On an afternoon when the West Virginia offense struggled to find its usual rhythm, inside receiver Tavon Austin gave one of the best performances of his entire career.
For his efforts, the senior was named Big 12 Conference offensive player of the week, as well as team offensive champion by the Mountaineer coaching staff.
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Against Maryland, the Baltimore native had the best game of any West Virginia receiver so far this season, recording 13 receptions, 179 yards and all three of his team's offensive touchdowns.
He tied Stedman Bailey's 13 receptions against James Madison, as the most receptions by a WVU receiver in a single game. It was also Austin's second-highest career total in receiving yards and touchdowns.
His output this week was second only to the 187 yards he accumulated against LSU and the school-record four touchdowns he recorded against Clemson last season.
In the game, he also passed Jock Sanders to become the all-time leader in WVU history with 208 receptions—and moved even closer to becoming the all-time leader in receiving yards and touchdowns as well.
No. 1 moved to No. 2 all-time with 2,469 receiving yards, behind only David Saunders at 2,608. On top of that, he tied Chris Henry for the No. 2 career mark with 22 receiving touchdowns, just behind the leader Cedric Thomas with 23. However, Bailey is just behind with 21, so the two will be in a race to the top in the coming weeks.
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Austin joined quarterback Geno Smith and linebacker Isaiah Bruce as the third Mountaineer to ever be named a Big 12 player of the week.
Smith and Bruce both earned the distinction in the Week 1 win over Marshall.
So far, WVU, TCU and Kansas State are tied with three conference player of the week awards each on the season.
Austin also moved to No. 6 nationally, averaging 115 receiving yards per game and is averaging 11.3 receptions per game—more than any other receiver in the country.
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