, particularly in his short and intermediate passes, whereas Griffin beat teams over the top with the best touch on the deep ball in all of college. Smith allows for his speedy receivers to do the work after the catch, a wise choice when you have Tavon Smith and Stedman Bailey on your team.

What’s In a Name?

If Geno Smith wins the Heisman Trophy, he will become the second player with that first name to do so in less than 25 years (Miami quarterback Gino Torretta took the honors in 1992). So, you now know what obscure name to give your kid if you want him to be a stud quarterback.

Up In the Air

Fans of the former 90’s Houston Oilers and Cougars offenses should love watching the West Virginia “Air Raid” offense. Geno Smith has taken up the mantle where QB greats like Warren Moon and Andre Ware once sat and runs a variation of the old Run and Shoot offense. The ability for receivers to adapt their routes on the fly makes the system challenging to defend, since it prevents the defense from gaining pre-snap information. It also limits confusion and maximizes aggression for the offense.

The Mountaineers have consistently crushed their opponents through the air so far, averaging 441.5 passing yards and 53 points per per game. The pass-first strategy won’t change against Texas, as the Mountaineers have three running backs (Ryan Clarke, Donovan Miles, Shawne Alston) all injured Dustin Garrison is also trying to get back to form, so the run game is hurting for WVU. Of course, West Virginia won’t pretend that injuries are the reason they chuck the ball so often. It would be like saying Manny Diaz has to be intense because he didn’t get his morning coffee. It’s just in their nature.

Gotta Jet

The Jet Sweep is a play that could be run early and often by West Virginia. The Mountaineers used it to beat Clemson in the Orange Bowl and Baylor saw it again in doses last week. It’s a glorified shovel pass to a receiver crossing the field, but an incredibly effective play when you have a burner like Tavon Austin taking the pass. Watch and learn.

 

Here’s the Catch

Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey are arguably the best receiving tandem in all of college football. The two are on pace to shatter a number of records, both individually and collectively, including most catches and receiving yards for teammates. In fact, at this rate both Austin and Bailey are on pace to pass the individual record for receiving yardage, set by by Nevada’s Trevor Insley in 1999 (2,060 yards). So yeah, they’re pretty good.

Austin, a 5-9, 172 pound senior, set the school record last week with fourteen receptions and is flying up NFL draft boards with his combination of quickness and sure hands. Comparisons to DeSean Jackson are fair, though Austin seems a bit more grounded. Get used to hearing his name Saturday, as he is almost assured of finding a place in the NFL as a slot receiver. He will be all over the field Saturday and is a player who could exploit Texas’ recent tackling woes on defense. Mack Brown said the Texas defense missed 12 tackles, resulting in 109 additional yards and 2 touchdowns. That number has to improve.

Bailey also plays bigger than his size, coming in as as 5-10, 195 pound junior. He leads the nation in scoring, with ten touchdowns, and put up a career day of 303 receiving yards and five TD’s last week against Baylor. Bailey’s the deep man and Austin gets it done underneath, so the Texas secondary will be tested on all levels.

Also, don’t sleep on J.D. Woods. The 6-1, 190 pound senior averages nearly seven receptions a game and is the third piece of the Mountaineers’ three-headed receiving beast.

Breaking Bad

Nobody will be confusing the West Virginia defense with the likes of Alabama any time soon, partially because the players are still adjusting to new defensive coordinator Joe DeForest’s implementation of a 3-4 scheme. The Mountaineer defense is ranked 106th in the nation.

While Geno Smith and the West Virginia offense are basking in the praise of last week’s seventy-point performance, it’s important to note that the Mountaineers gave up 63 points and over 700 yards to Baylor. Quarterback Nick Florence threw for 581 yards and 5 touchdowns against them, so we could see a career day for David Ash if Texas offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin decides to let him fling the pigskin. The Mountaineer defense allows 352 yards against the pass a game (119th worst in the nation) but only gives up 121 yards on the ground (39th in the nation). Even so, Joe Bergeron and Johnathan Gray will have to be used often to chew up the clock and keep the Mountaineer offense off the field.

Mike Davis and Jaxon Shipley also have to be eager to face the Mountaineer defense, seeing as Baylor’s Terrance Williams set a Big 12 record against them last week with 314 receiving yards.

Bruce Almighty 

6-1, 255 pound freshman linebacker Isaiah Bruce is a player to watch on the West Virginia defense. Bruce has 16 tackles and returned a fumble for a 43-yard-score his first game on the college level. He currently ranks second in the Big 12 in tackles and continues the list of great Bruce’s at West Virginia, with Bruce Irvin now lighting up NFL quarterbacks for the Seattle Seahawks.

Switch It Up

Senior Terence Garvin made the switch from strong safety to linebacker this year and leads the team in sacks (4 this season). Garvin is a great open-field tackler and represents a stabiliing force for West Virginia as a defensive veteran. He’s also got a pretty sweet YouTube highlight video.

The way these two teams put up numbers, don’t be shocked if the game has plenty of YouTube worthy highlights. Let’s hope one of them is a game-winning score for Texas.

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