Wide receiver Arian Smith was asked if, after three years at Georgia, if he still thought he was the fastest player on the team.
The junior cracked a wry smile.
“I think so, what do y’all think?” Smith quipped after practice on Tuesday, noting that none of the Bulldogs’ speedy newcomers have issued any challenges to find out.
“Nah, they don’t want to challenge me,” Smith smiled. “They can see for themselves.”
Ohio State defensive back Luther Ransom needs no convincing.
Ransom was the Buckeye player who fell to the turf at Mercedes Benz Stadium as a wide-open Smith was hauling in a 76-yard bomb from Stetson Bennett. Smith finished the game with three catches for 129 yards.
“I moved so fast, I really didn’t see him fall down,” Smith said. “I was just worried about catching the ball, just focus on the ball.”
Bennett had a much better view.
“He made the dude fall. Dude can do things that people can’t do,” Bennett said after the game. “He can run like people can’t run, and he can go get the ball, and once I saw him, I think the whole sideline was standing up and saying he’s open. So, I just tried to put it on him and let him do the rest.”
Surprisingly, Smith said he’s only gone back to watch the play a few times since the game on New Year’s Eve.
“I try not to look at that stuff,” Smith said. “Coach (Kirby Smart) always says, yeah, it was good, but it’s not about me. It’s about the team. It was a great touchdown, but it wasn’t all me.”
That doesn’t mean Smith doesn’t allow himself to think “what-ifs” from time to time.
In the 44 games Georgia has played Smith has been on campus, Smith’s only played in 19 games due to a trio of injuries--wrist, MCL, and what the Florida native described as a “broken foot.”
When healthy, his stats have been mind-blowing. In those 19 games, Smith has 12 catches for 386 yards (an average of 32.2 yards per grab) and four touchdowns.
“Of course, I’m looking and thinking, ‘Man I could have helped out in the game,” said Smith, who is hoping to make it through a season unscathed for the first time in his career.
Smith does not deny the injuries did not equal a lot of frustration. But he never allowed either to get the best of him.
“I just focused on the present. I never tried to focus on the future,” said Smith, who earlier Tuesday offered some encouraging words to Kendall Milton, currently dealing with a hamstring issue.
“I told Kendall earlier today, it happens,” Smith said. “My roommate Daijun (Edwards), he’s dealing with something, too. You just keep your head straight, what you need to do to get healthy.”
Now that Smith is healthy, he’s focused more than ever on becoming the best receiver he can be.
That means a couple of things.
First, it means giving up being a member of the Bulldog track team to focus on football.
“It’s really still up in the air, but not really,” Smith said. “But don’t think I’m going to run. I’m going to focus on football. It’s tough to give up. I do want to run, but I can’t really run track and play football. It’s going to be tough.”
Second, it’s having the desire to be as good as possible in every facet of the game.
“For me, it’s just getting better at football as a whole, not just going deep; the small things, too,” Smith said. “Everything: details, blocking, catching short routes, everything to become an all-around receiver.”
