Virginian Daniel Smith, Villanova's vitalizing QB, didn't reject state schools. They missed him, twice.
Villanova quarterback Daniel Smith has thrown 22 touchdown passes in nine games.
VILLANOVA ATHLETICS
If CAA Football closed up shop for the season today, the offensive player of the year might be a Virginian. But he doesn’t play at James Madison, William & Mary or Richmond.
Villanova quarterback Daniel Smith, a junior from Leesburg and Tuscarora High School, averages 266 yards as a thrower and runner, and has thrown 22 touchdown passes for the No. 18 Wildcats (6-3, 3-3 CAA), who host UR (5-4, 4-1 CAA) Saturday.
Smith took the scenic route to Philadelphia, by way of Buies Creek, N.C., home to Campbell University. There, Smith redshirted one year and played two. He was named a freshman All-American, and second team All-Big South Conference as a sophomore.
“Out of high school, I was right where any 18-year-old is who wants to play college football. You want to play at the highest level,” said Smith.
Richmond recruited him, as did William & Mary. Smith, a 6-foot 205-pounder, said he felt he was a back-up plan as a prospect for the Spiders and Tribe. Neither UR nor W&M offered a scholarship.
“I wanted to go where I was wanted, where I’d get an opportunity. I went with what I had,” Smith said, speaking of Campbell. “I spent a few years there, and I don’t think I ever really truly got that fill I was looking for, that fix. I still wanted to play a little more competitive football.”
He entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal and connected with Villanova, whose staff also evaluated him at Tuscarora. Smith arrived at Villanova having graduated from Campbell in three years, and is in the first of his two seasons of eligibility as a Wildcat.
“Coming in, first-year guy from another program, I know they’re thrilled having him. He’s a tremendous player,” said Russ Huesman, UR’s third-year coach.
Smith won the starting job through August practice and passed for three TDs in Villanova’s opener, a 34-14 win at Colgate. In a 35-28 win at W&M, Smith passed for 250 yards and three TDs. In a 38-24 loss at JMU, Smith passed for 387 yards and three TDs.
“Every week, I’m trying to prove to somebody that I do belong, and that I am enough,” he said. “It’s football. You’ve just got to go out and believe in yourself, know that you can get it done and the 10 people around you at any given time are going to get it done with you.
“That’s what we have going on here. We just need to go and make four quarters out of it.”
Richmond has won four consecutive CAA games. Villanova started 6-0, but has lost three straight (JMU, Stony Brook, New Hampshire) after a season-ending knee injury sustained by Justin Covington, who was averaging 121 rushing yards. During the three-game losing streak, Smith threw seven interceptions.
“Anybody can beat anybody,” Huesman said of CAA competition. “It’s a play or two every game that makes a difference.”
Jalen Jackson, a 5-9, 215-pound Villanova sophomore running back from Thomas Jefferson High, has missed the last three games with a thumb injury. This season, Jackson has carried 39 times for 217 yards.
