West Virginia 70, Baylor 63
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- It didn't take West Virginia long to adapt to the Big 12 style of football.
With quarterback Geno Smith putting together a day unlike any other signal caller in WVU history, the Mountaineers went over and through Baylor for a 70-63 victory in their first Big 12 game.
Smith continued to inscribe his name on the Heisman Trophy as he broke school records for completions (45), yards (656) and touchdowns (eight). He completed 45-of-51 passes.
Receiver Stedman Bailey caught 13 passes, breaking the school record for yardage with 303 with five touchdowns. Tavon Austin also caught a school-best 14 passes for 213 yards with two touchdowns while J.D. Woods caught also tied the mark with 13 for 114 yards with one touchdown.
Nick Florence broke the Baylor school record, set by last year's Heisman winner Robert Griffin III, for passing yardage with 581 with five touchdowns. Receiver Terrance Williams broke Baylor records with 17 receptions for 314 yards.
Baylor also had three 100-yard receivers as Tevin Reese caught passes for 120 yards and Lanear Sampson 109.
The Bears gained 700 offensive yards and could not win while WVU gained 807 and had to struggle to win as the Mountaineers scored 70 points for the second time in their last five games. They scored 69 in one of the games they failed to accomplish the feat. It was a rare first half at Mountaineer Field, a place where there once was an 'Up-The-Middle Meter' in the Don Nehlen days of rock 'em, sock 'em running football. But on Saturday, the two teams combined for 711 yards in the first two quarters alone.
Smith completed 26 of 28 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns, and could not get the lead because Florence threw for 296 yards. Sixty-seven of those yards came on the final play of the half, an incredible touchdown pass to Lanear Sampson as the clock expired to make it 35-35.
Florence hit Sampson on the sideline and he slipped a tackle, broke clear and, as defenders closed in on him, they collided and went down in a heap. He then ran into the end zone with the most improbable touchdown of the year.
In the first half, Bailey caught three of his TD passes from Smith that gave him 24 for his career, a school record. Austin had nine receptions for 107 yards, J.D. Woods eight for 72 and Bailey seven for 93.
Notes: Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby attended WVU's first conference game and served as Grand Marshal of the Homecoming parade on Friday night. ... WVU linebacker Jared Barber missed his second straight game with an unannounced injury while running back Ryan Clarke was out with an ankle injury from the Maryland game. ... Baylor has lost 26 consecutive games to ranked Big 12 teams on the road. ... West Virginia had not given up 50 points to an opponent in 22 years, since losing to Penn State in 1991.
