Troy Smith

Troy Smith

Troy Smith (born July 20, 1984 in Columbus, Ohio) was a former starting quarterback for The Ohio State University football team from 2004-2006, and the winner of the 2006 Heisman Trophy.

Smith graduated from Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio where he was coached by Ted Ginn Sr., father of his Ohio State and high school teammate Ted Ginn Jr. After a strong junior season at Glenville, Smith was invited to participate in the Elite 11 competition, which features the eleven top ranked high school quarterback prospects in the United States. Smith earned great praise following his performance, and although it was relatively late in the recruiting process, Ohio State offered Smith a football scholarship. He verbally committed to the Buckeyes, signing his letter of intent on February 6th, 2002. Smith was the last player to sign with the Buckeyes.

Early life

Troy Smith's mother, Tracy Smith, raised him and two siblings in Columbus, then moved to Cleveland in 1987, without the support of his father. Smith first expressed interest in playing football in Cleveland, where he played for the Glenville A's midget football team, initially as running back and tight end. Irvin White, his coach, moved Smith to quarterback after a few games and Smith stayed in the position. In 1993 Smith was placed in foster care with Diane and Irvin White while his mother fought an undisclosed drug addiction and served a short period in jail for drug-related arrests in 1993 and 1994. Smith was reunited with his mother in 1997.

High school career

Smith played his first two years at St. Edward High School, a parochial school in west suburban Lakewood. He excelled in basketball and football but left the school in 2000 after being dismissed from the basketball team in the wake of an incident, which occurred during a basketball game against Toledo-St.John High School. During the game, Smith knocked an opposing player unconscious for what he later told the media were racial slurs levied at him by his counterpart. a charge denied by the opposing player and rejected by both high schools. Smith was removed from the team. Smith returned to his East Side neighborhood of Glenville to play for the Tarblooders as a senior under Ted Ginn, Sr. Smith threw for 971 yards and 12 touchdowns during the 2001 season, leading Glenville to the state playoffs, in addition to playing wide receiver. He also played three years of basketball and ran track (high jump, long jump, and 1,600-meter relay). West Virginia University had recruited Smith, but when Ohio State coach Jim Tressel agreed to give Smith a chance at quarterback, Smith accepted the last scholarship of Ohio State's 2002 football recruiting class.

College career

File:2006-09 Austin Texas 091.jpg

Ohio State's Troy Smith hands off to Antonio Pittman vs the 2006 Texas Longhorns

As a redshirted freshman for the Buckeyes, Smith played sparingly at running back and kick returner in 2003. Smith played the season opener against Washington as a scatback and returner, and he compiled fourteen yards rushing and 83 return yards. After the game, he appeared on the NFL scouting radar as an "athlete". Off the field, Smith was involved in an altercation outside a dormitory on 2003-11-16, which the university claimed was limited to acting as a "peacekeeper". Smith pleaded no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct and paid a $100 fine.

He entered his sophomore season as the backup quarterback to Justin Zwick, but took over as the starter when Zwick was injured halfway through the 2004 season against Iowa. Smith won four of the five games he started in 2004, including a victory over the archrival Michigan Wolverines. Smith was suspended for breaking an undisclosed team rule before the Alamo Bowl, with Coach Tressel extending the suspension to include the first game of the 2005 season after it was revealed that Smith had allegedly accepted $500 from a booster.

With Smith at QB, Ohio State lost only two games in the 2005 regular season, one as a starter. The first was to the eventual BCS National Champion Texas Longhorns (which he did not start) and the other was to the Penn State Nittany Lions, co-Big Ten champions. Smith's 2005 stats included 2,282 passing yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. This led to a quarterback rating of 162.66, the fourth-highest of the season. He rushed for 611 yards and 11 touchdowns on 136 carries. In January 2006, he was named the Offensive MVP of the Fiesta Bowl, after leading the Buckeyes to a 34-20 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

In the second week of the 2006 season, Smith and the Buckeyes took revenge for their 2005 loss to Texas. The top ranked Buckeyes won their rematch with the (again) second-ranked Longhorns, 24-7. Smith went 17-27 with 269 yards passing, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. For many fans and analysts, Smith's performance against the Longhorns gave credibility to the preseason Heisman Trophy hype he'd received. His passing statistics improved during the 2006 season, completing 67% of his passes for 2,507 yards, with 30 touchdowns and five interceptions. This led to a quarterback rating of 167.87, again fourth in the country.

Smith was one of five finalists for the 2006 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which is given to the top senior college quarterback.

Teammates voted Smith the 2006 most valuable player. On 2006-12-07 the Davey O'Brien Foundation awarded Smith the Davey O'Brien Award for best college quarterback. He defeated other finalists Colt Brennan of the University of Hawaii and Brady Quinn of the University of Notre Dame.

In three games against Michigan, Smith has a total of 1,151 yards of total offense, two rushing touchdowns, and seven passing touchdowns. The Buckeyes won all three games, making Smith the first Ohio State quarterback since Tippy Dye (1934-1936) to quarterback in three victories over Michigan, and the first to win three straight games against Michigan as a starter.

Smith's college football career came to an end on January 8, 2007, when he and the Ohio State Buckeyes were beaten by the Florida Gators in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, 41-14. Smith completed just four of 14 passes for 35 yards along with an interception, a fumble, and was sacked five times, and could be seen as an example of the Heisman Jinx.

Heisman Trophy

Smith won the 2006 Heisman Memorial Trophy on Dec.8,2006 . He beat out sophomore RB/QB Darren McFadden (2nd) from Arkansas and QB Brady Quinn (3rd), senior quarterback from Notre Dame. Smith became the first true quarterback from the Big Ten to ever win the coveted award. In winning the 2006 Heisman Trophy, Smith took 86.7% of the first place votes, which is a record. His tally of 2,540 votes was the third largest behind that of the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner, Reggie Bush of the University of Southern California (2,541 votes). His margin of victory (1,662 votes) was also the second largest in the history of the award, eclipsed only by that O.J. Simpson who won by 1,750 votes in 1968 and had the largest vote total of 2,853 votes. Troy Smith joined Les Horvath (1944), Vic Janowicz (1950), Howard "Hopalong" Cassady (1955), Archie Griffin (1974 and 1975) and Eddie George (1995) in the elite Buckeye fraternity.

Smith earned the award by leading Ohio State to an undefeated regular season, with high profile road games against defending National Champion Texas, and later against the Iowa Hawkeyes. He capped his season, securing his claim to the Heisman, with an outstanding performance in his final game against second-ranked Michigan on November 18, 2006, throwing for 316 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-39 victory.

Career statistics

Passing

Year	Games	Attempts	Completions	Comp %	Yards	TDs	Interception	QB Rating
2002	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2003	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2004	8	122	68	55.7%	896	8	3	134.15
2005	11	237	149	62.9%	2,282	16	4	162.66
2006	12	297	199	67.0%	2,507	30	5	167.87
Career	44	656	416	63.4%	5,685	54	12	159.72

Rushing

Year	Games	Rushes	Yards	Average	Touchdowns
2002	2	0	0	0	0
2003	11	3	14	4.7	0
2004	9	82	339	4.1	2
2005	11	136	611	4.5	11
2006	12	62	233	3.8	1
Career	44	283	1,197	4.2	14

Total offense

Year	Games	Plays	Yards	Average	Touchdowns
2002	2	0	0	0	0
2003	11	3	14	4.7	0
2004	9	204	1,235	6.0	10
2005	11	373	2,893	7.6	27
2006	12	359	2,740	7.6	31
Career	44	939	6,882	7.33	68

College awards

• 2006 Heisman Trophy
• 2006 NCAA First Team All American
• 2006 Sporting News College Football Player of the Year
• 2006 Fiesta Bowl MVP
• 2006 Walter Camp Award
• 2006 Davey O'Brien Award
• 2006 Buckeyes MVP
• 2006 Associated Press Player of the Year
• 2006 Chicago Tribune Silver Football — Big Ten Most Valuable Player
• 2006 Senior Bowl

Pro career

Smith is eligible for the 2007 NFL Draft. Despite winning the Heisman Trophy, Smith saw his draft stock drop considerably. At six feet, his height was cited as a liability as was an NFL Combine performance that did not impress. Smith was quoted by the media urging his hometown team, the Cleveland Browns, to select him in the NFL Draft. Fans also set up a website (DraftTroy.com) urging the Browns to take Smith. However, the Browns drafted Brady Quinn 22nd overall in the 2007 NFL Draft reducing the chances of Smith going to Cleveland. .

Trivia

• Smith is cross dominant as he throws right-handed, but writes with his left.

• In high school he was known as Iron Arm because of his muscular arms.

• Smith joins the list of quarterback Heisman winners not taken in the first round. Eight of the last ten QBs to win the Heisman were selected later in the draft or not at all.

External links

• "Troy Smith Stats". DI Statistics. NCAA. 2006-09-16. Retrieved 2006-09-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Offical Ohio State bio
• Troy Smith for Heisman
• Scout.com bio
• Statistics from ESPN
• Michael Tillery Blacksportsnetwork.com article

Videos

• Smith 2006-2007 preseason reel (WMV format)
• Troy Smith highlights from 2006 Texas game (WMV format)