Stedman Bailey, once too short, too slow, too uncelebrated to play high-major college football, will break the school record for receiving yards Friday against Pitt. Probably on the first pass. He knows he needs just seven yards to get past the 1,043 David Saunders submitted in 1997.

Should Bailey catch two touchdowns, he ties Darius Reynaud (2007) and Chris Henry (2004) with 12 touchdown catches in a season.

That will probably have to wait, but that’s no matter to Bailey. His time is now. His records are coming. He knew it would happen in spite of what others once thought.

“The critics do drive me,” he said.

There really are no limits on where Bailey will wind up as a receiver. While he isn’t a blazer, he has speed and he is intelligent and hard-working, understanding what defenders are trying to do so that he’s able to take advantage.

He has 1,000 yards with two games left beyond the Pitt game, South Florida and a bowl game. How high can he take the record this year?

“I’m averaging 100 yards a game,” he noted. “That would be 1,200 or 1,300 if I hit my average, but I may go for 200 in one of those games. In this offense there is no limit.”

And with the attitude he carries there also is no limit.

“Football is my first love,” he said. “I’ve played since I was 9 years old. I’ve always been able to make plays. I just love the game so much I can’t picture life without football.”

Probably worth noting, too, that Tavon Austin needs six catches to give him 78 this season and pass Saunders (1998) and Shawn Foreman (1997). The guy throwing them the ball will break a few records Friday, too. More on that part a while later.

I’m in Charleston now. No promises on the live game blog tonight because the Civic Center WiFi is always shaky. You’ll know as soon as I do.