When April rolls around, Geno Smith could be the highest drafted WVU player ever, which would also make him the highest drafted quarterback from WVU. The most recent quarterback from the old gold and blue to be drafted was Pat White in 2009. He was drafted 12th in the second round by the Miami Dolphins. Other notable quarterback greats to be drafted were Marc Bulger, Major Harris, Jeff Hostetler, and Oliver Luck.
But is Smith the best quarterback to ever put on a Mountaineers jersey?
If you go to the record books, there’s not a doubt that Smith is the best signal caller in the history of WVU. He holds the career, season, and single game school record for passing yards, completions, attempts, completion percentage, and touchdowns.
The career mark for passing touchdowns before Smith took over the reins was 59, set by Bulger. Smith’s career total was 98. He also beat Bulger’s career passing yard mark by 3,509 yards. In terms of yards, White ranks 3rd, Luck ranks 5th, Harris ranks 7th and Hostetler ranks 11th in WVU’s history.
So if you look at it that way, Smith is the best statistical quarterback in the history of WVU’s football program.
But what else makes a great quarterback?
A quarterback is a leader. Someone who takes control of their team. Someone who leads the team to victory. When thinking back through WVU’s history, there was one man who did that better than any other.
Pat White.
For his career, White had a 34-8 record. That record still stands as the best ever by a quarterback at WVU and is good for 6th ever in the NCAA by a quarterback. He still remains as the only quarterback to take his team to, and win, four consecutive bowl games.
Smith is 1-2 in his bowl appearances.
You can’t really compare Smith and White statistically. Both of them played in different styles of offense with Smith running a pro style and White running the spread. Each of them perfected their own style. Smith set records with his arm while White set records with his legs. Both players were in Heisman talks during their illustrious careers at WVU and both will go down as great quarterbacks, but at the end of that day, do you take stats or do you take wins?
You decide.
