The Next Level – Tavon Austin headlines Week 3
Another season of college football means it’s time for another edition of The Next Level. Hi, I’m Mike Miller, a fall intern here at The Baltimore Sun. Deputy Sports Editor Matt Bracken was kind enough to welcome me into Recruiting Report, and I’ll be updating this space each Monday with reports detailing how former local high school athletes who now play for NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams fared in each of their games. In addition to recaps, I’ll highlight a player of the week and identify any other interesting news and notes from around the country. 
We’ll start in Morgantown, W.Va., where the Mountaineers throttled the Terrapins on Saturday, 31-17. West Virginia sophomore wide receiver Tavon Austin finished with a team-best 172 all-purpose yards, hauling in seven receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns and three rushes for nine yards. Austin, a Dunbar alum, also returned four kickoffs for 57 yards, including a 19-yard return to start the game. He is this season’s first Next Level Player of the Week.
Austin wasn’t the only Maryland native to have success against the Terps. Mountaineers sophomore running back Ryan Clarke, a Glen Burnie native and DeMatha graduate, rushed for 65 yards on 15 carries and notched one reception for seven yards. Safety Terence Garvin (Loyola) made four tackles, including two solo stops. For the Terps, wide receiver LaQuan Williams (Poly) recorded a 10-yard reception, while nose tackle A.J. Francis – a Severn native – assisted with four tackles. Defensive backs Eric Franklin (Archbishop Curley) and Matt Robinson (Atholton) also saw game action, as Franklin assisted on two tackles and Robinson made three tackles, two solo.
• Staying with the Atlantic Coast Conference, freshman running back Michael Campanaro (River Hill) rushed for 41 yards on four carries, including a 22-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of Wake Forest’s 68-24 loss at Stanford. Sophomore linebacker Joey Ehrmann (Gilman) made three tackles for the Demon Deacons.
• Virginia Tech freshman cornerback Kyle Fuller (Mount St. Joseph) registered two solo tackles in the Hokies’ 49-27 win over East Carolina.
• North Carolina junior linebacker Zach Brown (Wilde Lake) recorded two tackles in a 30-24 loss to Georgia Tech.
• Syracuse sophomore wide receiver Alec Lemon (Arundel) had five receptions for 58 yards, scoring a pair of touchdowns in a 38-14 victory over Maine. Lemon tallied a 3-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter before hauling in a 20-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Nassib in the third.
• Temple junior quarterback Chester Stewart (DeMatha grad, Hanover native) went 11-for-21 passing for 159 yards and one touchdown pass in the Owls’ 30-16 victory over Connecticut. Stewart also picked up 20 yards rushing on six carries. Sophomore running back Matt Brown, a Baltimore native from the Peddie School (N.J.), rushed for eight yards on two carries and caught a six-yard pass from Stewart in the second quarter. Brown also returned a pair of kicks for 45 yards, including a 30-yard return to start the game. Senior defensive back Kwame Johnson (Parkville) made one solo tackle for the Owls while Connecticut sophomore safety Jerome Junior (Archbishop Curley) recorded two tackles.
• Ohio State kicker Devin Barclay (McDonogh) went 2-for-2 in field goal attempts and was 5-for-5 for extra points in the Buckeyes’ 43-7 rout of Ohio. Barclay booted a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter en route to 11 points on the day.
• Utah senior wide receiver Shaky Smithson (Douglass) ran back a 73-yard punt for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Utes’ 56-14 victory over New Mexico. Smithson returned four punts for 140 yards and two kickoffs for 83 yards, including a 52-yard burst in the third quarter. Smithson, last week’s Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Week, racked up 223 total return yards on the day. Lobos defensive back Emmanuel McPhearson (DeMatha grad, Columbia native) recorded one assisted tackle.
• Army senior fullback Jacob Bohn (Mount St. Joseph) rushed for 38 yards on eight carries in a 24-0 win over North Texas.
• Senior linebacker Jerry Hauburger (Eastern Tech) recorded eight tackles, including four solo in Navy’s 37-23 victory over Louisiana Tech.
• Junior wide receiver Xavier Martin (Joppatowne) had three receptions for 19 yards in Utah State’s 41-24 loss to Fresno State.
• San Jose State junior defensive back Brandon Driver (Parkville) notched two solo tackles and returned two kicks for 29 yards in the Spartans’ 16-11 victory over Southern Utah.
• Central Michigan freshman Davon Muse (Dunbar) had three carries for negative four yards in the Chippewas’ 52-14 victory over Eastern Michigan. Muse initially ran for a one-yard gain in his first action of the game in the fourth quarter before getting knocked down behind the line of scrimmage on back-to-back plays.
• Arkansas State junior defensive back Darron Edwards (Dunbar) recorded one solo tackle in the Red Wolves’ 34-20 victory over Louisiana-Monroe.
I do want to note that this list is not all-encompassing. I focused mainly on natives of Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Carroll County, Harford County and Howard County who appear on FBS rosters.
But if you have a question concerning a specific player from elsewhere in the state of Maryland, please leave me a comment below and I’ll be happy to respond.
AP photo of Tavon Austin by Michael Switzer / Sept. 18, 2010
Comments
So what's your point. Down here in Florida half the best players go out of State. As everybody knows Florida puts out some outstanding athletes every year. Maryland needs to do a much better job in getting players from Florida
Posted by: Tom L | September 20, 2010 5:04 PM
How about giving all players from those Counties some love. My son plays D2 Football and attended Mt St. Joe. He like many others are also at the next level.
Posted by: Tony Armstead | September 20, 2010 7:24 PM
Tony -- I'd love to have Mike track down info on every local college football player, regardless of division, but his internship adviser would probably frown on me keeping him here 12 hours a day. Seriously, we'd love to track every local kid, but we just don't have the manpower. Thanks, though, for your comment.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | September 21, 2010 1:06 PM
Gene Knight wesley college has 6 receptions and 113 yards in his first two games this season. Gene attended Overlea high school in baltimore, md.
Gene Knight is 14 receptions short of breaking into the top 10 all time receptions list at wesley college ( division III)
Posted by: bryant knight | September 22, 2010 9:18 PM