Jake Smith already making his mark for Texas football

By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer

AUSTIN, Texas — It’s a sunny, late summer midday on the University of Texas campus and precocious, likable freshman UT wide receiver Jake Smith is doing what college kids do, busting up the sidewalk on the north side of Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on an electric scooter, passing other students who have no idea that last year’s Gatorade Offensive Player of the Year is the young man moving past them.

Smith is on a mission on the field as well, and already is making important contributions while drawing comparisons to the like of Jordan Shipley, who formed the mold for Texas slot receivers.

Smith, who has been on the 40 Acres since mid-July, is[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] — like all freshman students in the third week of classes — finally beginning to understand a little of what it will take to be a student-athlete for the Longhorns.

But he looks none the worse for the wear physically after UT’s month-long preseason training camp and three games of the 2019 season.

“(Smith) was not an early enrollee, so his first taste of college football was training camp and it certainly hit him like a shovel to the face,” Texas coach Tom Herman said Monday. “But he made it through those dog days of training camp.”

Smith said he was told by Texas offensive coordinator Tim Beck that he would play and play early for the Longhorns, and he has caught on relatively quickly.

“The first day of pads, I was a little nervous,” said Smith who amassed 2,349 all-purpose yards in his high school career at Notre Dame Prep in Scottsdale, Ariz. “College football … all these things going on in my head, and at the end of the day, it’s just football, the game I’ve been playing for so long, That’s when I kind of realized it.”

Smith was a difference-maker in the Longhorns’ 48-13 win over Rice in Houston Saturday, reeling in six catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns, all career highs.

After three games, Smith has 11 receptions for 126 yards and three touchdowns; his catches are second only to fellow slot receiver Devin Duvernay and his yardage is third-best among the Longhorns behind Duvernay and Brennan Eagles.

There was a thought among the Texas coaching staff to move Smith, at least temporarily, to running back before the season-opener when injuries decimated the team’s depth at the position. Smith played a lot of running back in his prep career, and the temptation was great, but the move never happened.

Herman said it was the right decision for both Smith and the team.

“I’m really proud of our staff for not panicking when all those running backs went down and moving (Smith),” Herman explained. “It would have stunted (Smith’s) growth at the slot receiver position significantly.

“We still keep it fairly simple for (Smith). We don’t ask him to memorize the entire offense just yet. I’m pleased with his toughness and his dependability.”

Now if Smith can just learn to balance his work on the field with the demands asked of a student in the classroom and the study halls.

“It’s definitely a lot of work,” Smith said of his studies. “The work (is) starting to set in and it’s tough, but I just gotta do what I gotta do. But you know, at the end of the day, it’s a blessing to be in this position, so it’s really cool.”
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