Baylor Bears vs West Virginia Mountaineers Match Player Stats On Sep 29, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 29, 2012

No. 7 West Virginia 70, No. 24 Baylor 63: Geno Smith turned in a record-shattering performance, throwing for eight touchdowns and 656 yards as the host Mountaineers made a spectacular entrance into the Big 12 Conference.

Stedman Bailey was on the receiving end of a school-record five-touchdown receptions and hauled in 13 catches for 303 yards as West Virginia (4-0, 1-0, Big 12) prevailed in a wild shootout that featured 19 touchdowns and 1,507 total yards.

Smith, in stamping himself as the Heisman Trophy front-runner, completed 45 of 51 passes and did not throw an interception while tossing more scoring passes (8) than incompletions (6). He connected with Tavon Austin 14 times for 215 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Nick Florence nearly matched Smith, throwing for 581 yards and five TDs and rushing for a score to rally the Bears (3-1, 0-1) from a 21-point third-quarter deficit and pulling them within seven points on three occasions. Wideout Terrance Williams was magnificent with 17 catches for a school-record 314 yards and two touchdowns.

The Mountaineers pulled away from a 35-35 halftime deadlock when Smith connected with Austin on TD passes of 45 and 52 yards and Andrew Buie plunged in for his second 1-yard TD for a 56-35 lead with 5:16 left in the third. Florence repeatedly rallied Baylor, whittling the lead to 70-63 on an 8-yard scoring toss to Williams with 3:08 to play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Smith set a school record with 14 consecutive completions in the first half - eclipsing the mark set by Marc Bulger in 1999 - and finished the opening 30 minutes with 288 yards on 26-of-28 passing. ... Despite scoring at least 45 points for the eighth straight game and 30 points for the 10th consecutive game - the fourth-longest active streak in the nation - Baylor fell to 0-26 all time against ranked conference opponents on the road. ... Six receivers - three from both teams - had at least 100 yards in the highest-scoring game ever played at Milan Puskar Stadium.