Smith stands out in Aggie football season finale
BOISE, Idaho — Despite a disappointing loss in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to the Ohio Bobcats, the way senior running back Michael Smith ended his career as a member of the Utah State Aggie football team might be one of the few positives to come out of the loss.
“Michael Smith is a tremendous player,” USU head coach Gary Andersen said. “He is very unselfish, tough, physical and a great blocker. I sure hope Michael Smith gets a chance at camp in the NFL, because I think he is well deserving, and I think he’ll turn some heads if he gets the opportunity.
“To end it like that — his career — I don’t know how many yards he had, but that typifies Michael Smith — tough, hard, physical runs and a tremendous way to go out for him.”
The senior finished with 157 yards on 12 carries to go with two touchdowns.
He scored twice in the third quarter to help USU extend its lead over Ohio. Smith made an impressive 63-yard run as part of a two-play 72-yard drive less than three minutes into that half.
Smith found another seam and broke free for 11 yards and a touchdown with four minutes left in the game, but, according to Andersen, the team did nothing different to get those big plays.
“I just think you had some tough fronts fighting against each other,” Andersen said. “Those were tough and physical offensive lines. I think they are tough and physical, and I think on the flip side we are tough and physical. The front seven on both sides did a good job. Michael was able to hit a crease, break a couple tackles and make a play.”
Running back Robert Turbin, who also reached the century mark with 102 yards on 20 carries, said he wasn’t surprised by his teammate’s solid performance.
“(Smith) was breaking some tackles,” Turbin said. “He was running hard. The offensive line was doing a better job of getting blocks on linebackers, and he was able to hit some creases and break some tackles and get some big runs. He’s been doing that all season, and that’s why, to me, he’s one of the best running backs in the nation.”
Smith, who gained 13 yards per carry, did what running backs coach Ilaisa Tuiaki has taught him to do.
“Just finish the play and run hard to the end zone, that’s just what I did,” Smith said.
USU ran a run-heavy offense, as it amassed 345 yards rushing versus 96 yards passing.
USU had a chance to run out the clock as it forced Ohio to punt. The Aggies started the drive from their own 7-yard line. Ohio anticipated USU’s next move and forced a 3-and-out.
“They played a great set of downs,” Turbin said. “We ran power twice, and (Ohio) overflowed to where our tight ends were — that’s where we run our power. They did a great job of getting push up front with their defensive line and their linebackers came up and made plays.”
With just under three minutes left and facing a 3-and-11, USU called on Smith to pick up the yardage and extend the drive, but someone blew a blocking assignment.
“On the third down, we tried to run a zone option play and it should have went for a big gain,” Turbin said. “Michael might have been in the end zone, but we made a mistake up front. Communication wasn’t there. Nobody blocked 47 (Noah Keller). You can’t run zone if you don’t block the middle linebacker.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu