The West Virginia Mountaineers have had their fair share of historic football victories since the turn of the 21st century.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — If ever a university was in need of a feel-good sports story to help it through troubled times, it is West Virginia University, which has seen not only its football program but its basketball program fall upon lean times.
The thing is, there has been one out there all year that we let slip by somewhat under our radar. While we were suffering the self-pity and discontent that fandom often experienced when the good times turn bad on the athletic fields, out west there was unfolding an NFL story that not only was heartwarming but which carried a strong lesson for Mountaineer fans with it.
A decade ago, Geno Smith, the most prolific passing quarterback in WVU history, threw his final pass for the Mountaineers, ending the most successful and exciting decade of football in the school's long history. It was the decade from 2002 through 2012, a time when Pat White, Steve Slaton, Noel Devine, Owen Schmitt, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and Smith played offensive football as it never had been played at the school.
From 2002 to 2011 the Mountaineers went 95-33, a decade without a losing season, a decade in which they recorded three 11-win seasons and a 10-win year. After having lost 11 of 12 bowl games from 1984 to 2005, they won four straight and five of seven, capping it off with Geno Smith leading the Mountaineers to a 70-33 Orange Bowl victory over Clemson.
The future -- the world itself -- belonged to Smith, but his dreams of being a first-round draft pick came to a painful end when he was passed over on the first night, winding up a second-round pick of the New York Jets and struggling through his career.
He was an NFL quarterback, sometimes a starting quarterback, all those years but never reached the fame and fortune that had seemed to be his to grab ... and then this year, with the world completely counting him out, he received one final chance and delivered.
On Sunday afternoon he and the Seattle Seahawks came from behind in a game that mirrored his entire NFL career to not only pull out a victory over the L.A. Rams but to survive through a tense night as the Detroit Lions beat the Packers in Green Bay to open a playoff spot for the Seahawks.
This was a team that had let its beloved, veteran quarterback, Russell Wilson leave, then placed the faith in Geno Smith that no one else had to run the team and he not only would revive the team, but his own career.
At age 32 and given up upon by everyone but himself and Carroll, Geno Smith has undergone a resurrection and broken Wilson's single-season records for passing yards, completions and completion percentage while using his talent but leaning far more heavily upon his character to will the Seahawks into the playoffs.
When things were at their worst, that coming as he threw a quick interception to put his team behind, then another, Smith held them all together as he leaned upon the one phrase that Carroll had etched into his mind, that being "the epitome of poise."
His poise became poison to the Rams as he completed a clutch 17-yard pass to Tyler Lockett to set up the winning field goal in overtime.
Let's, for a moment, return to an earlier game when Carroll was caught by the camera following Smith out to the field at a crucial moment when things had gone wrong, shouting at him. The words were caught for the world to hear but more so by Smith, who listened to them.
"My phrase is the epitome of poise, to remember where you need to be," Carroll remarked in an interview leading into Sunday's game with the Rams. "He's hot-tempered, man. He's fiery. He's got to be like that, but he needs to return."
And so it was when he threw that early interception on Sunday. Just as his career had been derailed early, so, too, was his game-plan Sunday, but he understood what had happened. He understood that it was a play, a bad result but not the end of the human race or, for that matter, the race to the playoffs.
"Man, that's a tough way to start a game. We've done it twice now. It's unacceptable in my eyes, but when it happens, you have to have a short memory," he said in the post-game interview. "Playing quarterback is like playing cornerback. Cornerbacks get beat. When you are a quarterback, you are going to throw interceptions at some point. You have to remember to move past it.
"You have to look and see what happened, why it happened and fix it and move on because there's a lot of time left to play."
They managed to get to overtime. That is the time for the leaders to take over and Geno Smith always has been a leader, from his days in high school in the Miami, Florida, area, from Morgantown, no matter where he played whether he was on the field or off.
"He reminded us when we were in the huddle, 'Hey, just calm down. It's just football,'" Lockett recalled after the game. "Man, Geno just showed us who he's always been. He's a gamer. Even when it's all on the line, he's going to go out there and still be poised, still going to play.
"It's hard, especially when you go out there and things don't go your way early on. He had picks and stuff like that, but to show the fight and how you respond, that's what you want in a player, that's what you want in a teammate, somebody that's just going to keep on fighting."
Receiver and quarterback. That's the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it was with Smith and Bailey and Austin.
Geno Smith understands those relationships.
"We knew our season was at stake," Smith said of the feeling as the game, and his career, went into overtime. "We don't want our season to end. Our coaches, everybody in the locker room, we feel like we are coming together at just the right time. We're enjoying one another. Going to work and the locker room is so much fun that we don't want the season to end right now.
"We had to come together and get a win. The defense kept us in the game. We were struggling on offense, but we found a way. It took everybody and I was glad to see that happen."
And that it happened with Smith and Lockett teaming up ... well, that was almost as if it were preordained.
"Tyler and I have done that so many times ... you know, training camp, OTAs, practices. He's one of the better receivers I've ever played with and when it's one-on-one on those deep passes, he's always going to get his toes in. That we know. He's a dynamic player with a lot of heart. He's one of those players I'll never forget."
Now, Smith gets not only to do it again. He has proven himself as an NFL quarterback and put himself, at 32, for probably a 3-year contract, maybe worth $30 million or more.
Jan. 3, 1989 – Gale Catlett’s 11th WVU squad (26-5) opened its Atlantic 10 Conference schedule with an 89-73 victory over Massachusetts in Springfield thanks to a strong effort by senior guard Herbie Brooks (21 points) and forward Chris Brooks (17 points).
Jan. 4, 2012 – West Virginia won its fifth bowl game and third BCS bowl in a seven-year span with a record-breaking 70-33 blowout victory over ACC champion Clemson in the Discover Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida. The game was played a few blocks from the childhood home of WVU quarterback Geno Smith, who won the game’s MVP honors by connecting on 31-of-42 passes for 407 yards. Smith threw six touchdown passes and ran for another.
Jan. 5, 2011 – Mike Carey’s 10th Mountaineer women’s basketball team (24-10 overall and 8-8 in the Big East) recorded its 15th of an eventual 16-game opening win streak, knocking off Seton Hall on the Pirates’ home floor, 67-46. Senior Liz Repella led WVU with 24 points.
Jan. 6, 2010 – West Virginia’s winningest basketball team in school history (31-7 overall, 13-5 Big East) impressed the 9,586 in attendance at the WVU Coliseum with a dominating 86-52 wipeout of conference foe Rutgers. West Virginia pulled out to a 17-point halftime lead and then kept expanding its margin from there thanks to superb performances by forward Kevin Jones (19 points, eight rebounds), guard Da’Sean Butler (15 points), guard Truck Bryant (15 points) and forward Devin Ebanks (11 points, nine boards).
Jan. 7 – Maple Heights, Ohio, native Shaq Rowell was born on this date. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound nose tackle finished his WVU gridiron career with 97 total tackles (42 solo), six tackles for loss, and two passes broken up.
Jan. 8, 1958 – Sophomore forward Jerry West scored 37 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a 75-74 upset victory at Villanova. In Fred Schaus’ fourth season as WVU coach (26-2 overall, 12-0 Southern Conference), the Mountaineers overcame a 14-point Wildcat lead with only eight minutes left.
Jan. 9, 2013 – Trailing Texas 47-37 with 3:35 remaining at the Erwin Center in Austin, Bob Huggins’ fifth squad (13-19; 6-12 Big 12) came storming back to force overtime and eventually defeated UT 57-53. The Mountaineers completed a regular-season sweep of the Longhorns with a 60-58 victory at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 4.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — There is nothing really like getting a puppy or a kitten.
Doesn't matter if it comes on Christmas morning from Santa Claus or on a normal Tuesday afternoon from a shelter.
They are so innocent, so clumsy, so inquisitive and, of course, so filled with potential.
In many ways it is not much different than a football coach who gets a young player filled with potential but so raw that in many ways he is nothing but a puppy or kitten coming into the house, first to be house broken, then nourished, taught to follow rules and grow into those oversized paws that had him or her flopping around the house.
This, one might say, is the Sean Martin story at West Virginia.
He came on the scene from Bluefield, potential bursting from his every pore but with so much to learn, so much to experience before he could become the defensive lineman the West Virginia coaches believed he would be.
"High school football in West Virginia, it wasn't really hard," Martin admitted. "Adapting to college football was way harder. It took two years. Like Coach Brown always told me, I'm a two-year development player."
His credentials were spotless when he was recruited out of Bluefield, ranked the No. 1 or 2 top prospect in the state by the most prestigious recruiting services.
He was all-state and had the major programs on his trail ... offers from Baylor, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Carolina and N.C. State, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
But he wanted to stay at home.
Physically, he was imposing. He stood 6-5, weighted 250 pounds and had the wingspan of a jumbo jet.
But he was a puppy and needed to gain strength, weight and knowledge, something that now is gathered within a body that had grown to 290 pounds.
In the spring he seemed ready to become a contributor to the defense.
"Sean has done well, had a good offseason," defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said. "The thing about Sean and probably the person that needs to realize this more than anybody is Sean himself. He is 6-5 and 280 pounds and he's probably an 82 to 83.5-inch arm span and that's a lot of body to control, but at the end of the day he's still a 19-year-old kid."
Lesley said it would come with work in the weight room and that was what he concentrated on over the summer.
"Versatility and athleticism are premiums but so is length and it creates a different set of issues for an offense. Sean just has to learn how to use that and he will."
All of it now is coming together. Martin had a good summer camp and has played well early and now is ready to make a turn it loose with more playing time.
Against Kansas he had four tackles, two of them for losses and just jumped off the game tapes.
"If there was a guy that played well up front, it was Sean," Lesley said. "His role will increase and it needs to. He's ready for that. He understands what he can be now.
"There are position we can get him in up front that will really help us, particularly against a team like Kansas the next time we com across that style of offense," Lesley added.
This the opportunity he has waited for, knocking on the door and having it swing open for him.
"My mom always tells me to take advantage of my opportunities," he said. "The coaches always speak on it. I just got to do the right things, do the little things and get better each and every day."
If things go as expected in Saturday's 1 p.m. game at home against Towson, who is undefeated but also untested by any quality opposition, he should get a chance to play a lot and prove he belongs high up in the rotation on the defensive line along with Dante Stills, Taijh Alston and Jordan Jefferson.
It is WVU Sports Hall of Fame induction day with ceremonies beginning at 10 a.m. in the Caperton Indoor facility with football stars Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and Geno Smith joining basketball star Kevin Jones, Donna Abbott (women's basketball), Marie-Louise Asselin (cross country/track), Marsha Beasley (rifle) and Marilee Hohmann (rifle) making up the class of 2022.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — If there is one thing you learn as you go through life, especially in the sports writing profession, it is that if you look around enough corners, you are going to find something that fits a story that is bouncing around in your mind but doesn't have the glue to put it together.
And so it was on a Monday morning as we were looking at story ideas for the week. While heading off in one direction, I stumbled upon a video of a much younger West Virginia baseball coach Randy Mazey than the one that is here today.
Now this is a story that has nothing to do with Mazey or baseball, for that matter, but what he had to say did.
See, his baseball program was just becoming established and had lost seven consecutive games and was facing an Ohio State team that was pretty good in a mid-week game.
He needed someone to pitch, so he dug into his bullpen and pulled out a struggling Ross Vance, and all of a sudden, the Mountaineer mood changed as Vance not only beat the Buckeyes, 4-1, but struck out 14 in the process.
After the game, Mazey offered up a message that fits far better in today's subject that it even did then.
"What an unbelievable performance just when we needed it," Mazey began. "We pitched him in relief this whole season, and he hasn't been effective. Who knew? Who knew he could do that if given the opportunity?"
And here comes the lesson.
"That's what I tell my guys all the time. In baseball and in life, sometimes opportunities are far and few between, but when you get them, you have to take advantage of them."
Opportunities and take advantage. We offer this up because a couple of former West Virginia athletes have waited and waited for that opportunity to come to them, and each seems to sitting on a turning point in his career.
Both are Mountaineer heroes, one in basketball, one in football, each a high draft pick.
The basketball player is Jevon Carter, who suddenly has become a key part of the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks after being released by Brooklyn, and the other is quarterback Geno Smith, who bounced around the NFL but now has that opportunity laid open in front of him with the chance to replace Russell Wilson as the Seattle Seahawks' starter.
Originally with Memphis, Carter struggled for playing time and didn't do enough with it when he had it. He moved on to the Phoenix Suns and showed progress but was beaten out for the spot as Chris Paul's backup at point guard by Cameron Payne — not the one who played at WVU in the pre-Carter days.
His journey took him to Brooklyn with the Nets this year, but shots would not fall for him, and when they signed Goran Dragic, he was released.
Opportunity was waiting for him, and rather than giving up, rather than getting down, he signed on with Milwaukee and played as he had not played before as a professional, the residue of all those extra hours in the gym finally clicking in. He has become a force off the bench in the playoffs, replacing injured three-time all-star Khris Middleton.
A 33.3% shooter with the Nets, he shot 50.6% from the field and a ridiculous 55.8% from 3 in the regular season and in the playoffs is shooting 43.8% and 42.9% from 3. In the first round, he led the entire NBA in the +/- category off the bench with a +46.
Smith's story is equally as intriguing. He had stamped himself as an NFL backup when the record-shattering Mountaineer quarterback, after being drafted in the second round by the New York Jets, went just 11-18 in 29 starts his first two years with the team.
Now entering his ninth season and having started just five more games the rest of his career, Smith has spent the last two years with the Seattle Seahawks, who are replacing Russell Wilson this season.
And right now, Smith has been tabbed the frontrunner for the job by coach Pete Carroll, listed ahead of Drew Lock and Jacob Eason.
"The competition is underway," Carroll said over the weekend. "Geno has come in and is obviously ahead going in because he had all the background with us. He's been with us for a number of years. He leads the charge right now. He's in command of our system as much as a guy could be."
Smith pushed himself to front of the line last year when he relieved an injured Wilson. Cold and not having thrown a meaningful pass in three years, he came on in relief and had the fans chanting "Gee-No! Gee-No!" with his performance, although he could not lead them from behind to victory.
"I went right to Geno afterward and just said, 'You know, you've been waiting a long time for your opportunity, and the faith that you've shown in our program and in us to stay with us, I was so proud," Carroll said after the game.
It was another example of having patience and loyalty, of waiting for a chance rather than heading off in some other direction, and having it come your way.
Whether Carter and Smith can push themselves to the front is another story, but it is one that now well may be written.
And certainly, for those dreamers behind them who are waiting for their chance, both serve as proof that if you go about your business the right way, the opportunity likely will come.
