Geno Smith makes first NFL Week One start since 2014

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) - WVU’s all-time leading passer in Mountaineer Football history, Geno Smith, made his first NFL Week One start since 2014.

The 2013 second round draft pick completed 17 of 18 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, finishing the game with 195 yards and connecting on 23 of 28 passes in route to a 17-16 win over Seattle.

Playing against the quarterback he sat backup to for several seasons, right now the Gold and Blue are in a similar position that Smith found himself in throughout the last decade, people trying to write him off, not thinking he was good enough.

But Smith made it known postgame that he had his head down and working, just like the Mountaineers are right now.

“To say people wrote me off, I’ve just been working. That means I never wrote back. I don’t listen to stuff like that. I just work. I know what I have inside of me, God blesses me with talent and a passion an a drive. As far as worrying about naysayers, I don’t get into that type of stuff. People can write you off, but life’s about what you make it,” Seattle Seahawks QB Gino Smith said.

“I was watching SportsCenter, and he’s all over it. I was sitting there thinking, ‘Maybe that’s a good omen, a great night for a former West Virginia guy. Maybe it’s a lead in for a great week for West Virginia,’” WVU Head Coach Neal Brown said.

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