Tulsa QB genuine in his respect for U.
"I'm excited to play against him and excited to meet him because I respect him a lot as a player and as a person, from what I've read about him," Smith said Thursday following the Golden Hurricane's final real practice for the Armed Forces Bowl. Weddle and the 7-5 Utes meet Smith's 8-4 Hurricane on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Such a statement might seem like thousands of others that players utter about their opponents prior to playing them, trying to tiptoe around their real feelings so as not to stir the other team.
But Smith, already the No. 3 passer in Tulsa history, is a man of candor.
"I try to not be a fake in every aspect of my life. I think some of the guys will say I'm pretty transparent, so everybody knows my character and where my heart is," said Smith, a second-team academic all-American and devoted Christian who can't say no to the many offers he receives each week to speak or preach to elementary school children or church groups.
Smith is in such demand year-round that his coaches have to help manage the number of appearances the guitar-playing young preacher makes during the season as he juggles academics, football and what may eventually become his life's work.
"We try to help him out a little bit and actually have to limit it a little bit during the football season because he's asked to speak at four or five different events each week," said Kragthorpe, who endorses Smith's activities. "He actually leads the music fellowship for our Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He does all the praise and worship, so he's busy there, and he goes to a lot of elementary schools and churches and travels really all over the state of Oklahoma.
"We do a little bit more of that with him in the offseason when he has a little bit more time, but literally he could speak four, five, six times a week if we'd let him."
"I don't do a lot of preaching," said Smith, who was honored to be featured in a recent FCA Magazine article. "I do a lot of just sharing my testimony and praise-and-worship type of stuff with the guitar. I love music, and I think that's a good way to share my testimony. That's just something that I've always had in my heart."
Smith said he was raised a Baptist but has gone non-denominational with his guitar and what Kragthorpe says is a dynamic speaking style.
"I've been playing since about fifth grade so I'm pretty good with a guitar," Smith said. "I try to let the guitar be louder than my singing voice because you never know how that's going to go."
So it seems pretty believable that Smith has real respect for Weddle.
"Definitely," he said. "Him and 10 other guys, 11, because they rotate. He's a game-changing player. He can change it in an instant, but he's not the only one. I also want to praise the other guys because I think they're well-deserving."
The Hurricane, however, are in it to win it Saturday, the third bowl game for Tulsa under Kragthorpe.
"That first year, I think we came into a bowl game just happy to be there, as a team, as a coaching staff and as a community," said Smith of the 2004 Humanitarian Bowl, a 52-10 loss to Georgia Tech. "Last year, with our big win (31-24 over Fresno State in the Liberty Bowl), we expect to win now, so I think we're a little bit more serious than we were early on. I think we're ready to go."
Smith averages 214.1 passing yards a game this season, fifth in Conference-USA, and he's fourth in C-USA in total offense, averaging 237.8 yards a game. He's third on Tulsa's career total offense list with 6,256 yards and tied for third in career touchdown passes with 36. He surpassed NFL veteran Gus Frerotte three games ago on the school's all-time passing list and now needs just 109 yards to move into a tie for second.
Smith said he tries to be the same guy in the huddle as he is on the pulpit.
"I'm pretty disciplined in both areas, I think," he said. "Everybody has their slip-ups, but I try to keep my focus on the abilities that the Lord has given me and let that show in my playing."
E-mail: lham@desnews.com
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