MORGANTOWN - There was a time when you were certain things were going to look a particular way on offense at West Virginia University.
Maybe it was when the Mountaineers hired Dana Holgorsen away from Oklahoma State. More likely, it was after they riddled and routed Clemson in the Orange Bowl at the end of his first season.
The future was going to be fun, and it was going to feature a lot of touchdown passes.
If you remember that game, you probably remember Geno Smith threw six, and you probably remember Tavon Austin caught four, but you definitely remember him running one play the Tigers could neither stop nor solve.
It was a simple touch pass, Austin lining up in the slot and motioning from one side to the other, Smith taking a shotgun snap and tipping the ball forward to Austin as he accelerated toward and around the corner.
It wasn't new to the Mountaineers and those who'd watched them. Holgorsen said after the game he'd borrowed it from a friend, Bob Stitt, who was then the head coach at the Colorado School of Mines and, perhaps not coincidentally, now leads the way at Football Championship Subdivision power Montana State.
But college football's eyes nevertheless bulged and then narrowed when the reality set in: Austin had another year left, and WVU would always find a player who could run that play.
Austin was indeed back for 2012, and the play remained in the playbook, but it's slowly vanished ever since. The Mountaineers ran it in practice the other day, a landmark receivers noted because they remembered seeing Austin run it and, if they're being honest, pictured themselves in motion and then turning the corner.
"I loved it," said receiver Shelton Gibson, who has never had the pleasure in a game. "It was a highlight every time."
But that may have been a cameo. WVU might not bring that play back anytime soon.
"We're reevaluating that right now," Holgorsen said.
Given the talent on hand, it seems like such a simple decision. Call it and watch. In the prior three seasons, the offense didn't really have the proper player to handle the touch pass. You'd see it here and there, and you'd recognize it, yet it never looked the same.
But these receivers don't look the same. Holgorsen has his fastest and probably his deepest fleet at WVU. He says freshmen Marcus Simms and Steven Smothers, sophomore Jovon Durante and senior Daikiel Shorts could run it.
They just might not get the chance - or many chances - to do it, which isn't necessarily bad news. The play was in the playbook because Austin was so good and defenses were at such a disadvantage, but it also helped WVU protect the offensive backfield.
"We run the ball better now and we hold the edges better now," Holgorsen said. "We don't need motion to hold the edges because the quarterback is holding the edges."
The Mountaineers didn't run the ball well at all in 2011. They averaged 3.8 yards per carry, the worst average in any season coached by Holgorsen, Bill Stewart and Rich Rodriguez. They finished the season with 1,595 yards. Wendell Smallwood had 1,519 last season. The 2011 total included Dustin Garrison's 291 yards against Bowling Green, and that aided the team's average of 122.5 yards per game.
It was hard to get outside the defensive ends and outside linebackers. Garrison and Andrew Buie were tinier types who weren't consistently successful inside. Bigger back Shawne Alston could bang around between the tackles, but he wasn't a fit in other aspects.
What Holgorsen found was he could threaten defenses with Austin. They had eyes on him already, but creating the possibility he'd catch a touch pass would cause the defensive line and linebackers to pause. It didn't matter if Smith tipped the snap forward or if he caught it and moved on to a handoff to a running back or a pass to a receiver. Austin's reputation bought the offense time.
"There was an element to the touch pass that kept people honest," Holgorsen said.
Austin graduated and Holgorsen knew he still had to keep the edges out of his backfield. He's done that by developing fullbacks and tight ends, but he's also used reverses, counters, quick motion with no touch pass and, most notably, the quarterback run game.
Skyler Howard holds the edges. He takes a handoff and puts the ball in the belly of the running back, but he's spying on the defenders on the edges. He reads the perimeter presence and decides to keep it or to let it go. Those defenders react to him.
Believe it or not, Skyler Howard is Tavon Austin, and Howard's skill may shelf the play Austin's skill made famous.
"I don't think it's worth the time to do it," Holgorsen said, "because we're holding those edges now, but we're doing it in new ways."
Contact Mike Casazza at 304-319-1142 or mikec@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikecasazza and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/wvu/.