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Former Buff scores his first collegiate touchdown
Published 11/18/2008 in Sports
By JASON ELMQUIST
Taking advantage of an opportunity is typically the spark to begin a successful career for an athlete. So when University of Minnesota leading receiver Eric Decker was sidelined Saturday against Wisconsin, former Garden City High School football player Brodrick Smith got his opportunity to shine.
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Eric Miller/University of Minnesota Athletic Communications — University of Minnesota freshman wide receiver Brodrick Smith celebrates his first collegiate touchdown Saturday against Wisconsin. Smith, a former Garden City High School All-State quarterback, has started in four straight games for the Golden Gophers.
And shine he did.
The former all-state quarterback, turned NCAA Division I wide receiver caught two passes for 45 yards and his first collegiate touchdown.
"It makes it seem that all the hard work has paid off," Smith said Monday from Minneapolis. "I've started the last four weeks now. I started for our leading receiver Eric Decker. He was out this week and will possibly be out again this week, so there's big shoes to fill."
The shoes got a little smaller, however, when Smith caught what was supposed to be a play for a short gain from quarterback Adam Weber and turned it into a 43-yard touchdown -- which is only 10 yards shy of Decker's longest reception on the year.
"It was actually just supposed to get a first down," Smith said. "I was on the outside to run a stem route and I had to get to the middle of the field. We noticed that Wisconsin leaves the middle of the field open a lot and that you've just got to get past the linebacker. And to get past the linebacker you've got to be physical to get across the middle and the quarterback found me in the middle.
"I just ran to the left corner of the end zone. I just used my speed. I was just thinking to myself, 'This will be my first touchdown so I've got to run as fast as I could.' Having the quarterback trust that he can throw to me now is going to be a big thing."
Smith gave a lot of the credit to the man he replaced in the lineup -- Decker. The 6-foot-2, 215 pound junior leads the Golden Gophers with 74 catches for 892 yards and six touchdowns, while Smith had just three receptions for five yards heading into the game versus Wisconsin.
"All week (Decker) was giving me some advice about stuff," Smith said. "A lot of it was like technique releases and how to get past the safety when there's one high or just easier ways to block."
The learning curve has been a fast-paced one for a young man that played quarterback in high school and is now the player at the receiving end of passes.
"Starting off in training camp was a big difference, especially right out of high school," said Smith, who has played in 10 of the 11 games this season. "Everyone here at college are some of the best, so you've got to work hard at training camp. Once I got past training camp I started to learn how to read coverages and it came a lot easier for me."
An even more important point to Smith making the transition is the fact he's playing in one of the most physical conferences, the Big 10.
"I came in in a lot better shape than most of the other freshmen receivers. I was bigger (6-3, 200) and stronger," Smith said. "The Big 10 is more about physical strength than speed really. But I found that to be an advantage for me because a lot of the receivers we run in are more like speed guys, but with me I have the physical size and the speed so it helps me out a lot."
That was one word Smith kept repeating about his experience -- and expectation -- in the Big 10: Physical.
"Last week was a real physical game and this week again will be a real physical game against Iowa," Smith said. "We've got a lot of stuff to play for -- we're going for a bowl game, it's our seniors' last home game, the last game the Gophers will be playing in the dome before we go to the new stadium next year. So there's going to be a lot of stuff to work hard for."
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