West Virginia's Game Manager Geno Smith Looks for Something More

West Virginia's coach, ever the old quarterback coach, makes time to study film of his young quarterback. What Bill Stewart sees in sophomore Geno Smith is a player on the rise.

"The last couple of weeks, Geno made some really quick decisions with his reads. I really liked what he did with his eyes," said Stewart after last week's forceful 37-10 victory over Cincinnati.

"I watched him, watched his presence, watched his eyes and he seems to have picked up confidence."

Not that one would have ever known Smith to lose confidence. Through October, the highly touted sophomore looked to be on his way to a fantastic season. He mounted a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives of more than 90 yards in a comeback win against rival Marshall. He threw four early scoring strikes to crush Maryland. Another two scoring strikes helped nearly topple SEC power LSU in its home stadium. The following two games he tossed another five touchdowns while completing over 75 percent of his passes.

Smith was making mincemeat of opponents through his first six career starts.

And then all of that good work was thrown out the window at home against Syracuse.

Smith melted against the Orange, tossing a trio of first-half interceptions to go with five sacks in a disappointing 14-point effort. Questioned afterward, Smith said, "I just have to get the ball out of my hands quicker. I have to be more disciplined in my reads."

He wasn't much better six days later against Connecticut, gaining just 160 yards through the air, although he avoided any costly interceptions. The Mountaineers lost that game 16-13.

After so much promise, Smith appeared to have hit a wall.

Granted a two-week reprieve to clean things up, Smith returned extremely sharp, demolishing the visiting Bearcats with four first-half scoring strikes. The showing netted him Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors, his second such award this year.

Contrast Smith's comments after the Syracuse game to what his coach said above during this week's Big East coaches' teleconference. They're talking about the same thing: sharp decision making.

He already had the skills, but it was a matter of a young player reclaiming a precocious consistency and astute play that had briefly lapsed. He is without a doubt the best passer in the Big East. His 6.85 yards per attempt express that he's a game manager, something the sophomore readily reveals during postgame discussions with the media.

Said Smith after last week's victory, "Personally, I take it upon myself to just take care of the ball, not put our defense in hard situations because we feel like we have great ability, but sometimes that can hurt you as well because you try to force things. That's when turnovers occur."

Syracuse blemish aside, Smith has been superb in avoiding the turnover, tossing just three interceptions in the Mountaineers' other eight games.

At times he almost sounds exactly like a coach, never getting too high or low. It's an almost grim realism, buoyed by a belief in the basics, his coaches and his teammates to come out ahead.

"We understand that you're not going to win every play, but we do try our best, and we do feel like we have the athletes to go out there and put up 40 points on anybody – but that's if we don't turn the ball over. In the games where we scored low points, it was because we turned the ball over."

Boring stuff, but more often than not it gets you the win. Smith is clearly one of those guys zeroed in on just winning games. The Mountaineers' offense clearly took a more vertical approach at Cincinnati, resulting in extra scores and more downfield plays. Asked about the change, Smith made absolutely nothing of it.

"Nothing was different. It's just a tale of turnovers. Whenever you lose, you lose the turnover battle. It's the same amount of yards out there, same effort, same guys, it's just when you turn it over, you lose."

Right, but Smith's potentially an above-average passer who can turn the Mountaineers' solid offense into an elite one. That will require him to keep growing, to build on innate game management skills and start seeing the field that much better. A flash of that potential may have been signaled after his 77 percent completion effort against South Florida.

"I think the more (offensive coordinator Jeff) Mullen and our staff and our players gain confidence in me, the better we are. I just think they understand I am going to continue to work and be humble, and I think just them putting more on my plate (helps) and I'm thriving off that," Smith said

He'll have three more opportunities this year to flash that ability, including a battle with Pittsburgh that could decide the Big East crown. Achieve that feat, and we'll see Smith playing on national television in a BCS bowl game.

Sounds doable, so long as he avoids the turnover.