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USAToday
Smith has ailing coaches, not Heisman, on his mind<!--startclickprintexclude--> <TABLE height=25 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!--endclickprintexclude-->Posted 8/2/2006 9:18 PM ET<!--startclickprintexclude--></TD><TD align=right><!-- EdSysObj ID="SSI-B" FRAGMENTID="13417811" rberthol -->
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Enlarge</TD><TD class=photoCredit align=right width=165>By David Kadlubowski, The Arizona Republic</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2 height=1>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=photoCredit colSpan=2>Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, left, is depending on his Heisman Trophy-candidate quarterback to lead his Buckeyes squad in 2006. "Trust is a strong word," Tressel says, "but I've always thought I could trust Troy with my life."</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--startclickprintinclude--><!-- EdSysObj ID="SandboxLede" FRAGMENTID="13666565" sleahy --><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader');</SCRIPT><!--endclickprintexclude-->By Jon Spencer, (Mansfield, Ohio) News Journal
CHICAGO — It is and isn't business as usual this summer for Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith.
Film study has played a big role in his development and remains an almost daily ritual for the Heisman Trophy candidate, even though it has sometimes meant making house calls.
Offensive coordinator Jim Bollman is recovering from heart bypass surgery. Quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels is battling cancer. When they weren't able to make it to the office, Smith went to them.
He figures it's the least he can do.
"It's important to show them as the quarterback for our team that I'm here for them anytime," Smith said Wednesday at the Big Ten meetings. "I could have been doing a lot of things since I wasn't taking a summer class (Smith graduated this spring), and I wanted to show them I'm thinking football all the time just like they are."
Smith hopes the visits have been as therapeutic for Bollman and Daniels as all of the skull sessions with his coaches have been for him.
"I think if I was a coach and a kid who still has a lot of growing to do shows up on his doorstep to talk X's and O's, it would make my day go better," Smith said.
Such a gesture may not advance his Heisman campaign, but discussing his close relationship with his coaches gave reporters from around the Midwest — many of whom cast Heisman ballots — a greater appreciation for the unquestioned leader of the Buckeyes.
Not that Smith was stumping for votes Monday or Tuesday, when he appeared on the ESPN "hot seat."
"I think more about what a national championship can do for the program than I do winning the Heisman," Smith said. "It doesn't affect my state of mind because I know it's a team game first. Three of the last four guys who won the Heisman (Oklahoma's Jason White and USC's Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush) were part of teams that played in the national championship game. Without my team, that award can't be won."
Les Horvath, one of six Buckeyes to win the Heisman Trophy, played both quarterback and halfback when he received the honor in 1944. Smith would be the first Big Ten honoree used strictly as a quarterback.
"The only time I think about the Heisman is when I play 'NCAA 2007,' " Smith said. "In essence, the road to the Heisman starts at your bowl game (the previous season)."
If that's the case, Smith should be the undisputed front runner heading into the season. Still fresh in many memories is his dynamic performance in the 34-20 Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame. He threw for two touchdowns and accounted for 408 total yards, including 66 rushing, outplaying counterpart and Heisman candidate Brady Quinn.
"He's a playmaker," said Minnesota quarterback Bryan Cupito, who studies tape of Smith. "He reminds me of Vince Young. He can run, but he can throw, too. He put up a big game against Notre Dame ... that's for sure."
It was a storybook finish to a season that saw Smith orchestrate a late rally against Michigan, lead the Big Ten in passing efficiency and become the first quarterback in school history to run for more than 500 yards and pass for more than 2,000.
Everyone is left to wonder if Ohio State might have won the national championship had Smith started the season the same way he finished. He sat out the first game, as part of his suspension for taking $500 from a booster. He returned the following week, but alternated with starter Justin Zwick in a 25-22 loss to Texas that propelled the Longhorns to a national crown.
"Trust is a strong word, but I've always thought I could trust Troy with my life," head coach Jim Tressel said. "Did that bump in the road slow my belief that he could become a consistent decision-maker? Yeah. It made things complicated. I guess you could say we had to (repair) the rim on the tire."
Now it's hard for college football pundits to envision Tressel's luxury ride landing back in the shop or anyone besides Smith behind the wheel. The Buckeyes are a consensus top 5 pick and Smith was named the Big Ten Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in a vote of the media here.
"Even with my degree (in mass communications) out of the way, you're going to have good games and bad games; hopefully, I can have more good games," Smith said. "I'm going to stay in the film room, stay in my coaches' ear and, hopefully, that will get me into a position where I am the best quarterback in the nation."
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This has be be one of the most inspiring things I've ever read going into a football season. Kudos to USA Today......and of you, OSUGrad for posting it.
I'm going to the scUM game this year (ashamed;y my first one ever). Things like this make me count the hours until kickoff.
:gobucks3: :osu2: :gobucks4:
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Dispatch
8/3
BIG TEN NOTEBOOK
Smith tries to lift assistants’ spirits by talking football
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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CHICAGO — Ohio State offensive coordinator Jim Bollman was barely out of the hospital following heart bypass surgery in June when Troy Smith knocked on Bollman’s door, wanting to watch videotape and talk football.
It was as much a welcome back, the senior quarterback said, as it was a needed meeting.
"I wanted to show him I’m thinking football all the time just like he is," Smith said during the Big Ten media day yesterday. "So I showed up a couple of times, went over film with him, just to let him know football is still in my thinking, and also him as my coach is still in my thinking."
He said he did the same thing with quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels, who went to the hospital because of a heart ailment and also found out he had cancer.
"I showed up at his house," Smith said. "I let them know I was coming, and hopefully they were happy when I got there."
Smith said he knew the visits were therapeutic for both coaches.
"I think if I was a coach in that situation and a kid who still has a lot of growing to do wants to show up at my doorstep and talk X’s and O’s with me, I think that would make my day go a lot better," Smith said.
It never stops
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel got a phone call from a recruit at midday Tuesday.
Indiana coach Terry Hoeppner said he received a commitment by phone from a highly prized recruit Tuesday night.
Recruiting never stops, no matter who the coach. Take Penn State’s Joe Paterno, 79. He had to leave early from his interview session yesterday.
"I’ve got to go guys, I’ve got a telephone call (from a recruit) coming. I don’t mean to be rude," Paterno said.
Speaking of calls
Hoeppner, who coached Ben Roethlisberger at Miami University before the quarterback went on to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Super Bowl win last season, said he was playing in a golf tournament in Cincinnati when he learned that Roethlisberger had crashed into a car on his motorcycle in June.
"I left the course, jumped in a car, drove to Pittsburgh (and) spent a couple of days in Pittsburgh with him," Hoeppner said.
He knows it was a life-lesson moment for Roethlisberger, just like having brain surgery during the winter was one of those moments for Hoeppner.
"Having surgery didn’t change my perspective; it’s just the things I knew that were important, they’re just more important now," Hoeppner said.
Such as the call he received from his nearly 3-year-old grandson Quinn at breakfast yesterday.
"He said, ‘It’s a great day,’ " Hoeppner said, smiling. "And I said, ‘You’re right Quinn. It’s a great day.’ … That made my day."
For future reference
Athletic director Gene Smith said that Ohio State is nearing an agreement for a home-andhome series with Oklahoma in 2016 and 2017.
OSU also has scheduled home-and-home games with Southern California (2008-09), the University of Miami (2010-11), California (2012-13) and Virginia Tech (2014-15) and a game with Washington in 2007.
Gone but not forgotten
The Buckeyes will enter camp with just three veteran tailbacks after the transfer of Independence product Erik Haw, a sophomore, to Jackson State.
In making the move last month, Haw noted that he was fourth on the depth chart behind junior Antonio Pittman, sophomore Maurice Wells and freshman Chris "Beanie" Wells. Haw said he needed a fresh start and planned to make it at the Division I-AA school that produced Walter Payton.
"I was disappointed to see Erik transfer because I thought he had some ability," Tressel said yesterday. "He felt like he needed to go somewhere where maybe he would get more opportunities.
"If he goes and realizes, ‘Boy, I was at a pretty neat place, but I can’t look back. I’ve got to go to work here and get my degree and be the best I can be,’ then that’s success. But you always hate to lose your guys."
Link
Smith opening doors for Buckeyes
JASON LLOYD, Morning Journal Writer
08/03/2006
CHICAGO -- After he was released from the hospital, offensive coordinator Jim Bollman barely had enough time to slip into his recliner and exhale before Troy Smith was knocking on his door.
''Troy gave him a couple days to get on his feet,'' Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said yesterday at the Big Ten meetings. ''That's all.''
When spring ball ended, Smith told the coaches he wanted to know everything about the offense. By visiting Bollman, who was home recovering from bypass surgery, he proved he meant it. The film sessions occurred on three or four different days and covered all of Ohio State's opponents this year.
Smith also went to the home of quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels to study film. Daniels is battling cancer and undergoing chemotherapy.
''I called them on the phone first,'' Smith said. ''I always set my appointments.''
If this season goes as planned, Smith and the Buckeyes may have a few more appointments to keep -- in New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation and in Arizona for the national championship game.
It begins with Smith, who has surpassed Ted Ginn as the Ohio State player all the other Big Ten coaches are marveling about. In conversations with other coaches around the league, Tressel said they're all asking about Smith now, not Ginn.
''That guy taking the snap is a pretty good football player and those receivers are really, really good,'' Illinois coach Ron Zook said of the Buckeyes. ''Ten to 15 years ago, you didn't have to have a great quarterback to win it all. They've always said in the NFL you've got to have a quarterback to take you where you want to. That game has drifted down to college. At Ohio State, you have a guy where on every snap he takes, he will make something happen, whether it's running the ball or throwing the ball. Anytime you have a quarterback like that, it gives you a chance.''
Smith is still a work in progress. Tressel saw the evolution during the 2004 season, when Smith first took over as the starting quarterback. As the season wound down, Tressel believed Smith could be the type of quarterback he could trust to lead the team.
Shortly after Tressel believed that came Smith's two-game suspension for taking $500 from a booster. Tressel says his trust in Smith never wavered, even through the suspension.
''Trust is a strong word,'' Tressel said. ''I can trust Troy with my life.''
Smith's first game back last year came against Texas, when Tressel rotated him with Justin Zwick throughout the game. Just as Smith seemed to be taking over the starting job again, Tressel reinserted Zwick in the middle of the third quarter. The two continued to rotate the rest of the game, which Ohio State lost, 25-22.
Now nearly a year later, Tressel admitted the Texas loss haunts him more than a typical loss, but he doesn't regret how he handled the quarterback situation.
''From the quarterback standpoint, I would (do it all again),'' Tressel said. ''The thing I regret is we were in the red zone, had a ball that was deflected, then we go backward and all of a sudden we have too long of a field goal. Those are the things I regret. If I had it to do again, I'd have run two quarterback sneaks and kicked it.''
Tressel stands by his ''it felt like the right thing to do'' reasoning for putting Zwick back in the game in the second half against the Longhorns. He said it had nothing to do with making Smith earn back his status as full-time starting quarterback, even though less than 48 hours after that loss, Tressel named Smith the starter and never looked back.
''We'd never do something like that, not in the middle of a game,'' Tressel said. ''I thought we handled that (punishment) during the spring and preseason. You don't carry those things into the game.''
Barring injury, Smith likely won't have to share snaps with Zwick this year in the rematch in Austin, Texas. Smith said revenge doesn't play into that game because he doesn't feed off revenge -- just improving every week. It's why he was knocking on the doors of Bollman and Daniels earlier this summer.
''If I was a coach and one of my players did that, of course it would (lift spirits),'' Smith said. ''The thing the '02 team had was leaders that kept everybody on the same page. For a guy to show up on the doorstep wanting to watch film on a summer day when a college athlete could be doing so many other things that doesn't pertain to football, I think that says a lot.''
Canton
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]SPORTS SPOTLIGHT: Problem child has become the Golden Child[/FONT]
Thursday, August 3, 2006 [FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]SPORTS SPOTLIGHT TODD PORTER[/FONT]
CHICAGO Just five years ago, Troy Smith was searching for himself and his place in Ohio State’s football program.
Boy, has he found it.
He was an afterthought at Glenville High School, barely recruited by the Buckeyes.
Watching Smith at a summer youth camp, Jim Tressel decided to take a closer look. Ohio State already had secured a commitment from Justin Zwick, who came out of Massillon Washington High School with a bigger arm and profile.
Smith was throwing tight spirals halfway down the field, barely with a flick of the wrist.
“Whoa, man,” Tressel said, recalling the memory. “We were very honest with Troy. ... We’d already had Justin commit. We made it clear, ‘Is coming to Ohio State under these circumstances the best thing for you?’ ”
Those circumstances included not getting a shot at repetitions under center until the following spring.
Smith accepted the offer, because “when Ohio State comes in, an Ohio kid should go to Ohio State.”
All he has done since is change his life, his future and the Buckeyes. Smith went from problem child to golden child. He’s been ripped from the top of the mountain, and he’s climbing back up.
On Wednesday morning at a four-star hotel in Chicago, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior looked the part. He acted the part. He talked the part.
Which part?
Heisman Trophy candidate.
Smith was named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year during the Big Ten’s media day and kickoff luncheon. He’s in a small circle of players labeled Heisman Trophy candidates.
“My life,” Smith said, “has been a complete 180-degree turn.”
He has sworn off the college party scene. He has dedicated himself to becoming a student of the game. Most importantly, he wants to be a good person.
“Coach Tressel always says ‘nothing good happens after 10 o’clock,’ ” Smith said. “I’m not into the club scene. ... As far as the late-night stuff, college student-athletes have to get that out of their system early. Your body is your temple.
“At night, my body is beat up, my arm is sore. I go lay down.”
Perhaps the lowest point in Smith’s career was two years ago. He sat home and watched his team play in the Alamo Bowl. He listened to the ESPN broadcast, which was highly critical of his mistakes.
He took money from a booster and had to sit out two games. The bowl game was one. The opener against Miami (Ohio) in 2005 was the other.
Smith had an awakening: All this talent, ability and promise was being wasted.
“It’s a process every athlete has to go through, or should,” he said. “You take it in stride. A lot of times they love you when you’re up, and then when you’re down, they step on you.”
During the summer, Smith has spent time and watched film with Tressel, Offensive Coordinator Jim Bollman and quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels. He showed up at both Bollman’s and Daniels’ homes after each recently were released from the hospital. He wanted to pick their brain and more importantly, “make them feel like they were back in the coaching fold.”
He doesn’t just watch film. He wants to understand the whys behind the offense, behind the defensive game plan.
“Our goal is to get him thinking like an opposing defensive coordinator,” Tressel said.
After the suspension, Smith pulled it together. He shook off the rust after not getting the snaps with the first team offense in summer camp. He swallowed his pride.
“There was a point in 2005 when Troy, to use one of his words, was just ballin’,” Tressel said. “Eventually, he came to learn we weren’t interested in just ballin’. We wanted to develop a quarterback.”
Smith has become one of the best players in college football. He’s beaten Michigan twice, almost single-handedly. He tore up Notre Dame’s defense in the Fiesta Bowl earlier this year.
There he sat Wednesday with two dozen tape recorders before him, flashbulbs bouncing off the wall. He should be proud and amazed at the man he’s become.
He isn’t.
Smith graduated this summer with a degree in mass communications. He is starting a second major in the fall in African-American studies.
“I wouldn’t have started it if I didn’t plan on finishing it,” he said.
To give you an idea of how easy life can be for a player with a degree in hand, last fall, Southern Cal’s Matt Lienart took ballroom dancing.
Smith is taking real courses.
“I don’t stop to look at the person I’ve become,” Smith said. “The minute I do that, I’ll stop becoming that person. ... You continually grow as a man.”
He is a work in progress, in many cases, already better than most finished products.
Heisman Trophy? It would be the perfect end to roller-coaster ride.
“Yeah ... but I think a national championship would be better,” he said. “I have to be there for my teammates, and that’s something I took for granted before.”
Link
Smith has added inspiration this year
OSU QB coach Daniels undergoing chemotherapy.
By Doug Harris
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<!--begintext--> Staff Writer
CHICAGO — Ohio State senior quarterback Troy Smith is a proven winner, having gone 13-2 as a starter and beating Michigan twice. But the victory he’s yearning for most these days is not one that can be attained on the field.
Quarterback coach Joe Daniels is undergoing chemotherapy for malignant tumors. The cancer was discovered when the 63-year-old assistant submitted to a battery of tests after suffering a heart attack June 17.
Daniels can only work part-time during his treatment, and his condition is weighing heavily on Smith.
“He’s one of the few people who believed I could be a quarterback in the Big Ten,” Smith said. “He’s battling, and it’s given me added strength to keep moving on because of what he’s going through.
“He’s also given me another reason to show up at his house and break down film,” Smith added, smiling weakly. “Without him last year, I wouldn’t be where I am.”
Smith finds himself on the short list of preseason Heisman candidates. He led the Big Ten and was sixth nationally in passing efficiency last year, and he racked up 408 yards of total offense (rushing and passing) against Notre Dame while earning the Fiesta Bowl offensive MVP award.
“I think his consistency has become much better,” coach Jim Tressel said. “He showed back in 2004 that he could make plays and do some things, but would he do that consistently? In ’05, in the back half of that season, all of a sudden there was a consistent quarterback.”
Smith has a bazooka-like arm, but he’s just as destructive on the run. He rushed for 611 yards last season — second on the team to Antonio Pittman’s 1,331 but more than any Buckeye managed in 2004.
He’s had five games of 300-plus total yards, one short of the school record held by Joe Germaine. And Smith credits much of his individual climb to a renewed commitment to film study.
“It had always been there, but I neglected it before,” he admitted. “Now, I ask and reason with the coaches to sit down with me — even when they don’t want to.
“I have a thirst and hunger for the film room that, I hope, can’t be matched nationally.”
Smith’s diligence also extends to the classroom. The fifth-year senior graduated in June with a bachelor’s in mass communications and has begun work on a second degree in African-American studies. “It was the most exciting experience that I’ve had so far in school,” he said of completing his first major.
“It’s so time-consuming, getting up early in the morning, going to class all through the day and then going to practice, which I still have to do. But I understand that I have something now that everyone is trying to achieve.”
8/3
BIG TEN NOTEBOOK
Smith tries to lift assistants’ spirits by talking football
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--> <table class="phototableright" align="right" border="0"> <!-- begin large ad code --> <tbody><tr><td> <table align="center"> <tbody><tr><td align="center">
CHICAGO — Ohio State offensive coordinator Jim Bollman was barely out of the hospital following heart bypass surgery in June when Troy Smith knocked on Bollman’s door, wanting to watch videotape and talk football.
It was as much a welcome back, the senior quarterback said, as it was a needed meeting.
"I wanted to show him I’m thinking football all the time just like he is," Smith said during the Big Ten media day yesterday. "So I showed up a couple of times, went over film with him, just to let him know football is still in my thinking, and also him as my coach is still in my thinking."
He said he did the same thing with quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels, who went to the hospital because of a heart ailment and also found out he had cancer.
"I showed up at his house," Smith said. "I let them know I was coming, and hopefully they were happy when I got there."
Smith said he knew the visits were therapeutic for both coaches.
"I think if I was a coach in that situation and a kid who still has a lot of growing to do wants to show up at my doorstep and talk X’s and O’s with me, I think that would make my day go a lot better," Smith said.
It never stops
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel got a phone call from a recruit at midday Tuesday.
Indiana coach Terry Hoeppner said he received a commitment by phone from a highly prized recruit Tuesday night.
Recruiting never stops, no matter who the coach. Take Penn State’s Joe Paterno, 79. He had to leave early from his interview session yesterday.
"I’ve got to go guys, I’ve got a telephone call (from a recruit) coming. I don’t mean to be rude," Paterno said.
Speaking of calls
Hoeppner, who coached Ben Roethlisberger at Miami University before the quarterback went on to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Super Bowl win last season, said he was playing in a golf tournament in Cincinnati when he learned that Roethlisberger had crashed into a car on his motorcycle in June.
"I left the course, jumped in a car, drove to Pittsburgh (and) spent a couple of days in Pittsburgh with him," Hoeppner said.
He knows it was a life-lesson moment for Roethlisberger, just like having brain surgery during the winter was one of those moments for Hoeppner.
"Having surgery didn’t change my perspective; it’s just the things I knew that were important, they’re just more important now," Hoeppner said.
Such as the call he received from his nearly 3-year-old grandson Quinn at breakfast yesterday.
"He said, ‘It’s a great day,’ " Hoeppner said, smiling. "And I said, ‘You’re right Quinn. It’s a great day.’ … That made my day."
For future reference
Athletic director Gene Smith said that Ohio State is nearing an agreement for a home-andhome series with Oklahoma in 2016 and 2017.
OSU also has scheduled home-and-home games with Southern California (2008-09), the University of Miami (2010-11), California (2012-13) and Virginia Tech (2014-15) and a game with Washington in 2007.
Gone but not forgotten
The Buckeyes will enter camp with just three veteran tailbacks after the transfer of Independence product Erik Haw, a sophomore, to Jackson State.
In making the move last month, Haw noted that he was fourth on the depth chart behind junior Antonio Pittman, sophomore Maurice Wells and freshman Chris "Beanie" Wells. Haw said he needed a fresh start and planned to make it at the Division I-AA school that produced Walter Payton.
"I was disappointed to see Erik transfer because I thought he had some ability," Tressel said yesterday. "He felt like he needed to go somewhere where maybe he would get more opportunities.
"If he goes and realizes, ‘Boy, I was at a pretty neat place, but I can’t look back. I’ve got to go to work here and get my degree and be the best I can be,’ then that’s success. But you always hate to lose your guys."
Link
Smith opening doors for Buckeyes
JASON LLOYD, Morning Journal Writer
08/03/2006
CHICAGO -- After he was released from the hospital, offensive coordinator Jim Bollman barely had enough time to slip into his recliner and exhale before Troy Smith was knocking on his door.
''Troy gave him a couple days to get on his feet,'' Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said yesterday at the Big Ten meetings. ''That's all.''
When spring ball ended, Smith told the coaches he wanted to know everything about the offense. By visiting Bollman, who was home recovering from bypass surgery, he proved he meant it. The film sessions occurred on three or four different days and covered all of Ohio State's opponents this year.
Smith also went to the home of quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels to study film. Daniels is battling cancer and undergoing chemotherapy.
''I called them on the phone first,'' Smith said. ''I always set my appointments.''
If this season goes as planned, Smith and the Buckeyes may have a few more appointments to keep -- in New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation and in Arizona for the national championship game.
It begins with Smith, who has surpassed Ted Ginn as the Ohio State player all the other Big Ten coaches are marveling about. In conversations with other coaches around the league, Tressel said they're all asking about Smith now, not Ginn.
''That guy taking the snap is a pretty good football player and those receivers are really, really good,'' Illinois coach Ron Zook said of the Buckeyes. ''Ten to 15 years ago, you didn't have to have a great quarterback to win it all. They've always said in the NFL you've got to have a quarterback to take you where you want to. That game has drifted down to college. At Ohio State, you have a guy where on every snap he takes, he will make something happen, whether it's running the ball or throwing the ball. Anytime you have a quarterback like that, it gives you a chance.''
Smith is still a work in progress. Tressel saw the evolution during the 2004 season, when Smith first took over as the starting quarterback. As the season wound down, Tressel believed Smith could be the type of quarterback he could trust to lead the team.
Shortly after Tressel believed that came Smith's two-game suspension for taking $500 from a booster. Tressel says his trust in Smith never wavered, even through the suspension.
''Trust is a strong word,'' Tressel said. ''I can trust Troy with my life.''
Smith's first game back last year came against Texas, when Tressel rotated him with Justin Zwick throughout the game. Just as Smith seemed to be taking over the starting job again, Tressel reinserted Zwick in the middle of the third quarter. The two continued to rotate the rest of the game, which Ohio State lost, 25-22.
Now nearly a year later, Tressel admitted the Texas loss haunts him more than a typical loss, but he doesn't regret how he handled the quarterback situation.
''From the quarterback standpoint, I would (do it all again),'' Tressel said. ''The thing I regret is we were in the red zone, had a ball that was deflected, then we go backward and all of a sudden we have too long of a field goal. Those are the things I regret. If I had it to do again, I'd have run two quarterback sneaks and kicked it.''
Tressel stands by his ''it felt like the right thing to do'' reasoning for putting Zwick back in the game in the second half against the Longhorns. He said it had nothing to do with making Smith earn back his status as full-time starting quarterback, even though less than 48 hours after that loss, Tressel named Smith the starter and never looked back.
''We'd never do something like that, not in the middle of a game,'' Tressel said. ''I thought we handled that (punishment) during the spring and preseason. You don't carry those things into the game.''
Barring injury, Smith likely won't have to share snaps with Zwick this year in the rematch in Austin, Texas. Smith said revenge doesn't play into that game because he doesn't feed off revenge -- just improving every week. It's why he was knocking on the doors of Bollman and Daniels earlier this summer.
''If I was a coach and one of my players did that, of course it would (lift spirits),'' Smith said. ''The thing the '02 team had was leaders that kept everybody on the same page. For a guy to show up on the doorstep wanting to watch film on a summer day when a college athlete could be doing so many other things that doesn't pertain to football, I think that says a lot.''
Canton
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]SPORTS SPOTLIGHT: Problem child has become the Golden Child[/FONT]
Thursday, August 3, 2006 [FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]SPORTS SPOTLIGHT TODD PORTER[/FONT]
CHICAGO Just five years ago, Troy Smith was searching for himself and his place in Ohio State’s football program.
Boy, has he found it.
He was an afterthought at Glenville High School, barely recruited by the Buckeyes.
Watching Smith at a summer youth camp, Jim Tressel decided to take a closer look. Ohio State already had secured a commitment from Justin Zwick, who came out of Massillon Washington High School with a bigger arm and profile.
Smith was throwing tight spirals halfway down the field, barely with a flick of the wrist.
“Whoa, man,” Tressel said, recalling the memory. “We were very honest with Troy. ... We’d already had Justin commit. We made it clear, ‘Is coming to Ohio State under these circumstances the best thing for you?’ ”
Those circumstances included not getting a shot at repetitions under center until the following spring.
Smith accepted the offer, because “when Ohio State comes in, an Ohio kid should go to Ohio State.”
All he has done since is change his life, his future and the Buckeyes. Smith went from problem child to golden child. He’s been ripped from the top of the mountain, and he’s climbing back up.
On Wednesday morning at a four-star hotel in Chicago, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior looked the part. He acted the part. He talked the part.
Which part?
Heisman Trophy candidate.
Smith was named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year during the Big Ten’s media day and kickoff luncheon. He’s in a small circle of players labeled Heisman Trophy candidates.
“My life,” Smith said, “has been a complete 180-degree turn.”
He has sworn off the college party scene. He has dedicated himself to becoming a student of the game. Most importantly, he wants to be a good person.
“Coach Tressel always says ‘nothing good happens after 10 o’clock,’ ” Smith said. “I’m not into the club scene. ... As far as the late-night stuff, college student-athletes have to get that out of their system early. Your body is your temple.
“At night, my body is beat up, my arm is sore. I go lay down.”
Perhaps the lowest point in Smith’s career was two years ago. He sat home and watched his team play in the Alamo Bowl. He listened to the ESPN broadcast, which was highly critical of his mistakes.
He took money from a booster and had to sit out two games. The bowl game was one. The opener against Miami (Ohio) in 2005 was the other.
Smith had an awakening: All this talent, ability and promise was being wasted.
“It’s a process every athlete has to go through, or should,” he said. “You take it in stride. A lot of times they love you when you’re up, and then when you’re down, they step on you.”
During the summer, Smith has spent time and watched film with Tressel, Offensive Coordinator Jim Bollman and quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels. He showed up at both Bollman’s and Daniels’ homes after each recently were released from the hospital. He wanted to pick their brain and more importantly, “make them feel like they were back in the coaching fold.”
He doesn’t just watch film. He wants to understand the whys behind the offense, behind the defensive game plan.
“Our goal is to get him thinking like an opposing defensive coordinator,” Tressel said.
After the suspension, Smith pulled it together. He shook off the rust after not getting the snaps with the first team offense in summer camp. He swallowed his pride.
“There was a point in 2005 when Troy, to use one of his words, was just ballin’,” Tressel said. “Eventually, he came to learn we weren’t interested in just ballin’. We wanted to develop a quarterback.”
Smith has become one of the best players in college football. He’s beaten Michigan twice, almost single-handedly. He tore up Notre Dame’s defense in the Fiesta Bowl earlier this year.
There he sat Wednesday with two dozen tape recorders before him, flashbulbs bouncing off the wall. He should be proud and amazed at the man he’s become.
He isn’t.
Smith graduated this summer with a degree in mass communications. He is starting a second major in the fall in African-American studies.
“I wouldn’t have started it if I didn’t plan on finishing it,” he said.
To give you an idea of how easy life can be for a player with a degree in hand, last fall, Southern Cal’s Matt Lienart took ballroom dancing.
Smith is taking real courses.
“I don’t stop to look at the person I’ve become,” Smith said. “The minute I do that, I’ll stop becoming that person. ... You continually grow as a man.”
He is a work in progress, in many cases, already better than most finished products.
Heisman Trophy? It would be the perfect end to roller-coaster ride.
“Yeah ... but I think a national championship would be better,” he said. “I have to be there for my teammates, and that’s something I took for granted before.”
Link
Smith has added inspiration this year
OSU QB coach Daniels undergoing chemotherapy.
By Doug Harris
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<!--end _story_inset_and_medium_rect.html -->
<!--begintext--> Staff Writer
CHICAGO — Ohio State senior quarterback Troy Smith is a proven winner, having gone 13-2 as a starter and beating Michigan twice. But the victory he’s yearning for most these days is not one that can be attained on the field.
Quarterback coach Joe Daniels is undergoing chemotherapy for malignant tumors. The cancer was discovered when the 63-year-old assistant submitted to a battery of tests after suffering a heart attack June 17.
Daniels can only work part-time during his treatment, and his condition is weighing heavily on Smith.
“He’s one of the few people who believed I could be a quarterback in the Big Ten,” Smith said. “He’s battling, and it’s given me added strength to keep moving on because of what he’s going through.
“He’s also given me another reason to show up at his house and break down film,” Smith added, smiling weakly. “Without him last year, I wouldn’t be where I am.”
Smith finds himself on the short list of preseason Heisman candidates. He led the Big Ten and was sixth nationally in passing efficiency last year, and he racked up 408 yards of total offense (rushing and passing) against Notre Dame while earning the Fiesta Bowl offensive MVP award.
“I think his consistency has become much better,” coach Jim Tressel said. “He showed back in 2004 that he could make plays and do some things, but would he do that consistently? In ’05, in the back half of that season, all of a sudden there was a consistent quarterback.”
Smith has a bazooka-like arm, but he’s just as destructive on the run. He rushed for 611 yards last season — second on the team to Antonio Pittman’s 1,331 but more than any Buckeye managed in 2004.
He’s had five games of 300-plus total yards, one short of the school record held by Joe Germaine. And Smith credits much of his individual climb to a renewed commitment to film study.
“It had always been there, but I neglected it before,” he admitted. “Now, I ask and reason with the coaches to sit down with me — even when they don’t want to.
“I have a thirst and hunger for the film room that, I hope, can’t be matched nationally.”
Smith’s diligence also extends to the classroom. The fifth-year senior graduated in June with a bachelor’s in mass communications and has begun work on a second degree in African-American studies. “It was the most exciting experience that I’ve had so far in school,” he said of completing his first major.
“It’s so time-consuming, getting up early in the morning, going to class all through the day and then going to practice, which I still have to do. But I understand that I have something now that everyone is trying to achieve.”
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buckalum01
They Call Me Assassin
I'm convinced the only purpose these updates serve is to make me grow more and more anxious for the season to finally get here. I can't remeber a time when the hype was at the level it currently is- for the team or for an individual player.
But this much is clear- Troy Smith is going to be a player to watch this year. Everything points to him taking the nation by storm and putting on a fireworks display and I can't wait. The 'Smith 4 Heisman' campaign is already well under way and I can think of no better way to cement his legacy than to go out there and do what he knows he is capable of. GO BUCKS!
2006 National Champions= :osu:
2006 Heisman Winner= Troy Smith :osu:
2006 Big Ten MVP= Troy Smith :osu:
But this much is clear- Troy Smith is going to be a player to watch this year. Everything points to him taking the nation by storm and putting on a fireworks display and I can't wait. The 'Smith 4 Heisman' campaign is already well under way and I can think of no better way to cement his legacy than to go out there and do what he knows he is capable of. GO BUCKS!
2006 National Champions= :osu:
2006 Heisman Winner= Troy Smith :osu:
2006 Big Ten MVP= Troy Smith :osu:
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0
AirForceBuck
No mercy
Rivals
Playmakers make Buckeyes the Big Ten Favorite
CHICAGO – Horseshoes are said to bring luck, and the Ohio State Buckeyes have had good fortune at The Big Horseshoe.
The locals are so accustomed to counting down football victories at Ohio Stadium that the zip code is 43210.
Ohio State doesn't lose often, and it's rare for the Buckeyes to fall at home. In the 84-year history of The Big Horseshoe, the Buckeyes have a record of 366-104-20. In coach Jim Tressel's five-year regime they are 30-4.
That awesome home field advantage is just one of many reasons why the Buckeyes figure to successfully defend their share of the Big Ten championship this football season. After all, two of their primary challengers – Penn State and Michigan – must venture into the 'Shoe.
<!--Start Image--><SCRIPT language=Javascript>document.write(insertImage('/IMAGES/Player/photo/TEDDGINN.JPG', '', 1, 267, 200, 1, 'Ted Ginn is a weapon unlike just about any other in the Big Ten.', '', 1154604495000, '', 1014, 'Align=Left'));</SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=202>
</TD><TD width=6 rowSpan=4>
</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right>Associated Press</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3>
</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>Ted Ginn is a weapon unlike just about any other in the Big Ten.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Image-->However, that's not the only reason Ohio State has been given the pole position in the Big Ten race - and maybe even in the national championship picture. Critics and competitors point to elusive quarterback Troy Smith as the element that sets the Buckeyes apart.
"That guy taking the snap is a good football player," Illinois coach Ron Zook said of Smith. "Maybe 10, 15 years ago you didn't have to have a great quarterback to win it all, but I think the game has drifted now in college where you have to have a quarterback.
"Ohio State has a guy that can make something happen throwing the football or running. Anytime you've got a quarterback like that you've got a chance."
Penn State coach Joe Paterno agreed.
"He's a great athlete and a couple of guys around him ain't bad," Paterno said. "(Receiver Ted) Ginn ain't bad.
Defensive backs are always saying I can cover this guy or that guy, but nobody says I want to cover Ginn."
Yet for all of Ohio State's offensive horsepower there remains a measure of doubt about the Buckeyes. The OSU defense lost nine starters with NFL caliber talent off last season's 10-2 team. That raises at least some questions about the legitimacy of anointing Ohio State as the No. 1 team in the nation.
"I think it's encouraging people think highly about Ohio State," Tressel said. "Granted, we have to replace a lot of good folks (on defense) and we've been working hard to do that since January began. That will be a great challenge for us, but the positive thing for us is where we are experienced is up front. When you're solid up front it certainly helps the growth of your linebacker corps."
If the Buckeyes should falter there are as many as five teams with realistic shots of claiming the Big Ten crown. Michigan is one of those teams despite its 2005 record of 7-5, a disappointment by Big Blue standards. <!--START SIDE-->
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#896d45>The Rivals Five </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#dbcfc7>Here's a list of five streaks that Big Ten teams will bring into this season: </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#ebe6e3>Ohio State victories: The Buckeyes closed the season with seven consecutive victories, including a Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame. They also have four victories over Michigan in five years. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#dbcfc7>Northwestern's six-win seasons: The Wildcats, which endured 23 consecutive losing seasons from 1972 to 1994, has won at least six games the last three years. If they manage at least a half dozen this season it will mark their first four-year run since 1905. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#ebe6e3>Minnesota's 1,000-yard running backs: The Gophers have had at least one 1,000-yard rusher in each of the last seven seasons. That's the longest current streak in the Big Ten. Junior Amir Pinnix, who rushed for 467 yards in 2005, will be the most likely candidate to continue the streak. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#dbcfc7>Big crowds at the Big House: Michigan enters the season with 193 consecutive games with at least 100,000 fans in attendance at Michigan Stadium. With seven home games that streak should reach 200 this season. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#ebe6e3>Wolverines bowl trips: Michigan has made 31 consecutive bowl appearances, the nation's longest active streak. Ohio State has the conference's second longest active streak with six. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!--END SIDE-->
"I'm very excited about this Michigan team," Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr said. "We have an excellent nucleus of returning players offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. We've had a great offseason, with the only disappointment being the loss of Antonio Bass in the spring. With that exception we go into fall practice healthy."
The Wolverines have some unsettled issues in the offensive line, but junior quarterback Chad Henne has two solid years under his belt, the receivers are good and running back Mike Hart is healthy after limping through last season.
The Wolverines should be even better defensively with a wealth of experience and talent on that side of the ball.
Penn State is also solid defensively, with perhaps the nation's best group of linebackers in Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor and Tim Shaw. But the Lions must replace the dynamic Michael Robinson at quarterback with Anthony Morelli, more of a classic drop-back passer.
"I think we've got a good quarterback," Paterno said. "But I think the league has a lot of outstanding quarterbacks. We just have to have patience with the guy we have. I'm comfortable with the potential he has."
Iowa will also be a factor with a solid defense and quarterback Drew Tate and running back Albert Young, although the Hawkeyes' receivers are largely unproven.
Michigan State has one of the nation's premier quarterbacks in Drew Stanton and offensive talent around him, but the Spartans need a tremendous upgrade on defense to contend after back-to-back seasons with just five wins.
"I see this as a league you have to be able to play defense in," Michigan State coach John L. Smith said. "And even though we throw it, it's a league you have to be able to run at some point to win."
It's also a league that often requires a little bit of luck to win, and Ohio State usually has plenty of that, especially in the horseshoe.
Playmakers make Buckeyes the Big Ten Favorite
CHICAGO – Horseshoes are said to bring luck, and the Ohio State Buckeyes have had good fortune at The Big Horseshoe.
The locals are so accustomed to counting down football victories at Ohio Stadium that the zip code is 43210.
Ohio State doesn't lose often, and it's rare for the Buckeyes to fall at home. In the 84-year history of The Big Horseshoe, the Buckeyes have a record of 366-104-20. In coach Jim Tressel's five-year regime they are 30-4.
That awesome home field advantage is just one of many reasons why the Buckeyes figure to successfully defend their share of the Big Ten championship this football season. After all, two of their primary challengers – Penn State and Michigan – must venture into the 'Shoe.
<!--Start Image--><SCRIPT language=Javascript>document.write(insertImage('/IMAGES/Player/photo/TEDDGINN.JPG', '', 1, 267, 200, 1, 'Ted Ginn is a weapon unlike just about any other in the Big Ten.', '', 1154604495000, '', 1014, 'Align=Left'));</SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=202>
"That guy taking the snap is a good football player," Illinois coach Ron Zook said of Smith. "Maybe 10, 15 years ago you didn't have to have a great quarterback to win it all, but I think the game has drifted now in college where you have to have a quarterback.
"Ohio State has a guy that can make something happen throwing the football or running. Anytime you've got a quarterback like that you've got a chance."
Penn State coach Joe Paterno agreed.
"He's a great athlete and a couple of guys around him ain't bad," Paterno said. "(Receiver Ted) Ginn ain't bad.
Defensive backs are always saying I can cover this guy or that guy, but nobody says I want to cover Ginn."
Yet for all of Ohio State's offensive horsepower there remains a measure of doubt about the Buckeyes. The OSU defense lost nine starters with NFL caliber talent off last season's 10-2 team. That raises at least some questions about the legitimacy of anointing Ohio State as the No. 1 team in the nation.
"I think it's encouraging people think highly about Ohio State," Tressel said. "Granted, we have to replace a lot of good folks (on defense) and we've been working hard to do that since January began. That will be a great challenge for us, but the positive thing for us is where we are experienced is up front. When you're solid up front it certainly helps the growth of your linebacker corps."
If the Buckeyes should falter there are as many as five teams with realistic shots of claiming the Big Ten crown. Michigan is one of those teams despite its 2005 record of 7-5, a disappointment by Big Blue standards. <!--START SIDE-->
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#896d45>The Rivals Five </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#dbcfc7>Here's a list of five streaks that Big Ten teams will bring into this season: </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#ebe6e3>Ohio State victories: The Buckeyes closed the season with seven consecutive victories, including a Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame. They also have four victories over Michigan in five years. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#dbcfc7>Northwestern's six-win seasons: The Wildcats, which endured 23 consecutive losing seasons from 1972 to 1994, has won at least six games the last three years. If they manage at least a half dozen this season it will mark their first four-year run since 1905. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#ebe6e3>Minnesota's 1,000-yard running backs: The Gophers have had at least one 1,000-yard rusher in each of the last seven seasons. That's the longest current streak in the Big Ten. Junior Amir Pinnix, who rushed for 467 yards in 2005, will be the most likely candidate to continue the streak. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#dbcfc7>Big crowds at the Big House: Michigan enters the season with 193 consecutive games with at least 100,000 fans in attendance at Michigan Stadium. With seven home games that streak should reach 200 this season. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" bgColor=#ebe6e3>Wolverines bowl trips: Michigan has made 31 consecutive bowl appearances, the nation's longest active streak. Ohio State has the conference's second longest active streak with six. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!--END SIDE-->
"I'm very excited about this Michigan team," Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr said. "We have an excellent nucleus of returning players offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. We've had a great offseason, with the only disappointment being the loss of Antonio Bass in the spring. With that exception we go into fall practice healthy."
The Wolverines have some unsettled issues in the offensive line, but junior quarterback Chad Henne has two solid years under his belt, the receivers are good and running back Mike Hart is healthy after limping through last season.
The Wolverines should be even better defensively with a wealth of experience and talent on that side of the ball.
Penn State is also solid defensively, with perhaps the nation's best group of linebackers in Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor and Tim Shaw. But the Lions must replace the dynamic Michael Robinson at quarterback with Anthony Morelli, more of a classic drop-back passer.
"I think we've got a good quarterback," Paterno said. "But I think the league has a lot of outstanding quarterbacks. We just have to have patience with the guy we have. I'm comfortable with the potential he has."
Iowa will also be a factor with a solid defense and quarterback Drew Tate and running back Albert Young, although the Hawkeyes' receivers are largely unproven.
Michigan State has one of the nation's premier quarterbacks in Drew Stanton and offensive talent around him, but the Spartans need a tremendous upgrade on defense to contend after back-to-back seasons with just five wins.
"I see this as a league you have to be able to play defense in," Michigan State coach John L. Smith said. "And even though we throw it, it's a league you have to be able to run at some point to win."
It's also a league that often requires a little bit of luck to win, and Ohio State usually has plenty of that, especially in the horseshoe.
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0
I would love to have actually heard Tressel say "ballin'"buckalum01
They Call Me Assassin
While Ohio Stadium is a rather BIG venue; and it is shaped like a horseshoe. It is NOT called THE BIG HORSESHOE. The author(s) of that article referred to it as such many times. Aside from the fact that it is factually not named or nicknamed as such, it is completely disgusting to my senses. It puts me in mind of THE BIG HOUSE- that most sinister, seedy, dank and disgusting of locations worshipped by the huddled masses of Ann Arbor.
Be it therefore resolved that any reference to Ohio Stadium/The Horseshoe by any other name(s) is strictly forbidden and punishible by further embarassment of the Wolverine football team on a yearly basis by Jim Tressel.:osu:
Be it therefore resolved that any reference to Ohio Stadium/The Horseshoe by any other name(s) is strictly forbidden and punishible by further embarassment of the Wolverine football team on a yearly basis by Jim Tressel.:osu:
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http://heismanpundit.com/?postid=1021
Interview With Troy Smith
July 27, 2006
Ohio State senior quarterback Troy Smith is currently No. 3 on HP's Heisman list.
Always a good runner, he made tremendous improvement last season as a passer, helping to turn Ohio State into perhaps the most complete team in the country by season's end.
He's a rock-solid 6-1, 215-pounds and one of the most exciting players in the country to watch.
I had a chance to chat briefly with Smith the other day and here's what he had to say:
HP: What's it like to be mentioned as a Heisman candidate?
TS: It's an honor to have that type of accolade applied to me.
HP: How do you handle such a special accolade?
TS: I think about it a little and then let it go right on out the window. Getting that award is a team process. Without the team, it wouldn't be possible.
HP: What has your summer been like as far as preparation goes?
TS: It's been extra, extra, extra hard work. I also was a counselor at the Elite 11 quarterback camp and that helped me to fine tune a lot of my skills. (Note: Smith was an Elite 11 participant in 2002)
HP: How has the summer gone for your team?
TS: We just got a new strength coach (Eric Lichter), so we had to make sure our attitude changed for the better. But he got us in tip-top shape and we all accepted him. He's a great person.
HP: Are you looking forward to a certain game in early September down in Austin?
TS: (laughs) I'm thinking about Northern Illinois and Garrett Wolfe.
HP: Have you gotten any advice from Archie Griffin on being a Heisman candidate?
TS: He told me to stay focused, take it one game at a time and to put the team first.
HP: Any particular goals this year?
TS: I just want to lead my team to the national championship and be the best player I can be.
He's ready
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One would think that an author would notice the discrepancy between these two statements in the same article:
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gobucks19
JT's #1 recruit
I read the first statement as Smith stating that, not the writer. [There was never a doubt in Smith's mind that he would be a quarterback in college] Probably poor choice of wording.
Not saying its true but I have read the WR comment - wasn't he tried a kick returner his second year as well?
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OregonBuckeye
Semper Fi Buckeyes
He was on Cold Pizza this morning. Basically read his script written by Jim Tressel. 
Pat Forde gave him 6:1 odds to win the Heisman Trophy behind only Brady Quinn I believe.
Pat Forde gave him 6:1 odds to win the Heisman Trophy behind only Brady Quinn I believe.
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