Meet Geno Smith, star of college football's first month

• Smith leads the nation in passing efficiency, total offense, passing yards and TD passes
• Four games into the season, Smith has more touchdown passes (20) than incompletions (18)
• A third of the way into the season, Smith has vaulted to the top of Heisman Trophy contenders
• Even after just one conference game, West Virginia must be consider among the Big 12 favorites

To decompress, Geno Smith turns to the arts. He draws, or paints. Sometimes, he writes poetry. We offer the information as a public service, because given the exquisite compositions he is creating as West Virginia's quarterback, it's time everyone got to know the breakout star of college football's first month.

Perhaps you saw the masterpiece Smith created against Baylor: eight touchdown passes, six incompletions. He was 45-of-51 for 656 yards in a 70-63 shootout. Records were shattered. It was ridiculous stuff, and the performance would have been impressive against air — or heck, even Baylor. It probably catapulted Smith to the top of the heap of Heisman Trophy contenders.

In his second season running Dana Holgorsen's wide-open passing attack, Smith says he is "way better." Because he is, No. 7 West Virginia might be, too.

At this point, the story of how Smith turned down scholarships from art schools — and anecdotes about what he does in his spare time — look like they will be very nice pieces of the biopic produced for the Heisman Trophy show in early December.

Sure, we're only a third of the way through the season. But Smith's first month was a masterpiece, an emergence reminiscent of Robert Griffin III a year ago. And although West Virginia is flawed — its defense, for example, was not much better than Baylor's — the Mountaineers appear poised, because of their senior quarterback, for a run at the Big 12 title, and maybe more.

So far, Smith has dismantled Marshall, James Madison, Maryland and Baylor, so the stats should be taken with a disclaimer. Still, through four games, Smith has more touchdowns (20) than incompletions (18). He is 141-for-169 (83.4%) for 1,728 yards, with zero interceptions. And he was at his best against Baylor.

"Please explain to me," Holgorsen said, "how he can improve on that."

Said Smith, "I had a couple incompletions."

But only a couple, which is why the Mountaineers have played exactly one game in the Big 12 but must be considered among the favorites.

"We've got to get better in all areas," Smith said.

Tthough quarterback play might not be among them, he's right. The schedule gets more difficult in a hurry.

Saturday, the Mountaineers travel to No. 9 Texas. The Longhorns actually play defense, and fairly well. Also, it's West Virginia's first road game. Other decent defenses await: Kansas State, Oklahoma, TCU. And West Virginia is not a complete team. It took every bit of Smith's work against Baylor to offset serious defensive deficiencies, and surely those defensive purists in the SEC were aghast (while conveniently ignoring, say, Georgia's shootout with Tennessee).

But if art, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder, then Smith and the Mountaineers have a chance to create something special.

The West Virginia passer's national rankings and where the team stands after the record-setting day vs. Baylor:

• Smith: First in passing efficiency (208.37 rating), total offense (456.75 yards a game), passing yards (432.0 a game), TD passes (20), fewest interceptions (zero)
• Mountaineers: First in passing offense (441.5 yards a game), third in total offense (598.5 yards a game), third ins scoring offense (53.0 points a game)