n o r t h w e s t e r n f o o t b a l l • D I G I T A L P R O G R A M • N O R T H W E S T E R N v s . U M A S S
21
ONE PLAY FROM SATURDAY'S AFFAIR serves well-enough as a
symbol of Smith's growth as he matures on-the-job, which is no easy
thing. It came early in the fourth with the 'Cats down five; came on a
second-and-eight from the Boilermakers' 44; came with Smith exhibiting
a professional's calm and composure on a busted play; came, finally,
with Smith resisting the urge to run and finding Berkeley Holman for a
33-yard gain. Two plays later he finished off this drive by hitting Riley
Lees in the end zone for the touchdown that put his team up a point.
"We extended a play for the first time in six, eight weeks," Pat Fitzgerald
said of this moment Monday at his weekly presser. "The pocket was
clean, a couple guys were covered, we kept the play alive, and we hit
Holman in the middle of the field. Most great quarterbacks have the
ability to extend plays, to give guys a few more seconds to get open."
"The O line was blocking well all day," Smith himself said when asked
about this play. "I didn't feel like any of the wide receivers on the route
concept were open at the time. So escaped the pocket, playing high
school ball again, and Berkeley's running down the middle of the field
and I threw it to him."
And earlier in this process he is going through as he matures on-the-
job?
"When I first started playing this season, I'd get in the habit, when I
broke the pocket, instead of looking down field and finding an open
receiver, I'd just try to make a play with my feet. That (looking down
field) all comes along with the picture clearing up and everything. Was
it black-and-white when I started? Yes. Is it quite HD yet? No. But I
think as I've progressed over these last couple months I'll be able to
start seeing that stuff instead of just having my mind set on, 'Once I
break the pocket, I'm going to run.'"
