6A — Thursday, September 10, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Despite mistakes, Smith enjoys role as lead RB
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
From the time junior running
back De’Veon Smith played in
his first career game in 2013 to
the beginning of fall camp for
the Michigan football team this
year, there always seemed to be
someone in front of him.
Smith was a contender in the
running back competition as
soon as he set foot on campus as
a freshman, but he carried seven
times for just 12 yards, while then-
fifth-year senior Fitz Touissant
rushed 14 times for 57 yards and
two touchdowns. Touissant beat
out Smith and then-freshman
Derrick Green for the job, and
Smith didn’t touch the ball again
until November.
Then
Touissant
graduated,
and Smith had another chance.
This time, he made more of an
impression, scoring twice on
eight carries in the season opener.
But Green rushed 15 times for 170
yards, earning more touches in
five of the first six games.
Then Green
broke
his
collarbone Oct.
4, ending his
season. Smith
had
three
games in the
spotlight before
Drake Johnson
entered
the
fold, and Smith
had to split time again.
“I really didn’t pay attention to
any of that,” Smith said. “I was just
trying my hardest to be No. 1.”
Still, three times, he had his
chance. Three times, someone
else took it.
This past spring, he came back
under a new head coach, new
offensive coordinator and new
running backs coach, and the
competition
was
tighter
than
ever
before.
Green
was
healthy,
Johnson
was
on his way back
and junior Ty
Isaac
became
eligible
after
transferring
from Southern California in 2014.
This time, Smith emerged as
the victor.
Thursday brought his reward:
In the season opener at Utah,
Smith earned 17 carries to Isaac’s
four and Green’s two. He again
appeared as the No. 1 back on this
week’s depth chart. Asked if he
considers himself the No. 1 back,
he finally got to simply say yes.
“I always go into the game
expecting and hoping that I get
a lot of carries,” Smith said. “Any
running back in our room right
now expects to get a lot of carries
if they’re in the game. So it really
wasn’t that big of a surprise for
me. It was more of a humbling
experience. First game, first time
I’ve really started at Michigan, so
I learned from my mistakes and
just try to get better every week.”
Smith’s performance wasn’t
his best, with just 2.8 yards per
carry with a long run of seven
yards. He broke a number of
tackles, more than Green or Isaac,
but struggled to find open space.
“Just reading the holes, I try to
improve my vision,” Smith said.
“The vision that I watched on
film, that wasn’t really how I play
from the point of seeing stuff.
That’s something I’m trying to
improve on this week.”
Smith only has one game in
his career with more than the 17
carries he had Thursday. In fact,
Michigan’s running backs had just
two such games all of last season.
If Smith can improve along
with the rest of the team, he
may be establishing himself as
a workhorse going forward. He
already has items on his list to
improve upon.
“One of those plays (against
Utah), I missed a hole that a bus
could drive through,” Smith said.
“That’s probably one of the bigger
ones that stuck out to me, kind of
got under my skin. And also the
dropped pass that I had, that’s not
characteristic of me at all. Just
making sure I keep my eyes on
the ball, tuck the ball in before I
catch it.”
Smith said at one point in
reviewing film, he asked running
backs coach Tyrone Wheatley
what the offense could change to
have more success. Wheatley told
him to stick with the game plan
and eventually it would work.
Results came slowly in the
opener, but in his third year,
Smith may finally have a chance
to make some improvements.
FOOTBALL
“I missed a hole
that a bus could
drive through.”