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My apologies to Troy Smith

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Cicero

Cicero

BP Infidel
I have been rather critical of Smith this season. In the past three games though he has shown me something that I hadn't thought we would see. The kid is growing as a qb. Growing by leaps and bounds. I watched today as he checked off on all of his recievers before taking off, he lead a clutch drive to clinch the game and complete a comeback that seemed unlikely at the time. Based on what I have seen the last 3-4 games this season I owe Troy an apology. I was wrong. To those that I argued the issue with all season: You were right, not just about Smith, but the offensive line as well.
 
I said it in another post, but ill say it again. Troy Smith has proved me completely wrong about the criticism i had for him earlier. I had blown him up on a few occasions for some mistakes and thought at one point that he should not be our starting QB. But he has improved and grown greatly as a quarterback and leader, and he has now led our team to big victories. So Troy Smith, im sorry for the criticism and its good to see you back and kicking some wolverine assssssssss!
 
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He's a god against Michigan. There's no doubt about that, and for this reason alone, he's already a Buckeye legend.

I agree Troy has grown -- but I think today's game, and last year's against the Weasels, are the exception, rather than the rule. But who better for him to have his career games against?

I still see him as a great athlete; a good runner with great field vision as a scrambler. However, I also still see him as a hit-or-miss passer who will look brilliant at some moments; disastrously inept at others, with dangerously bad field reads and vision at times, and seemingly no touch. Don't read that as a rip on him, it's not. He's clearly and deservedly Tressel's best option (he has a deathgrip on the starting job, after all), and there's no current or former tOSU QB I'd have rather seen play for us against UM. Were he as solid a passer as he is a scrambler, game in and game out, we'd have a Heisman candidate on our hands, so I don't want anyone thinking I'm unfairly down on him, just trying to look at him objectively. I can only hope (and I believe) that leaving this season as the starter, coming into next season as a starter, that we may well be on the verge of his most perceptible leap forward as a player/passer. Because, again, make him believe in his eyes, arm and head as much as he does his feet (basing this comment on a quote attributed to him yesterday), and I think he blows things up every week like he does against Michigan. The ability is there, he just needs to believe in it, I think.

If he were half the passer the rest of the season as he was today, I daresay we'd be undefeated. At the very least, we wouldn't have lost to PSU. I make this point only to say that it's damn hard not to be proactively excited about the offensive possibilities next year, with Troy/Pitt/Ginn/Gonzo all a year older, wiser, more experienced, etc.

Where I think he is an unquestionable force, and where I think he brings (perhaps) his greatest value, is as a team leader.

As you can tell from the site header, I couldn't be happier about Troy's performances against UM. I just don't think his critics (at least the ones that have been objective, tactful and rational) have anything to apologize about, just like his boosters don't. Everyone has a point. His Michigan performances are legendary. His regular season play has been spotty. 'Spotty' still has us looking at yet another BCS bowl game though. :)

As a disclaimer, I *am* a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to passers. Building a team with pros, I'd rather have a Peyton Manning than a Michael Vick. It's a personal preference that certainly plays a role in how I see and value QBs.

Which is not to say I can't get behind a mobile athlete-type -- I mean, Troy's on pace to have over 1000 yards of offense and 6 tds just against Michigan in three seasons. I'm entirely behind that.
 
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Buckeye513 said:
If he carries his success from the end of this season into the beginning of next season, then maybe. But I don't think that he'll even be getting as much hype as Ginn did.
Beating Texas would certainly make him hard to ignore though.
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if smith produces next year, i definitely see him on the short list. with leinart, bush, and probably young moving on, the competition will not be as thick next year. however, it is guaranteed that brady quinn will be forced down our throats. as much as the media has latched onto the irish this year, it will get only much worse in 2006.
 
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OSU_Buckguy said:
if smith produces next year, i definitely see him on the short list. with leinart, bush, and probably young moving on, the competition will not be as thick next year. however, it is guaranteed that brady quinn will be forced down our throats. as much as the media has latched onto the irish this year, it will get only much worse in 2006.
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Which is why it would be SO nice to throttle them in the Fiesta Bowl, to start off 2006 the right way.
 
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I guess I'm in the minority, but I don't think that Smith needs an apology, unless people were attacking him personally or being patently unfair. His play over the last month has been amazing, and certainly he is a Buckeye Legend for Life for his performances against Meatchicken. None of that erases his inconsistent play for the first half of the season, or the trouble he got himself in, or how that may have cost the team earlier this year. I applaud Smith for his great work today, and I am not busting on him in any way. I just think he's a college kid, and you take the good with the bad...but one doesn't have to be afraid to point out either one when it occurs (as long as it isn't "Smith blows...kick his dumb ass off the team" or nonsense like that).
 
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Clarity makes some valid points about Smith, but I think that we all have to admit that Troy has really grown this season. When Troy had the chance to send the Penn State game into overtime on the final drive, I was absolutely certain that he personally would make a play that would cause the Buckeyes to lose the game - he did, by fumbling the ball away after a sack with less than two minutes to go. Troy's stats for that day: 19 rushes for 15 yards and 1 TD, with 1 fumble lost and 5 sacks; 13 for 25 passing for 139 yards, no TD's and 1 INT.

However, yesterday, with the game nearly out-of-reach midway through the fourth quarter, I was equally certain that Troy would make every play necessary to win the game, and that the Buckeyes would in fact win if everyone else on the team would just ride along on Troy's coat tails and do nothing stupid to lose it for him. Well, as we know, Troy did just that; and, for the first time of his career, he did it as a quarterback and a leader, and not simply as a fabulous athlete who just happens to get his hands on the ball every play. By way of comparison, Troy's stats from yesterday: 11 rushes for 37 yards, 1 TD, 1 fumble lost, 1 sack; 27 for 37 passing, for 300 yards, 1 TD, no INT's. And all of that was accomplished with Michigan applying tremendous pressure, the likes of which would have previously caused Troy to go scrambling or forcing an ill-advised pass. Yesterday, he used his legs to escape the pressure, his head to analyze the field, and his arm to deliver the ball on target to his receivers. Just what a quarterback is supposed to do. And, he was a confident team leader along the way, which is also the job of the quarterback, the field general of every team.

BTW, I am not a Troy Smith fan, and I never will be. The reason? I don't root for individual players, I root for the team. I don't care who plays where, just win! When Troy played terribly earlier in the year, I said so; ditto for when he played mediocre for much of the season; yesterday, he played great, and I hope that he continues to do so, so that the team can be successful. Next season, if Troy can play close to how he played against Michigan yesterday, then expect very big things from the Buckeyes in 2006.
 
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TS was very impressive yesterday!! He made great decisions and took off and used his running ability when he needes to. Someone on BN posted that if Zwick had played OSU would have been up 4 TD's early ???

BTW- ND PLAYED LIKE CRAP YESTERDAY!
 
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I was originally a big Zwick supporter, but I have grown to really admire the play of TS. The guy has a wonderful TD/INT ratio, I'd like to know what it is. If Smith continues to grow next year like he has the past 6 games of this season, look out for a big Sunday contract
 
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