ROSE BOWL/CFP: Tide's Smith enjoying season for the ages

By TIM GAYLE

As DeVonta Smith continues his path to a possible Heisman Trophy, it’s easily the biggest topic in college football. 
Not since Tim Brown in the mid-1980s has a wide receiver so captivated the nation’s attention. Not since Brown (1987) has a player who earned the majority of his statistics as a wide receiver been selected as the nation’s top collegiate football player. 

“He's very tough,” said Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea, who is assigned the difficult task of corralling Smith in Friday’s College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game. “He does so much for that team. And I've got a ton of respect for him. But I think the one thing that stands out is he's got another gear. When he hits his accelerator, he has a chance to separate. And the number of times you see that on film, you understand pretty quickly that every snap there's an opportunity for them to score.”

There are three Heisman Trophy candidates on Alabama’s team and two (Smith and quarterback Mac Jones) are finalists for the award, which will be presented on Tuesday. The award, which once went to running backs and now seems reserved for quarterbacks, may be caught by a wide receiver this year, which shouldn’t be unusual for such an unusual season. 

“We lost two great receivers last year in Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy,” Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian observed. “We lost Jaylen Waddle early in the year this year. It created a unique opportunity for DeVonta Smith to be a guy where we had been spreading the wealth around so much here for the last couple of years that all of a sudden now he can become a real feature guy.

“I don't know if that's what everybody else does. I know our system is complementary on offense. We like to be a balanced attack. I do speak to the fact that we're fortunate enough to have one of the best ones in the country on our team. And he provides a great deal of leadership on our football team.”

Smith is part of the 2017 recruiting class that produced Jeudy and Ruggs, but Smith was the one that captured the hearts of Alabama fans with his game-winning catch in the CFP National Championship against Georgia. By the next spring, he was working out at defensive back, something that head coach Nick Saban contemplated only because the Tide was short of secondary players that spring. 

“I think it speaks volumes for what kind of person he is, what kind of competitor he is, what kind of team player that he is,” Saban said. “Probably one of the most selfless guys that I've ever had the opportunity to coach in terms of whatever he can do to help the team he wants to do. He did a great job when we asked him to do that. Never asked any questions. Was happy to do it. And I think that just shows what kind of person he is and what kind of teammate he is.”

He wasn’t really going to remain on the defensive side of the ball, was he?

“I kind of felt eventually it was going to come just with the (lack of) depth and everything that we had going into the spring,” he recalled. “I was willing to do whatever Coach Saban asked me to do. I was comfortable with it.”

The experiment didn’t last long but as a new receiver (Waddle) emerged, Smith would often find himself as the overlooked receiver. Jeudy was the most complete, winning the Biletnikoff Award in 2018 (that Smith is certain to grab in 2020). Ruggs was the fastest. Waddle was the most explosive. 

Even entering this season, with Ruggs and Jeudy in the National Football League, Smith wasn’t the biggest threat on his team until Waddle was injured early in the Tennessee game in late October.

“This guy's got a very high football IQ,” Sarkisian said. “He's a guy that understands the game, big picture. He recognizes coverages really well. So it's allowed us to move him all over the field, whether it's in the slot, isolation-type plays, in bunches. And the reality of it is he knows why we're calling what we're calling and what we're calling those things for.

“And the result is he's got a quarterback who prepares really well, who knows why we're calling those plays as well, and takes advantage of the opportunities when they're there. I think ‘Smitty’ has demonstrated that all year long, and it's been probably magnified since Jaylen went out, that his unique play-making ability shows up.”

The result is a player who turned down the National Football League last season for a shot at a national championship and may possible own all of the records when he’s through with the 2020 season.

He’s gone over the 100-yard mark in the first half five times this season and has nearly 1,000 yards (955) in the last six games alone. Among FBS programs this season, he ranks first in receptions (98), yards (1,511) and second in touchdowns (17), gaining an FBS-best 768 yards after contact. He is the Southeastern Conference career touchdown leader (40) in receptions and could pass Amari Cooper’s single-season school record with 216 more yards and the career SEC mark held by Vanderbilt’s Jordan Matthews with 139 more yards.  

“We have to have awareness of where he is all the time. And, you know, we're going to have to win (one-on-one matchups) to have a chance to be successful at the level we want to be successful at. There are a lot of people that contribute to their success. You have to account for the most explosive player, but you can't only defend one guy because there's other guys that can hurt you.”

Still, it was no coincidence that three secondary players for Notre Dame represented the Fighting Irish in front of the media and each was asked about the challenges of containing Smith.

“He showed throughout the year he's one of the best receivers in the country,” free safety Kyle Hamilton said. “But I think we have a good game plan to hopefully contain him and show what we are made of on defense as well.”

Cornerback Nick McCloud will draw that assignment at times during Friday’s game.

“Just being able to compete with somebody like DeVonta Smith and the other great players they have is just a great opportunity,” McCloud said. “When you put on the tape, you can tell he has all the intangibles -- release of speed, ability to go get the ball, run after the catch, everything. I think that's what kind of puts him into the category that he's in as an elite guy, is for the fact that he has all those intangibles, because a lot of guys they may have one or two but they don't have them all. But he definitely has them all.”

Smith said he tries to pattern his game after Keenan Allen of the Los Angeles Chargers and Green Bay’s Devante Adams, admiring both for their attention to detail. It’s a trait he prides himself on as well and something that his teammates consider one of his best attributes.

“I think what separates him the most from everybody is just his hard work and discipline,” fellow Tide receiver John Metchie said. “He's an extremely disciplined person and works extremely hard. And also consistency. Just shows up every day and brings his best every day. So I think that's definitely the characteristics that separate him.”

It’s made him one of the best at his position. Earlier this week, he was named the Associated Press “College Football Player of the Year,” the first-ever time that award has gone to an Alabama player. 

“Winning the award, it's a blessing,” he said, “just being in that conversation and to win an award.”

Next Tuesday, he may make history again. In the 90-year history of the Heisman Trophy, only four receivers have ever won the award -- Yale’s Larry Kelley in 1936, Notre Dame’s Leon Hart in 1949, Brown in 1987 and Michigan’s Desmond Howard in 1991.

Howard, like the Heisman’s only defensive selection, Charles Woodson (1997), garnered a lot of attention with his ability as a return specialist, something that Smith only added after Waddle’s injury. 

With three other quarterbacks (Jones, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Florida’s Kyle Trask) as Heisman finalists, it’s easy to think one of them would finish first. In the first 50 years of the award, it was much more likely to go to a running back than a quarterback, but since Boston College’s Doug Flutie won the award in 1984, 24 quarterbacks have won the award, compared to nine running backs. 

Since Reggie Bush won the Heisman in 2005, only two running backs have won the trophy and both were from Alabama -- Mark Ingram in 2009 and Derrick Henry in 2015.

So will the Heisman voters choose the normal path and select a quarterback? Or is this the year for Smith to continue his amazing march toward history?

“He's a great receiver,” Notre Dame strong safety Shaun Crawford said. “You can watch on film that Mac Jones and the Alabama offense trusts him to go out there and make a play. So they're going to put the ball up there. We’ve got to try to do a great job of holding our shells and trying to disguise things and make it tough for Mac Jones to know that he doesn't have that one-on-one matchup early.

“Those are the don’ts. The do’s is just try to be physical, try to get hands on him. He’s an elusive, fast, slippery guy, so that will be tough. I think if we're able to get hands on him, slow him down before he can get into his route, I think that will help us out tremendously.”

Good luck with that. It hasn’t worked for the previous 11 Tide opponents this season.