The Legend of Troy (Smith)

Thursday, August 24, 2006 COLUMBUS (AP) — Two years ago, Troy Smith was a sub hoping to just get into a game. A year ago, he was a starter held out of the lineup because he took money from a booster. Heading into his final season, top-ranked Ohio State's quarterback is out to prove he ranks among the best players in the land. "It wasn't so long ago that nobody wanted to talk to me," Smith said of the flurry of preseason interviews he faces. Smith's name pops up in the premature Heisman Trophy talk. Whenever people discuss the Buckeyes' chances of capturing their second national championship in five seasons, the main topic is the kid with the common name and uncommon game. Great numbers in 2005 His 2005 numbers speak for themselves: 16 touchdown passes with only 4 interceptions, 11 rushing TDs, a 10-2 record. However, he's most proud of what can't be measured. With a game on the line, he looks forward to being the leader of the offense. "You have to be able to lead," he said. "You've got 10 other guys looking at you. The most family oriented or team-oriented portion of a football game is when everybody's in the huddle. Everybody's attention is on one thing. There can be 105,000 screaming fans and everybody in the huddle is all centered and focused on one thing. That's a beautiful thing." Smith relishes being the man those other 10 players are looking at and to. It wasn't so long ago that he was barely visible. Justin Zwick won the job when he and Smith were redshirt sophomores and it was Zwick who took almost every snap in the first five games of the 2004 season. Took over in Iowa Late in a loss at Iowa — which dropped the proud Buckeyes to 0-3 in the Big Ten — Smith was summoned from the sideline and played well. With Zwick nursing a shoulder injury, Smith started the next game and the Buckeyes won. Then the next, another win. He hasn't vacated the job since, except for an NCAA-mandated two-game suspension (the 2004 Alamo Bowl over Oklahoma State and last year's opener against Miami of Ohio). An investigation determined he accepted around $500 from a team booster. He paid the money back to a charity, apologized, served his suspension and moved on. The Buckeyes lost two games early last season, to eventual No. 1 Texas when Smith was just coming back from his suspension, and a narrow loss at Penn State. They won their final seven games, with Smith gaining in confidence and ability. Big win at Michigan The highlight came when he led Ohio State back from a deficit at The Big House to beat Michigan, 25-21. The most memorable play from that game wasn't Antonio Pittman's last-minute touchdown run to clinch the win but a frenzied Smith pass to a leaping Anthony Gonzalez that set up that score. Now Ohio State comes into a season with only two starters back on defense but Smith, Ted Ginn Jr. and several other stars returning on offense. Having the acknowledged team leader back behind center is enough to give even a grizzled head coach a bit of comfort. "You want that guy in the huddle," coach Jim Tressel said of Smith. "You want that guy ... to make sure that no one's talking but him and everyone wants to hear what he has to say. It's fun to watch Troy take charge." Smith has changed from the sophomore who complained to reporters that he wasn't getting a fair shot at the starting job. He graduated with a degree in communications this spring and is now attending graduate school. The first member of his immediate family to earn a degree, he's proud that his little sister will graduate this winter from Cleveland State. Clearly the 22-year-old from Cleveland is no longer a callow youth. Coach watched him grow Tressel said he has seen his quarterback grow in how he commands his teammates, in the huddle and on the sideline, off the field and on it. "Troy cuts to the chase," Tressel said. "He tells [the players] sometimes the way us coaches would like to tell them but maybe we're a little more sensitive. It's kind of neat to see the way he's grabbed a hold of this football team." Ohio State opens its season Sept. 2 at home against Northern Illinois, then gets a rematch against the Longhorns in Texas. Smith recognizes the opportunity ahead — and how far he has already come. "Through the grace of God everything made it to the way it is now," he said. "And I'm grateful and thankful for everything."