Larry Smith’s first pass of 2009 was an incompletion to Alex Washington on Sept. 5 against Western Carolina. His last was an 11-yard touchdown toss to Warren Norman against 11th-ranked Georgia Tech on Halloween.
His first drive of the season ended when he fumbled in the end zone against the Catamounts. His final drive ended after a 35-yard rush, the first big play of a touchdown drive that would give the Commodores a 14-7 lead against the heavily favored Yellow Jackets.
That rush ended his season as he suffered a torn hamstring, and it was all too soon for the mercurial redshirt sophomore quarterback.
Reading the stat lines, which shows Smith completed less than half his throws and had nearly twice as many interceptions (seven) as touchdown passes (four), it's hard to see, but there was progress for the young signal-caller.
“I felt a whole lot more comfortable than I was at the beginning of the year,” Smith said. “The game was slowing down to me a whole lot. I was able to read defenses better.”
“He was getting better and better every week,” said Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson. “We expect that to continue. He’ll be working at it the week we get back after Thanksgiving, if I know Larry.”
No bye weeks, a young corps of receivers and a tough slate of Southeastern Conference defenses made the season a challenge. Smith struggled to complete downfield passes early in the season, and the no-huddle offense installed by the Commodore coaching staff fizzled. Going into Smith’s final game against the Yellow Jackets, Vanderbilt had scored just 40 points total in a four-game losing streak and had only scored one touchdown through the air.
The Commodores were reeling, but Smith wasn’t despairing.
“I could see his confidence building every game and saw his completions going up and him becoming a leader,” said redshirt sophomore receiver Udom Umoh. “He was trying to lead the team and the offense and trying to pick us up. He doesn’t get mad. He’ll just tell you ‘forget about that play, let’s go on to the next.’ So I really just saw him maturing game by game.”
Against Army, after struggling all day, Smith led a game-tying field goal drive at the end of regulation and had a game-winning touchdown taken away by a penalty. Against South Carolina, he faced a tough defense in the Gamecocks and passed for 133 yards, despite a number of drops by his receivers, and nearly led a game-winning touchdown drive. And against Georgia Tech, Smith led the Commodores on their first game-opening touchdown drive of the season.
Before those games, it had been pretty rough.
He passed for just 69 yards in a 23-7 loss to Ole Miss, and completed less than 40 percent of his throws in a 15-3 defeat to Mississippi State. Cries for his replacement by redshirt Mackenzi Adams were loud among Vanderbilt fans, but the coaching staff stuck with the strong-armed Smith who had been trusted to start the Music City Bowl on Dec. 31 and rewarded that confidence with a steady performance in a 16-14 victory.
Losing was a new feeling for Smith. In high school, it almost never happened. At Vanderbilt, he won his first two starts, something fairly uncommon around West End.
So it weighed heavily upon him as the defeats piled up over the last two months, especially in the wake of last season's 7-6 record, the program’s first winning season since 1982.
“I think at moments he might have gotten down, so that’s where we as a team came in to say, ‘Don’t worry about it,’” Umoh said. "We have to play our part also. I think he understood that. It’s a team effort; when he’s down, we’re going to pick him up, and we expect the same thing from him.”
Since the injury, Adams has taken over at starter and Smith has called signals from the sideline, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped practicing.
“Most definitely taking mental reps,” Smith said.
The torn hamstring will still take a few weeks to heal. The burden of a losing season will sting for a little longer, at least until 2010 rolls around.
But Johnson thinks the year was ultimately very beneficial to Smith, who is still looked at as the quarterback of the future.
“It was great experience for him,” Johnson said. “Nothing could be more instructive than overcoming some adversity and he’s going to have to do that, come back from a tough season, and I expect him to be great next year.”
Smith learned valuable lessons of his own as well.
“Can’t win them all,” he said, smiling. “This year’s been pretty rough, but that I’ll have the confidence to bounce back next year.”
