MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The dynamo who ranks ahead of his distinguished Heisman Trophy candidate teammates in all-purpose yardage, who at 41 inches owns not only one of the highest vertical leaps in program history but also the coach Rich Rodriguez-era record for squatting 695 pounds, is a compact, camera-shy, modest package with would-be tacklers and no-way tales in his wake.

Legends about the staggering feats of Darius Reynaud? Those began long before he landed at West Virginia.

"Let me give you a story about that," Katrina Reynaud said over the telephone from suburban New Orleans yesterday about the middle of her three sons. "When I would leave and go to the grocery store, I would come back and there would be a yard full of kids. Darius, who was 7 years old, would be on top of the house -- I kid you not. He would be on top of the house, do a back flip and land on his feet."

Mother has spun dozens of such legends about her rising, flipping, athletically gifted son over the intervening years. "Sometimes I tell people, and they'll be looking at me like, 'Riiiiight, he did all that,' " she said. Nowadays, the look coming from fellow Mountaineers is nothing but amazement. And the look from opponents -- such as Maryland Thursday, which watched him snatch away any chances of a Terrapins comeback with a 96-yard kickoff return -- is nothing but bewilderment.

After Reynaud's two touchdown catches for the Mountaineers' first scores of their 48-23 victory Saturday, Marshall coach Mark Snyder chastised: "You all need to get him the ball more, because he makes plays."

"Darius," Rodriguez added, "he's very dangerous with the ball in his hands.

This 5-foot-9, 200-pound slot receiver had a career-high outing Saturday at Huntington, W.Va.: nine passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Those equaled his total touchdown receptions last season and his previous game highs -- he had one running a reverse plus one receiving in the 2006 Sugar Bowl, and he had one receiving plus that return against Maryland Sept. 14. Add up his 107 kickoff-return yards, his 218 receiving yards (on 13 catches) and his 1 yard on a reverse, a play in which he figures to be used more, and Reynaud at 167 averages more yards per game this season than All-America tailback Steve Slaton at 159 and Big East Conference offensive player of the year Patrick White at 111.

He is far from a third wheel in the speeding offense of the fourth-ranked Mountaineers (2-0). He is, though, a vital alternative. When defenses bunch around the line of scrimmage to try to stop the run, bubble screens and quick-pass patterns to Reynaud are critical to prying open that gridlock.

"Every time I get the ball, I think of ways I can score," Reynaud said. His 46-yard touchdown on the second series against Marshall was impressive, but his 23-yard scoring jaunt off a screen after halftime saw three Thundering Herd defenders miss. To think, he dropped the next pass to him. "I know a lot of people are keying on those two [Slaton and White], and the next option is me. I have to take advantage of it."

"I told him before the game, when the ball's in his hands, nobody should be able to tackle him," White added. "Nobody: D-line, linebackers, secondary. He showed that. They're either leaving him uncovered or in one on one. You're going to take that every time. He's an athlete. A phenomenal athlete."

Reynaud, so fabled that he has his own Wikipedia entry, remains a West Virginia wonder. Just ask teammates: What is the most incredible athletic feat you've seen him do?

For fellow receiver Tito Gonzales, it was that record-setting power lift, some three and a half times Reynaud's girth: "A lot of guys put a certain weight on there and they rep it out. He actually put 695 pounds on the bar, and he squatted it." Just like that.

NOTES -- The felony preliminary hearings scheduled for yesterday for projected defensive contributors J.T. Thomas, a linebacker, and cornerback Ellis Lankster were granted continuances, at their request. Their indefinite suspensions will last two more games, at minimum, and likely all season. ... Kickoff for the East Carolina-Mountaineers game Sept. 22 at Mountaineer Field has been moved to noon from 3:30 p.m. so it can be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.