FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Tavon Austin was named the Big East's special teams player of the year this season. CBSSports.com decided he was their first-team All-America return specialist. The Associated Press reserved a spot for him on its third team.
And yet big games and big moments this season were marked by what can be best described as Austin's creative indifference on punt returns.
It started as early as West Virginia's fourth game against LSU, when the junior from Baltimore repeatedly let punts hit the turf at Mountaineer Field and roll deep into WVU territory, and lasted all the way to the final home game. Austin let one Pitt punt bounce and then hit a teammate for a turnover and then muffed a return and lost a fumble.
He set up a pair of the Panthers' field goals and was later yanked from punt returns. Daron Roberts, the outside receivers coach who is in charge of the returns on special teams, wrestled with the decision.
He has subscribed to something he learned in the NFL when he was with the Kansas City Chiefs and Coach Herm Edwards.
"He said, 'The better the player, the longer the leash,' and that was about what happened on the field, not discipline-wise," Roberts said.
"It's the same thing with Tavon. Sometimes he makes decisions to not field the ball and I'm on the sideline yelling at him to get the ball and he doesn't do it.
"Sometimes he makes a decision to field the ball when I think he shouldn't and he takes it 25 or 30 yards.
"That's kind of what you get out of him. I think the guy had an amazing year when it comes to the return game and we were willing to tolerate some things. He's going to be smarter in this game with his decisions, but I don't ever want to take any of his play-making ability from him."
Austin should be the starter on punt and kickoff returns in tonight's Orange Bowl against Clemson (8:30, ESPN). He had special statistics on returns this season. He scored twice on kickoff returns, including one in the final game of the regular season against South Florida that kept the Mountaineers in the game as it began to get away from them.
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Austin ranks No. 17 nationally in kickoff returns and averaged 26.48 yards. He's also No. 6 in punt returns and averages 14.11 yards per return.
The combination of his 1,089 return yards, 1,063 receiving yards and 142 rushing yards puts him No. 2 nationally in all-purpose yards. With 63 yards against the Tigers, Austin will have more all-purpose yards than anyone in the country.