MORGANTOWN — “He can make you miss in a telephone booth.” – WVU running back coach Chris Beatty on slick freshman Tavon Austin.
The look in Tavon Austin’s from thoughtful to excited within an instant, deep thought morphing into a twinkle at the very mention of YouTube.com.
With Beatty’s comment about the diminute slotback still fresh in one’s mind, it was brought up to Austin that his highlights at Dunbar High in Baltimore had found their way onto the Internet and that one, in particular, lasted almost 12 minute in length, that there had to be at least 60 plays on it, and he had not yet been tackled.
“I owe it all to my offensive line,” he said. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have had those big runs I had.”
Dave Hickman of the Charleston Gazette heard that answer, then spoke up.
“I don’t think I ever saw your offensive line.”
That led to a knowing smile from Austin, for, indeed, he had said the politically correct thing, but deep within his heart he knew it was all really about him.
Not that he wants to be that way.
It’s just that when you have the ability to make defenders miss in telephone booth, a certain air of confidence grows, and no amount of modesty can really cover it up.
It’s just that before he left, his grandmother, who raised him along with him mother, gave him some advice.
“She told me when you go to college, be humble. It’s going to be hard. Never say you’re the best player because there’s always someone out there better than you,” Austin recalled.
Tuesday morning was the first time the West Virginia media had a chance to gather with the talented incoming freshmen, of which Austin is one of the best prizes at the bottom of the Crackerjack box that is recruiting.
He is, at 5-9 and 170, not exactly the biggest stick of dynamite at the construction site, and his bang is as soft as the whisper that comes out of his mouth when he speaks.
The normal comparison is with Noel Devine, although Beatty notes that he already possesses the innate skill of making a defender miss then moving north and south while Devine has had to work to keep from running too much east and west.
The result, of course, was pretty much the same in high school, Devine being one of the first YouTube.com poster children, with videos of his incredible high school performances turning him into some of a recruitnik folk hero.
“I watched Devine on YouTube and things like that when he was in high school, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” Austin admitted.
As people tried to pin Beatty down on a comparison, when Jock Sanders was brought up, Beatty noted that Austin “is shiftier than Jock.” And when Devine was brought up, Beatty noted he was not as explosive as Devine.
And when Devine was asked about Austin, he got technical at first, noting that he has improved and finishes off his runs and gets vertical on his routes, but that he is still learning the game.
But then when it was mentioned that it might quite a treat if they could use Devine and Sanders at running back and Austin in the slot at the same time, Devine grinned.
“It’s scary,” he said. “We’ve been talking about how we need something with all of us on the field because of all the speed. Hopefully, we can get something where all of us get on the field at the same time.”
Think of it this way. At Dunbar High, Austin set the Maryland record for career points with 790, for career touchdowns with 123, for career total offensive yards with 9,258 and rushing yards with 7,962.
Devine, who played his high school ball in Florida, gained 6,842 rushing yards and scored 92 touchdowns.
Put those two together and you 14,804 rushing yards and 214 touchdowns, inconceivable numbers.
Austin says it was the spread and the speed that drew him toward West Virginia, even though he had offers from Boston College, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Pitt, Rutgers and probably the New England Patriots. He followed Steve Slaton’s career and thought that could be duplicated by him.
Coming to West Virginia changed a lot for Austin. He went from a pro style offense to the spread, from running back to slot back.
“When I first started learning this offense it was hard,” he admitted. “I was making mistakes every day, lining up in the wrong place.”
What didn’t change was what happened when he had the football in his hands.
“I just think back to how it was in high school,” he said.
Sometimes, however, there are reminders that you aren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto, and that is just what happened in Saturday’s scrimmage when safety Sidney Glover came helmet to chest with Austin on a bruising tackle.
“That was the best hit I had so far,” he said, still cringing at the thought. “Sidney hit me right in my chest. Come to think of it, that was the best hit I had in my life.”
Too bad he wasn’t in a telephone booth.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel at hotmail.com.
Bob Herzel
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