Geno Smith Has a Chance To Be the First WVU Heisman Winner

The best thing about the offseason for college football is the experts putting together the preseason top 25 and Heisman Trophy contenders list.

Obviously, Kellen Moore (Boise State), Andrew Luck (Stanford) and LaMichael James (Oregon) are considered to be the front-runners and rightfully so. There are many other names that you can list right here as guys with really good shots at winning the most coveted individual award in college football.

But let me introduce you to a guy that could have a very good chance of winning the bronze stiff arm: Eugene "Geno" Smith.

I know that West Virginia has never even had a guy finish in the top three, let alone win it. Only one Big East player has ever won the award, and that was Gino Torretta of Miami.

Now, I know that some people are snickering about the thought of Smith winning the Heisman, but before you totally dismiss this thought, just seriously think about it.

He will not get a ton of changes to "wow" the voters, but with the "Friends of Coal Bowl" being on a Sunday, that gives a stage to show off his skills. Also, get a huge home game against LSU.

If he can preform well in those games and WVU can run the table and get a BCS bid, that is going to be a great foundation for his campaign.

Also, he is working with a guy in Dana Holgersen that has helped very suspect quarterbacks put up huge numbers. Case Keenum at Houston went from 2,259 yards and 14 touchdowns to over 5,000 yards and 44 touchdowns. Brandon Weeden at Oklahoma State threw for over 4,000 yards and 34 touchdowns.

Now think about how good Smith could be with Holgersen calling the plays. Smith had over 2,000 yards and 24 touchdowns last year. He could very well throw for over 5,000 yards and clear 35 touchdowns.

Now, if he can do that and some of the front-runners stumble or do not have the same numbers that they did last year, Smith could very easily slip into the conversation, and maybe, just maybe, bring home the Heisman.