Dispatch
OHIO STATE FOOTBALL
When play breaks down, Smith can still step up
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
RENEE SAUER DISPATCH Troy Smith?s poise has helped make the Ohio State quarterback the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 9 in New York.
If Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith wins the Heisman Trophy, the presenters should consider changing the statue?s classic pose.
Instead of that stiff-armed ball carrier, Smith?s trophy should picture him with would-be tacklers hanging on, and Smith with his eyes up, right arm cocked to throw.
Time and again this season, Smith has shown an uncanny ability to ignore or escape from pressure and deliver pinpoint passes, often for touchdowns.
That poise is just one reason Smith is a favorite to win the award Dec. 9 in New York.
"He is amazing when there?s a guy hanging on him or someone gets in his way," center Doug Datish said. "He makes a perfect throw every time. He has an incredible ability to do that."
Lately, he has had a string of such highlight-reel plays.
Two weeks ago at Michigan State?s 7-yard line, Spartans linebacker Ervin Baldwin caught Smith by the shoulders. Smith pulled away, and as David Herron hit him high in the chest, he zipped a touchdown pass to Brian Robiskie in a tight space between two defenders.
ABC television analyst Paul Maguire said, "That?s quarterbacking at its finest."
Last week against Indiana, Smith did a 360-degree spin away from Keith Burrus. With Josh Bailey jumping in his face, Smith stopped and flung a 31-yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn Jr.
"That?s the amazing ingenuity of Troy Smith," ESPN analyst Bill Curry said. "That?s not the way it?s drawn up, but neither is a lot of the stuff he does."
Much of Smith?s success in those situations comes from an innate awareness that only the best athletes possess.
"I think the really good ones are that way," said quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels, who was Dan Marino?s position coach at the University of Pittsburgh and was with the Buffalo Bills when Jim Kelly was there. "The guys that are able to step above the crowd, so to speak, they have that ability, and that?s what he has. I?ve been around a lot of good ones, and that?s a trait they have."
But Smith also has been taught how to give himself the best chance to get off a good pass under pressure. There are mechanics that can help a quarterback in that situation.
OSU coach Jim Tressel has worked with Smith extensively on his footwork. Tressel said the key is to keep the quarterback?s toes pointing toward the sideline, "in passing position."
After the Indiana game, Smith was asked about the TD to Ginn, and the first thing he talked about was mechanics.
"Any time you?re in a situation where you have to step up and throw or step up and go, we?re always taught to square our hips and square our shoulders to deliver the ball," Smith said. "The coaching staff really, really, really tries to ram that into our heads."
So there is some method to what looks like madness to the untrained eye. But again, much of what makes Smith so good under pressure comes from within.
And that?s what his coaches and teammates marvel at.
"He?s better than everybody else when there?s guys in his face," receiver Anthony Gonzalez said. "You put people around him, and it just doesn?t faze him."
Tressel said, "That?s one of his strengths. Troy?s got a lot of poise. It doesn?t bother him, all the stuff flying around. He?s still got his eyes up and his feet under him and reading what?s going on. He just has an ability to remain calm in a fiery situation."
If it looks fiery to his coach, Smith doesn?t seem to notice the flames. He?s intensely focused. What appears to be chaos to others obviously doesn?t to him.
"I can?t say that it?s crazy," he said. "There has never been a situation where I feel as if things are going haywire or berserk, simply because I?ve been through a lot thus far.
"If I?m in a situation where I know a hit is coming, I try to absorb it and withstand it. Hopefully, all the training I?ve put in will pay off and I?ll come out on top."
[email protected]