MORGANTOWN —
Words cannot do justice to what the nation watched Saturday night when Oklahoma beat West Virginia University, 50-49, in one of the most exciting and intriguing football games ever played at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Here is a listing of records set and personal accomplishments during the evening:
• RB Tavon Austin set the WVU single-game rushing record with 344 yards. He is only the second 300-yard rusher in WVU history. Kay-Jay Harris previously owned the record with 337 yards (vs. East Carolina, Sept. 4, 2004).
• Tavon Austin’s 572 all-purpose yards are the most in the FBS this season. USC receiver Marqise Lee caught 16 passes for 345 yards while amassing 469 all-purpose yards against Arizona earlier this season.
• Tavon Austin was six yards short of matching the FBS single-game record for all-purpose yards (578, Emmett White, Utah State vs. New Mexico State, Nov. 4, 2000).
• Tavon Austin’s single-game all-purpose yards record topped the previous WVU record of 356, set by Garrett Ford Sr. vs. Pitt in 1965.
• With a pair of rushing TDs Tavon Austin is the first Mountaineer to score a touchdown four ways (receiving, rushing, kick and punt returning) in one season.
• Tavon Austin’s season all-purpose yards mark now stands at 2,313 yards, moving him from No. 6 to No. 2 on the WVU season chart. His 2,574-yard mark from 2011 is the WVU record.
• Tavon Austin now has 6,688 yards, the WVU record.
• Tavon Austin’s third-quarter rushing touchdown of 74 yards was his longest of the season and the second-longest of his career. Additionally, the run was the team’s longest rush since Austin’s career-long 80-yard run at Rutgers in 2011.
• Tavon Austin added a four-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter, marking the first time in his career he scored two rushing touchdowns in a game and in a season. He now owns five career rushing scores.
• QB Geno Smith’s first of four touchdown passes, a 33-yard connection with WR Stedman Bailey in the second quarter, was his 32nd of the season, a WVU record. Smith (2011) and Marc Bulger (1998) shared the previous record of 31. The record now stands at 35.
• Geno Smith finished the game with 320 yards passing and four touchdowns, the fifth time this season he has thrown four or more touchdowns in a game.
• Geno Smith is the first quarterback to pass for more than 300 yards against the Sooners this season.
• The game was the first time WVU gained 400 yards rushing (458) since gaining 517 vs. Connecticut on Nov. 24, 2007. It is WVU’s fifth-best rushing performance in program history.
• WVU’s 778 yards of total offense is the second-best mark in program history; WVU gained 807 yards vs. Baylor earlier this season. It is the second most a team has ever gained while losing in NCAA history.
• WR Stedman Bailey carried the ball for the first time in his career against Oklahoma.
• Stedman Bailey had four TD catches, giving him 20 for the season, tops in the nation, and the school record. He also has scored 36 career TDs, another school record.
• Stedman Bailey has now caught three or more touchdown passes in a game four times this season.
• Stedman Bailey’s 205 yards receiving is tied for the fifth-best single-game mark in WVU history. It is the third time this season he has finished with more than 200 yards receiving in a game.
• Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin are now tied with a school-record 12 100-yard receiving games.
• Stedman Bailey’s 13 catches are the second-best single-game total in program history; he and Austin own the record with 14 catches.
• Cody Clay’s third-quarter, 19-yard catch was the first of his career.
• The loss to Oklahoma was WVU’s first loss when scoring 40 or more points in a game. WVU is 172-1 all-time, 41-1 since 2000.
• Oklahoma has won 32 straight games when leading at halftime, including a 7-0 mark this year.
• RB Jalen Saunders (123 yards) and Justin Brown (112 yards) became the first OU duo to each go over 100 receiving yards in a game since Ryan Broyles (171) and Kenny Stills (101) did it against Kansas State in 2011.
• Oklahoma QB Landry Jones threw for a school-record 554 passing yards. It was his 25th career game with at least 300 passing yards, his 11th game with 400 yards and his second with 500-plus.
• Landry Jones’ six touchdown passes tied a school record he set against Tulsa in 2009.
• Landry Jones is now fifth in NCAA history and second in Big 12 annals in career total offense with 15,262 yards. He passed Hawaii’s Colt Brennan (14,740; 2005-07) and Texas’ Colt McCoy (14,824; 2006-09).
• Landry Jones has 117 passing touchdowns, moving past Texas’ Colt McCoy (112; 2006-09), Florida’s Danny Wuerffel (114; 1993-96), Louisiana Tech’s Tim Rattay (115, 1997-99) and USC’s Matt Barkley (116; present) for sixth all-time in the NCAA and second in the Big 12.
• Landry Jones has thrown for 3,245 yards this season, becoming just the third QB in FBS history with 3,000 passing yards in four different seasons, joining Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Hawaii’s Timmy Chang.
• Oklahoma WR Kenny Stills tied an OU record with four touchdown receptions, a record shared by Jermaine Gresham (Texas A&M, Nov. 3, 2007) and Trent Smith (Kansas, Oct. 13, 2001).
Bob Herzel
Marks fall, milestones hit in OU-WVU
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