West Virginia's Geno Smith, Tavon Austin May Battle Each Other for 2012 Heisman

West Virginia's great quarterback, Geno Smith, may not just have to contend with USC's Matt Barkley and Oklahoma's Landry Jones for next year's Heisman Trophy; his biggest competition might come from his own wide receiver and return specialist, Tavon Austin. 

Both Mountaineers enter their senior year on what looks to be a preseason top-10 team.

It's really hard to understand why Orange Bowl MVP Smith didn't get any mention for the Heisman this year.  He finished fourth among all quarterbacks with 4,379 yards while throwing 31 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions.

Yes, it's hard to imagine Smith didn't get more consideration when in a nationally televised contest against No. 1 LSU and its super-stingy defense, he threw for 463 yards and two touchdowns.  LSU finished No. 2 in pass defense and gave up only 91 yards a game.

Another national audience got to see Smith last Wednesday night in the Orange Bowl.  All the Mountaineers quarterback did was complete 31 of 42 passes for 401 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions.

Smith had such a great season that he might be considered as good as any quarterback prospect in the country right now. 

The Mountaineers quarterback really didn't have a bad game all year.  In an upset loss to Syracuse he threw two picks and it was probably his worst game, but he still managed to complete 23 of 49 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns.

In WVU's loss to Louisville, Smith completed 31 of 44 passes for 410 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

I'm not kidding when I say Smith might be as good a quarterback prospect as any.  At 6'3" he's slightly taller than the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin III, and may see the field better.  Smith is more mobile in and around the pocket than Stanford's Andrew Luck.

In Wednesday night's Orange Bowl, four of Smith's touchdown passes landed in the arms of wide receiver Tavon Austin.

In 2011 Austin caught 100 passes for 1,180 yards and he's considered to be the No. 1 kick return specialist for the 2012 season.

The 5'9", 175-pound Austin is lightning fast.  Those who watched the Orange Bowl saw him dive for the end zone in the first quarter, and as his body headed out of bounds, in remarkable fashion he reached out and stuck the ball on the pylon for a touchdown. Very few players could have made that play.

If he caught 100 passes this year, how many will he catch in 2012?

Is he a legitimate Heisman candidate?  Can anyone say "Desmond Howard"?

It's hard to say what conference the Mountaineers will play in next season. If they remain in the Big East it's going to help both these players' quest for a Heisman Trophy. 

If they remain in the Big East they'll win a lot of games, and Heisman Trophies are usually handed out to players on teams that have great records.

If the Mountaineers make it to the Big 12 next season they'll have a tougher time, but Griffin won the Heisman this season on a Baylor team that lost three games.

When one team has two Heisman candidates it can make it especially difficult for one to win.  Sometimes they have a tendency to split votes.

This year two Wisconsin players were in the running.  QB Russell Wilson had the nation's top QB rating but was never a serious Heisman candidate. It might have been because teammate RB Montee Ball was a touchdown machine and made to New York for this year's presentation.

In 2008 two Texas Tech players might have kept each other down.  QB Graham Harrell finished fourth in the voting and WR Michael Crabtree finished fifth.  It was the year Oklahoma's Sam Bradford won.

In 2004 Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson and QB Jason White finished second and third behind USC QB Matt Leinart.  Would Peterson have won if White wasn't in the race?

That same year the great Green Bay Packer QB Aaron Rodgers was competing against California teammate RB J.J. Arrington.  They finished eighth and ninth in the voting.

There's always an exception to the rule.  USC's Reggie Bush won the Heisman Trophy in 2005 while Leinart finished third.  Bush had such a great year that there was no one that was going to stop him, teammate or not.

Smith and Austin are going to put up some big numbers in 2012, but once again, because they're teammates it might be a more difficult for one of them win the Heisman than it would be if only one were a candidate.

So while it's going to be tough for WVU to win its first Heisman Trophy next season, it's going to be even tougher for the college football analysts to keep either of these Mountaineers off any preseason Heisman watch list.