Geno Smith throws 8 TD passes in 70-63 West Virginia victory over Baylor

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Geno Smith and the fast-moving, high-scoring No. 9 Mountaineers proved they fit right in with their new conference, outracing No. 25 Baylor, 70-63, yesterday in the Big 12's highest-scoring game ever.

Smith tied a conference mark with eight touchdown passes and narrowly missed another one with 656 yards passing.

"It did feel like one of those classic Texas shootouts," said Smith, whose school moved over from the Big East this season.

Smith outdueled Baylor's Nick Florence, who broke Heisman Trophy-winning predecessor Robert Griffin III's school record with 581 yards. Florence threw for five TDs.

Smith, the early Heisman front-runner, had more TD passes than incompletions (six). He finished 45-for-51 and still doesn't have an interception this season.

"Can you please tell me how you can improve on that?" West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said.

Maybe not on offense, but both defenses have plenty of work to do.

West Virginia amassed a school-record 807 yards and the teams combined for 1,507 yards of offense and 67 first downs. Six receivers had at least 100 yards receiving.

The Bears' Terrance Williams set a Big 12 record with 314 yards receiving. The old mark was set minutes earlier by West Virginia's Stedman Bailey, who had 303 yards and a school-record five TDs. Bailey's final two TDs, going 87 and 39 yards, gave the Mountaineers a 70-56 lead with 5:55 left.

Williams' 8-yard scoring catch brought Baylor (3-1) within 70-63 with 3:08 left.

But Dustin Garrison ran for 17 yards on third down and the Mountaineers ran out the clock to snap Baylor's nine-game winning streak, the second-longest in the nation.