MORGANTOWN - In his weekly Big 12 teleconference, veteran Texas head coach Mack Brown couldn't help but talk about the trio of talented receivers that will be on the field at Darrell K. Royal/Texas Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m. Saturday.
"You start looking at all three receivers," said Brown. "There seems to be a different guy catching balls each week."
He wasn't speaking, however, of No. 8 West Virginia's Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and J.D. Woods. He was speaking of the Longhorns' Mike Davis, Jaxon Shipley and Deje Johnson.
"One of the reasons we are playing better on offense is the play of those receivers," said Brown.
His attention quickly moved to the pass catchers his defense will be facing this weekend and the quarterback that has drawn all kind of attention this week following his 8-touchdown, 656-yard performance against Baylor - Geno Smith.
"They (WVU's offense) are unbelievable. Geno (Smith) has thrown 20 touchdowns and no interceptions. He is probably the leader for the Heisman.
"He has three very good receivers, a pair of talented running backs and a big offensive line in front of him. They may be the best offense we face this year. They are definitely the best I've seen so far."
The Longhorns are accustomed to facing high-powered offensive attacks. This past weekend it was Oklahoma State's J.W. Walsh who connected for 18-of-27 attempts for 301 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 41-36 loss to the Longhorns.
This week the task becomes a little more difficult as the Mountaineers (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) rang up more than 800 yards of total offense against the Bears. Bailey led the way with 13 catches for 303 yards and five touchdowns while Austin chipped in with a school-record 14 receptions for 215 yards and a pair of six-pointers. Woods, the least hyped of the threesome, finished with 13 catches for 114 yards and one score.
"I usually go down and talk to the defensive coaches before I do this (teleconference), but I've been down there four times and he has his door locked, hiding under the desk.
"The important thing to remember is that you aren't going to stop them, so you just have to figure a way to slow them down."
A task that will fall upon the offense led by quarterback David Ash. The junior is coming off of a pretty impressive showing of his own in the win over the Cowboys, completing 30-of-37 attempts for 304 yards and three touchdowns.
On the season, Ash has connected on 85-of-109 passes for 1,007 yards and 10 touchdowns with only one interception.
Numbers that would be impressive compared to any quarterback other than Smith, who has hit on 141-of-169 throws for 1,728 yards and 20 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
"He's as good as our (Texas) quarterbacks have been," said Brown. "He is playing at a level no other quarterback in our league has done.
"Offensively, they have absolutely no weaknesses. They are very similar to what we were doing in '95 with Vince (Young)."
