Kornacki: Smith Runs Wild on Snowy Senior Day
11/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 19, 2016
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- De'Veon Smith had no equal on the field.
Coaches can scheme on offense, game plan on defense, and both teams can give it 100-percent effort.
But sometimes it comes down to one player who makes the difference. That one player on Saturday (Nov. 19) was the University of Michigan tailback who, in his final game at the Big House, ran like the great, determined power backs who came before him at a school that prides itself on running the football.
Smith ran 23 times for a career-high 158 yards to turn the game around for the Wolverines in the third quarter, and he did so with gusto and grit to pull out a 20-10 victory in the snow.
He was Leroy Hoard, Tyrone Wheatley (who just happens to be his position coach) and Tshimanga Biakabutuka all rolled into one. He ran fast, hard and like a man totally possessed.
He scored 34- and 39-yard touchdowns in the final four minutes of the third quarter, but instead of getting giddy with delight, he scowled and jogged back to the sideline with nothing but purpose.
"There was nothing to celebrate until the game was over," Smith explained. "Until the clock had all zeroes on it, we knew they had a great offense, running that fast tempo, but we knew our defense would stick it out.
"What we had to do was stay focused, stay in tune and not worry about what you just did and worry about what's about to happen."
When did he finally allow himself to smile?
-- De'Veon Smith on winning on Senior Day
"When the clock said all zeroes," Smith told me, "and I saw my mom running on the field. I got to hug her and my brothers and sister on the field, as well as my grandma and my aunt."
That moment of family jubilation on a snow-covered field, where cheerleaders had made snow angels, was something he treasured.
"Always," said Smith. "I'll always remember that. I love you, Mom."
His mother, Audreanna (awed-REE-nah) Smith, raised five football-playing sons. Lance Smith was a tailback at Wisconsin, and Maurice Smith-Davis played defensive tackle at Michigan State. Brothers Dwaine and James played in high school, and they all helped toughen up and train De'Veon, the youngest.
Prior to the postgame press conference that included Heisman Trophy candidate Jabrill Peppers and quarterback John O'Korn, Peppers pulled out a seat for Smith and smiled. Then he opened a plastic bottle of Gatorade and set it before Smith, smiling some more.
That was the best player on the team's way of acknowledging who the best player in this game was.
Smith's 34-yard touchdown with 4:02 remaining came thanks to great blocks and a definite nose for the end zone. The offensive line opened a good hole, and receiver Amara Darboh provided the block that helped turn a first down into a touchdown. Smith sprinted through and past the Hoosiers, reaching for the pylon while going down, and hitting it with the ball in his right hand.
That score, coming on the very next play after O'Korn sparked the offense with a 30-yard run, gave the Wolverines a 13-10 lead.
Smith put Michigan in complete control with a 39-yard touchdown run with 29 seconds left in the third quarter. He busted up the middle through a good hole, cut to the right sideline and was not to be caught. Freshman receiver Kekoa Crawford ended up taking out the final two Hoosiers near the goal line with a chain-reaction block, and Smith tip-toed the sideline inside the five-yard line before reaching the end zone and saluting the fans in the south end zone at Michigan Stadium.
The Wolverines won the ground game with 225 yards to only 64 by Indiana. Coach Jim Harbaugh was asked to describe the play of the offensive line and Smith.
"Grinding out first downs, grinding meat," said Harbaugh. "De'Veon played with great motivation, and it was great play by the offensive line. It felt like old-fashioned, slobber-knocker football.
"De'Veon breaking tackles, the hard yards after contact, pushing for the first down was critical. It was the most yards of his career and a heck of an effort by De'Veon."
Wheatley had a message for Smith and the other backs in the second half.
"Every one of our backs were maybe an arm tackle away from breaking it," said Smith. "Coach Wheat talked to us and told us we had to fight through those arm tackles, and we need a big one and really need to take this game over, and that's what we did. Coach (Tim) Drevno (offensive coordinator) came in with a great game plan for the second half, and we executed it well."
Even after losing his helmet on one play, Smith kept running, his shortly cropped dreadlocks with bleach-blond tips exposed along with his noggin.
"I'm not going to go down just because my helmet flies off," said Smith. "It flew off, and I might as well keep on fighting."
Safety Dymonte Thomas -- who had an outstanding game himself against the Hoosiers with eight tackles and a pass breakup -- has known Smith since they were six- or seven-year-old boys growing up in eastern Ohio.
"I've known De'Veon since he was little," said Thomas. "He was hard to tackle when he was younger. We beat his team, 60-6, and I talk trash to him all the time about that. But he was a hard back. He was the same size. He might have put on a little more weight and grew a bit with the hair (laughter), but he's always been a hard runner, even in high school."
Smith played for Warren Howland and Thomas for Alliance Marlington in high school.
"My head coach (Ed Miley) was good friends with his head coach (Dick Angle), and they always used to go back and forth on who was the better running back, De'Veon or me. Watching De'Veon run today, he might have a little on me. I'm not going to say he has a lot because then he's going to get big-headed.
"I mean, he plays hard. The way he was running the ball at the end and the way our line was blocking for him was something beautiful. De'Veon's always had what I call sneaky-fast fast. You don't think he's fast, but he actually is pretty fast. He's always moving. He's got really short legs and short strides but just runs hard, and it's hard to bring him down. I notice that when we practice; he's one of the hardest backs I have to bring down."
Smith topped his career high for a season as well in this game, pushing his rushing total to a team-high 750 yards. However, he was coming off a miserable game at Iowa, where he ran 12 times for 28 yards, and the Wolverines were held to 98 yards rushing.
How did that performance impact this one?
"We focused a little bit more this week," said Smith. "We couldn't put out another performance like that one today. We wanted to come out there and let everyone know that we had a bad game but were going to come back and respond.
"We all wanted to put forth that great effort in practice, and that's what we did. It showed today."
O'Korn said Smith had a message for coaches and teammates during the game.
"He wanted the ball in his hands," said O'Korn, "and that's what great players want. He was calling for the ball, and we kept feeding him."
After gaining 47 yards on six carries in the first half, Smith more than doubled his output with 96 yards on seven carries in the third quarter.
"It was a very important game for us seniors," said Smith, "and I believe our team wanted to go out with a bang. That's what we did.
"This is my last game here for my career, and there's not a better feeling in the world than the one I have now. I'm just thankful for Coach (Greg) Mattison coming and recruiting me and for Coach (Brady) Hoke offering me a scholarship. I'm so happy we won this one."
Then he smiled again.
Going out "with a bang" is as sweet as it gets.
