• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

WR Devin Smith (National Champion)

Devin has been quite impressive for a few of the first 7 games, and I think he has very good potential as a future player and I just saw what a great play he made in the 2nd half for his 2nd TD. The kid really is one of the best big play guys the conference has this year.

All that being said, the big drops in games are really starting to get out of hand. It's one thing to struggle to catch a few easy 5-10 yard passes and just chalk it up to a young kid looking upfield too quickly, but when you're dropping sure scores in a close game that are very wide open to the point of you walking into the EZ, that's a complete lack of concentration. The kid should have 9-10 TDs right now and he could've put the Indiana game out of reach earlier on.

I'm not sure if he's just trying to make it look interesting cause otherwise it would be boring for him to have 4 catches that all went for TDs, or what, but for now I'll assume that it's a young kid still learning and growing into the game and that his concentration issues will eventually work their ways out. I do hope so because OSU will need those catches against TSUN. Maybe that's what he's saving it for.
 
Upvote 0
Man, to think he could have had 4 TDs and over 150+ receiving yards. Hes so talented. Great overall athleticsm and just a play maker. If he can consistently catch well like we all know he could perhaps be a 2nd, 3rd team All-American

He has 6 TDs this year, but has dropped another 3. 1 vs UAB and now 2 vs Indiana. I think hes the big10's best big play WR right now.
 
Upvote 0
Ohio State spotlight: Athlete Devin Smith
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch Friday November 2

Devin Smith has found he doesn?t have to make leaping one-handed catches to make an impact for Ohio State. Check out the punt-coverage unit when the Buckeyes host Illinois on Saturday, because, more than likely, he?ll be on it.

?Coach (Urban) Meyer believes in putting his best athletes on special teams,? the receiver said. ?Every single meeting we have, we start off with the kicking game.

?That?s kickoff, kick return, punt coverage, punt return, punt block, field goals, extra points. Those plays are just as important as the others, which is why he wants his best athletes out there.?

There Smith was last week at Penn State, getting shut out on catching passes but making two tackles as a punt-team gunner, one of the outside men on the punt team whose mission is to get to the return man as fast as possible.

In the NFL, it would be rare to see a starting receiver being put in such a role. But college football is different.

?I would tell you that, being he is one of the fastest guys on the team, if he wasn?t the gunner, I would be disappointed in him,? receivers coach Zach Smith said. ?He did an unbelievable job (at Penn State). He?s really done a great job all year.?

Devin Smith saw it not only as an opportunity, but also an obligation. ?Just my ability to make plays and help this team any way I can, that?s what is driving me there,? he said. ?To make those tackles really means a lot to me.

?And to be (OSU) special-teams player of the week for a second time this season, that?s special.?

Meyer and the coaches bestowed the honor after a review of the PSU video. It was obvious that Devin Smith has a knack for being a gunner, as he should.

?Being a gunner on a punt is no different from playing receiver on a go route,? Zach Smith said. ?You just have to get off of press-man (coverage) and get to the returner, essentially the ball. He?s been phenomenal at it, and I was fired up for him to do it.

?He embraces the role; he loves it. Obviously, you saw the passion he played with.?

cont...

http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2012/11/02/gameday/spotlight-ohio-state.html
 
Upvote 0
Devin Smith Has a New Role, Meyer Wants More from His Old One
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? Devin Smith looked like he was shot out of a cannon as he went screaming down the sideline Saturday night under the lights in State College.

If he had the football in his hands, there wasn?t a person among the 107+ thousand in Beaver Stadium who could have run him down.

Only this time, Smith wasn?t streaking towards the end zone for a game-winning touchdown. He was lining himself up to make a hit on Penn State?s return man.

Smith_Puntcoverage.jpg

Devin Smith (15) and Christian Bryant (2) take aim on the Penn State punt returner
Photo by Jim Davidson

?Being a gunner on punt is no different than playing receiver and running a go-route, you just need to get off a press man, and get to the returner,? said Ohio State assistant Zach Smith, who coaches the receivers and also the punt block team for head coach Urban Meyer.

?I think he did an unbelievable job on Saturday. He's really done a great job all year.?

cont...

http://www.the-ozone.net/football/2012/Illinois/SmithGunner.html
 
Upvote 0
Devin Smith reflects on OSU's 12-0 season, Meyer's push to reach new
By Chris Easterling
IndeOnline.com staff writer
Posted Dec 12, 2012

MASSILLON ?

A year ago, Devin Smith knew very little about his new head coach at Ohio State. He knew what he had heard of Urban Meyer through the television and various other sources, but had no first-hand knowledge of the man who was chosen to guide the Buckeyes? football fortunes.

A year later, the former Massillon All-Ohio receiver knows plenty about the man who seemingly re-writes his own ?Urban legend? with each coaching stop.

?It was a different experience, but it was a good experience,? Smith said this week while visiting his former high school. ?He brought the dog out of everybody. A lot of guys stepped up; a lot of guys changed their lifestyle and the way they do things. He really got the best out of everybody.?

Want proof? There?s two FBS Division I football teams that finished the 2012 regular season with 12-0 records, but only one ? Notre Dame ? is playing in next month?s BCS Championship Game.

The other has already started the off-season in Columbus, as this year?s Buckeye team ? and its first-year coach ? paid for the sins of those preceding it. Smith admits that?s something that still grinds him a bit, but is also something he won?t allow to tarnish what was a magical season for Ohio State.

?It was hard for us to swallow,? Smith said. ?We just kept in the back of our minds, ?Just keep working hard.? Urban Meyer had a clear message to everyone ? he preached it to the world ? to win as many games as you can for the senior class. We did that. Every game, we tried to fight for them, and we got a ?W? every time.?

Smith had his own hand in more than a few of those ?Ws? for Ohio State. And his growth as a player is something he credits to his new head coach, and is a reason why he believes his own personal future in the sport ? both at Ohio State and beyond ? is something with plenty of upside.

?I?ve always had dreams of playing (in the NFL),? said Smith, who plans to once again compete for the Ohio State indoor and outdoor track teams this season. ?But seeing the success that I had this past year, and knowing that the future?s bright for me and the things that he wants to happen, the sky?s the limit for me. I feel that him coming in was a good change.?

cont...

http://www.indeonline.com/newsnow/x...-12-0-season-Meyers-push-to-reach-new-heights
 
Upvote 0
Back
Top