RB Respect Month Vol. 3, Day 12: Onterrio Smith saves Oregon's Pac-10 Title hopes (2001)
Off the bench and into the Oregon record books.
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Welcome to day 12 of Running Back Respect Month! Yesterday, we flashed back to the dominance of Marcus Lattimore's freshman season in 2010. Here's where we're at today, and how the rest of the month looks:
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Today: Onterrio Smith vs. Washington State (2001)
RB Respect Month Vol. 3, Day 12: Onterrio Smith saves Oregon's Pac-10 Title hopes (2001)
October 27 was a landscape-changing day in the 2001 college football season. In retrospect, it was probably the day that set dominoes in motion for the BCS Title Race ending in such a mess six weeks later. Five unbeaten, top-15 teams (four in the top ten) from three different conferences fell, breathing life into contenders around the country.
- No. 2 Oklahoma lost 20-10 at No. 3 Nebraska as Huskers QB Eric Crouch had his Heisman moment:
- A week after shocking No. 5 Oregon in Autzen, No. 20 Stanford took down their second-straight top five opponent in No. 4 UCLA, despite turning the ball over six times. These two wins set in motion Head Coach Ty Willingham's departure to Notre Dame a month later.
- No. 5 Virginia Tech suffered a classic Frank Beamer L by only giving up 220 yards in a 22-14 home loss to Syracuse.
- No. 10 Maryland lost to Florida State for the tenth consecutive year, getting smacked 52-31 in Tallahassee.
- Finally, No. 14 Washington State came up just a few yards short in a 24-17 loss to Oregon, leaving half of the Pac-10 with one conference loss heading into November:
The hero for the Ducks? Backup running back Onterrio Smith. Smith came off the bench to put up a then-school record 285 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries, as the Ducks escaped a rain-soaked day with a crucial win:
The funny thing about this performance is that Smith didn't even touch the ball until the 10:40 mark of the second quarter on a kick return. Oregon starter Maurice Morris was already cooking the Wazzu defense, so it's not like they were yearning for production on the ground. Smith got the ensuing drive after his kick return, though, and made the most of it. He ripped his first carry down the right sideline for 28 yards. Four of the next five plays were Smith runs, capped by him trucking a Wazzu defender for the first TD of the game:
