Tracey Sellers’ phone rang at about 1:15 on the morning of Sept. 25, 2011. Her son, West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, had just shredded LSU’s defense by throwing for 463 yards on 38-of-65 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Smith was inconsolable.
The Mountaineers had gotten whacked 47-21 and Smith did what he always does – found the flaws in his game, took the responsibility for the loss.
“You need to go back to your room and get some rest,’’ Sellers implored her son. “But that’s not Geno. He was standing outside the football building and he said he was going back in to watch more film. He couldn’t accept the loss until he knew what went wrong.’’
“He’s always been a perfectionist. I worry about him being too hard on himself. Whatever it is, football, schoolwork, his artwork, he’s always been a perfectionist. I worry because I feel like I had a lot to do with that.’’
Smith is the oldest of four children and Sellers – who believes it takes a village to raise a child – set the bar high for Geno. He had to be the role model for his brother Geonte, 16, a star receiver at Florida’s Miramar High and twin brother Ranny and sister, Riany, 14.
“I’ll put him up against adult when it comes to doing the laundry,’’ said Sellers. “I am in awe of that young man. He’s almost 22 and he’s never given me a problem. Oh, I might have had to tell him to pick up his socks, or something like that. But real trouble? Not Geno.’’
The only people Geno Smith has given grief are opposing defensive coordinators.
Going into Saturday’s offensive circus against Baylor (noon, FX), Smith has attempted 118 passes this season without throwing an interception (12 touchdown passes; tied for the most in the nation) and has thrown only 22 incompletions.
The Mountaineers are 10th in the nation in scoring (47.3 points per game; Baylor is 5th at 51.3) and Smith is 2nd is total offense (379.7 yards per game) and 2nd in passing efficiency (191).
This, of course, is completely unacceptable to Smith.
When asked if ever looks at film of a previous performance and finds himself smiling, the perfectionist reared its helmet.
“I oftentimes think I’m going nuts because I’m just this perfectionist and I find something wrong in everything,’’ he said. “I critique myself to the point where I don’t even think I’m a good player. But other people say I’m pretty good so that’s what keeps me afloat.’’
Smith’s ship took a big hit just before the season started, one that threatened to sink West Virginia as it entered its first season in the Big 12. His maternal grandmother, Mosetta Bratton died on Aug. 7th, leaving a hole the size of a football in Smith’s chest.
Bratton wasn’t just a football fan, she was sports nut. Every Sunday she would position the chairs in her house in front of the TV, prepare a spread that could rival any top chef and host a houseful of friends and family.
Geno, from the time he was nine months old, got the choice seat – on Mosetta’s lap.
“She would be screaming at the players, shouting at the referees, jumping up and down,’’ recalled Sellers. “Geno understood football long before he ever played.’’
Understanding Geno was another matter.
He was a Pee Wee football star from the get-go and the starting quarterback for Florida power Miramar High School as a freshman, leading them to the championship game. The Patriots offense was dubbed ATM — Automatic Touchdown Machine.
But long before, he had confounded teachers.
In first grade they would look over to see young Geno doodling when he should have been completing an assignment. When they approached, they were stunned to Smith had finished his work. His passion as an artist was just emerging.
Smith was tested and found to be a gifted student. By the end of junior high school he had to make a decision – matriculate to Miramar or enroll in the New World School of Art.
He chose Miramar, continuing to do pastels and oil paintings, when he was fielding offers from Alabama to Texas. When he chose West Virginia, it was a decision that turned out to be the perfect melding of a player and a coach.
Dana Holgorsen had been hired from Oklahoma State where his ‘Air Raid’ offense had taken college football by storm. Holgorsen yearned for a quarterback who could take snaps behind center, in the shotgun, or roll out. Smith wanted an offense that could help him become, ‘a dominant force.’ It was a made marriage.
“Geno is an Ipad with football on it,’’ said Holgorsen. “My only worry is that he’ll spend too much time. He watched that Monday night football game and came to practice doing some things Aaron Rodgers does.’’
Smith is a master painter on offense. He is the Mountaineers’ first Heisman Trophy candidate since Steve Slaton in 2006. He was asked if he wins the Heisman, would he use the statue as a muse.
“One thing I know is being an artist and being a perfectionist helps me out a lot because anyone will tell you if it’s not right, I not just going to leave it alone,’’ he said.
“I want things to be right and be perfect. I want things to go as planned. That’s a lot of how art is. You want to make sure a piece or a sketch or a painting is exactly the way you wanted it to come out or the way you’ve seen it in your mind.’’
If not, whether it’s football or artwork, Smith is in the studio in search of an unattainable outcome – perfection.