West Virginia junior wide receiver Tavon Austin was always told he would not be successful in football when he was a young kid growing up in Baltimore.
In the Discover Orange Bowl, an 18-year-old wide receiver named Sammy Watkins was supposed to the best player on the field.
But, Austin and West Virginia proved everyone wrong once again, during the Mountaineers 70-33 onslaught against Clemson Wednesday night.
Austin, who said after the game that he would return for his senior season in gold and blue, finished the Mountaineers third BCS bowl win with 117 receiving yards and a BCS and Orange Bowl record four touchdown catches.
“When they assigned me the best player on the field, and they said 84 percent (of America) voted we were going to lose, and I got into that offensive,” Austin said.
“We had a serious meeting before we got here. It was no laughing, no joking around, and we came in and got the job done.”
Austin was explosive from the first time he touched the ball, finishing with 11 receptions and 280 all-purpose yards, both new Orange Bowl records.
Both of Austin’s first two touchdowns came after careful review of his feet nearly stepping out of bounds on the sidelines. But, it was clear he kept in between the lines and scooted his way into the end zone.
Those two plays started out as Austin went in motion, and quarterback Geno Smith hiked the ball and immediately tapped it to Austin who was running across at the same time. Austin caught the ball, followed his blockers and juked and cut his way paste Clemson defenders to score.
“We just had to go by what Coach Holgorsen said. We ran our plays hard,” Austin said. “I’m just glad I got to play for him, and I made a couple of plays.”
Austin would not have gotten to make all those plays if it wasn’t for his quarterback getting him the ball in open space. But even the offensive MVP of the Orange Bowl said he couldn’t have done it without his talented receiver.
“I should give him the trophy,” Smith said of Austin. “He takes it the distance every time. He’s one of the quickest guys I’ve ever seen, with and without a football, and it’s just a blessing to have a guy like him on my team.”
It was Austin’s ability to use his speed and quickness to disrupt Clemson’s defense that gave West Virginia a big advantage on offense. The Tigers could not figure out how to stop the 5-foot-9, 173-pound receiver, nor did they adjust to try to not give him a chance to get the ball.
The junior receiver seemed motivated the entire night to prove people wrong that doubted him and West Virginia for the past week in the media. His performance in the national spotlight showed there should be no doubt about him or WVU in the future.
“Definitely it’s huge for me,” Austin said of the majority of the nation voting for Clemson. “I kind of got mad and turned the TV off and went to sleep. Came down with a great attitude. Coach Holgorsen got us together in our meeting and told us just to believe in ourselves and believe in the people in this room, and that’s what we did. We bought into what he said.”
Austin will be remembered as the best player on the field tonight, and should not be forgotten, as he and the Mountaineers will be back again next season looking for even more to prove people wrong.