Athlon
5/25
Smith focused on final go-around with Buckeyes
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Published: May 25, 2006 - 5:00am
By Jeff Rapp
Those who saw Troy Smith direct Ohio State to a come-from-behind victory at Michigan or chew up Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl at the end of last season understand why he has shaken the “running quarterback” label and now is considered merely an “outstanding quarterback.” You don’t burn those two programs in those environments and complete better than 70 percent of your passes and toss for a combined 642 yards and three touchdowns by being lucky.
No, clearly, the lad can throw it a little bit — and win big games. If he can raise his game another notch it wouldn’t be out of line to imagine Smith damaging a worthy competitor in the BCS title game a la Vince Young or even hoisting the Heisman Trophy like Reggie Bush.
Last season the 6'1", 215-pound Smith showed he can be scary good at all facets of the game. He rushed for 611 yards and scored a team-high 11 touchdowns on the ground and also compiled 2,282 yards passing and another 16 scores through the air. Not only did he become the first OSU quarterback to surpass 500 yards rushing and 2,000 throwing for a season, but he also led the Big Ten in pass efficiency.
“Now he’ll scramble around and buy time to find the open guy, which is great because he can throw it as well as anybody,” says Joe Daniels, OSU’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.
But to fully appreciate Smith the multidimensional threat is to understand the maturation of Smith the young man.
Recruited heavily only by West Virginia and Toledo while at Cleveland Glenville High School, Smith eventually heard from Ohio State after his prep coach, Ted Ginn Sr., basically begged the Buckeyes to look at him.
Smith was listed as an “athlete” when he signed with Ohio State and second-year coach Jim Tressel in February 2002. He took a redshirt that fall and watched Craig Krenzel man the position just the way Tressel wanted it played as the Buckeyes went a sterling 14–0 and won the national title.
Krenzel left after the 2003 season, setting the stage for an old-fashioned quarterback controversy involving Smith and wunderkind Justin Zwick, a polished arm from a passing system at Massillon (Ohio) Washington.
Zwick won the job, but Smith took over late in the season after Zwick was hurt at Iowa. As Smith settled into the position, his leadership skills emerged. In the regular-season finale against Michigan, he racked up 386 yards of total offense — the most ever by an Ohio State player against the Wolverines — and finally appeared to have the job to himself.
However, soon after it was discovered that Smith had accepted money from a booster. He had to sit out the Alamo Bowl and also was suspended for the first game of the 2005 season. That left him to debut off the bench against Texas and forced him to have to wrest the job back from Zwick.
Smith played admirably against the Longhorns, but the eventual national champions won in the Horseshoe, 25–22. A month later, the Buckeyes’ dreams of a rematch with Texas in the title game were shattered as they lost 17–10 at Penn State. Smith looked jumpy throughout the game, and his interception set up an early Penn State touchdown that proved to be the difference.
That prompted a harsh phone call from Ginn Sr., who told his protégé to ask Tressel for a transfer if all he wanted to do was tuck the ball and run.
“I ate him up,” says Ginn Sr., “because he (was) not studying film. He (was) going and getting him some sunglasses and looking for an automobile and a gold chain because he (was) reading his articles.”
The Buckeyes haven’t lost a game since thanks in great part to Smith’s dedication to all aspects of the program. And this offseason, for once, he isn’t dealing with any negative labels and isn’t preparing for a quarterback battle in the fall. He’s simply OSU’s quarterback and the guy who is expected to point the way for the promising 2006 season.
The role wears well on Smith, who drew raves this spring for his sharpness on the field and his total commitment to the task off it. As for being a leader, it seems to come easier to him than knowing when to spin away from a defender. “Troy is naturally that kind of guy,” Tressel says. “He has an aura about him. When you look at him out there there’s no doubt that when he calls the people up there to confer, he’s in charge.”
Simply put, the Buckeyes respond to Smith more than anyone on the team. “It’s the way he carries himself on and off the field, the way he controls the offense on the field, the way he controls the offense in meetings, just everything. He’s a great leader,” says Ted Ginn Jr., Smith’s former high school teammate and the Buckeyes’ top target at wide receiver.
“He’s always been like that and had that attitude where he wants to be the top dog. And he shows it every day.”
“The way he handles himself, even in meetings, it’s a tremendous difference,” adds Daniels. “He’s hungry to learn and he’s always been that way but he’s got a comfort level too in that he’s the guy.“
Smith is now religious about spending time in the film room, and his knowledge of the offense has allowed him to be even more take-charge in the huddle.
“I guess my thing is the comfort level,” Smith says, “being comfortable within myself. And the constant study of our offense has helped me develop into that cool, calm guy. And I wouldn’t be able to be this cool if I didn’t have guys who could make plays and guys who can read defenses, get us in the right protections and things like that.”
Smith hasn’t lost his innate cool, but he’s beginning to sound more like his straight-arrow head coach, rattling off attributes about every single teammate down to the last walk-on and even talking about curbing his social life.
“The night life is not in my equation right now, and for the rest of the season it won’t be,” he says. “Things like that will come. It seemed cliché a couple years ago, but I’m really starting to buy into what Coach Tress says, that nothing good happens past 10 (p.m.). It’s pretty much the truth, man. Just stay in the house, get you a video game.”
Smith said he also doesn’t pout anymore when he wears the black jersey in practice, which means he’s not to have contact.
“I see the value in it now,” he says. “It’s about getting better every day.”
He also is all business in the classroom and is on course to graduate in June with a degree in mass communication. He plans to begin work in another undergraduate study in the fall — a fresh start academically that he hopes will coincide with a memorable end to his collegiate playing career.
“I feel like I’ve grown in front of everybody — from a knucklehead, young guy to hopefully an up-and-coming, wise senior who can lead this group of guys,” he says. “It was kind of frightening last year watching all the guys that I came in with in my recruiting class leave, but that gives me even more incentive to step up and want to lead this group.”
Smith says he’s excited about the lofty expectations for the Buckeyes, but he isn’t allowing himself to get caught up in the Heisman hype. “I definitely don’t look into that,” says Smith, who is 13–2 in his career as a starter. “There’s a lot of people that have been front-runners and have ended up in the back. I think the guys that are the most successful in the things they do are the guys that stay the course and worry about their team as opposed to the things in the media.”
But if you confuse Smith’s outward even keel with a lack of interest, you don’t know the driven competitor his teammates know.
“He is so excited for this season,” wideout Anthony Gonzalez says. “I have never seen him this excited. He knows going in this is his last year. He knows the expectations and he loves the expectations. I personally think about a year from now instead of Matt Leinart and Vince Young in the top echelon for quarterbacks, we’ll be talking about Troy Smith, because I’m telling you right now: He’s going to have an unbelievable season.”
