Zach Smith (American football)

Zach Smith (born April 15, 1998) is an American football quarterback. He played college football for the Baylor Bears and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. He has previously played for the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL).

Zach Smith
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Smith in 2015
Personal information
Born: (1998-04-15) April 15, 1998 (age 26)
Grandview, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:227 lb (103 kg)
Career information
High school:Grandview
(Grandview, Texas)
College:Baylor (2016–2017)
Tulsa (2018–2020)
Position:Quarterback
Undrafted:2021
Career history
Career USFL statistics
Passing attempts:24
Passing completions:16
Completion percentage:66.6
TDINT:2–2
Passing yards:134
QBR:73.9
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

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Smith grew up in Grandview, Texas and attended Grandview High School.[1] Smith passed for 10,217 yards and 113 touchdowns over the course of his high school career.[2] Smith committed to play college football at Baylor over offers from Texas, Kansas, and SMU.[3]

College career

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Baylor

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Smith began his collegiate career at Baylor, joining the team as an early enrollee.[4] He played in ten games as a freshman and started Baylor's final four games after Seth Russell suffered a fractured ankle.[5] Smith finished the season with pass completions 116 on 196 attempts for 1,526 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.[6]

Going into his sophomore year, Smith competed for the starting quarterback position against incoming freshman Charlie Brewer and graduate transfer Anu Solomon, who was eventually named the starter.[7] He replaced Solomon in the second game of the season and was named the starter following the game.[8] Smith played in nine games with six starts over the course of the season, before losing his starting position to Brewer, completing 105 of 201 pass attempts for 1,471 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. After the end of the season, he announced his intent to transfer from Baylor.[9]

Tulsa

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Smith ultimately transferred to the University of Tulsa.[10] He sat out the 2018 season per NCAA transfer rules.[11] Smith was named the Golden Hurricane's starting quarterback going into the 2019 season and completed 57.3 percent of his passes for 3,279 yards and 19 touchdowns.[12] In his redshirt senior season, he started all nine games of Tulsa's COVID-19-shortened 2020 season and passed for 1,947 yards and 13 touchdowns.[13]

Statistics

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Season Games Passing Rushing
GP Record Comp Att Pct Yards Avg TD Int Rate Att Yards Avg TD
Baylor Bears
2016 10 1–3 116 196 59.2 1,526 7.8 13 7 139.3 25 -26 -1.0 1
2017 9 0–6 105 201 52.2 1,471 7.3 8 8 118.9 30 −79 −2.6 0
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
2018 DNP
2019 12 4–8 246 429 57.3 3,279 7.6 19 9 132.0 75 −96 −1.3 0
2020 9 6–3 147 263 55.9 1,947 7.4 13 10 126.8 36 −62 −1.7 0
Career 40 11–20 614 1,089 56.4 8,223 7.6 53 34 129.6 166 -263 -1.6 1

Professional career

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Smith went unselected in the 2021 NFL draft. He was invited to a tryout with the Buffalo Bills, but was not offered a contract.[14]

Smith was selected in the 12th round of the 2022 USFL draft by the New Orleans Breakers.[15] On February 26, 2023, Smith was released by the Breakers.[16]

Statistics

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USFL statistics
Year Team Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
2022 NO 6 1 16 24 66.6 134 5.5 2 2 73.9 12 54 4.5 0

References

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  1. ^ "Grandview QB with 'vision' signs with Baylor football". Waco Tribune-Herald. August 14, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  2. ^ "10 things you might not know about Baylor QB Zach Smith, including his hunting acumen". The Dallas Morning News. July 6, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  3. ^ Crisp, A.J. (June 6, 2014). "Grandview QB Zach Smith commits to Baylor; says BU was No. 1 choice all along". Cleburne Times-Review. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  4. ^ "Grandview's Zach Smith graduates early, looks ahead to Baylor future". Cleburne Times-Review. December 27, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  5. ^ Adams, Madison (November 17, 2016). "Zach Smith has support of hometown as he debuts at QB for Baylor". KWTX.com. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  6. ^ "Baylor QB Zach Smith to transfer". Waco Tribune-Herald. December 13, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  7. ^ "Baylor quarterback trio battling for starting spot". Waco Tribune-Herald. August 5, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  8. ^ Rittenberg, Adam (September 11, 2017). "Baylor to start QB Zach Smith in place of Anu Solomon". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  9. ^ "Baylor QB Zach Smith to transfer". Waco Tribune-Herald. December 13, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  10. ^ "Quarterback Zach Smith transferring from Baylor to Tulsa". ESPN.com. Associated Press. January 8, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  11. ^ "For now, Zach Smith will be known as 'the transfer from Baylor'". Tulsa World. August 24, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  12. ^ "OSU football: Tulsa offense provides a multi-pronged threat". The Oklahoman. September 17, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  13. ^ "Former Zebra QB hopeful to turn NFL dreams into reality". Cleburne Times-Review. April 29, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  14. ^ "Report: Tulsa QB Zach Smith set for tryout with Bills". The Buffalo News. May 6, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  15. ^ Crisp, A.J. (February 23, 2022). "Grandview's Zach Smith selected by New Orleans in USFL Draft". Cleburne Times-Review. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  16. ^ @USFLBreakers (February 26, 2023). "Released" (Tweet). Retrieved February 26, 2023 – via Twitter.
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