STARKVILLE — Mississippi State quarterback Tyler Russell swears he doesn’t look for specific receivers when he drops back to pass.
That theory is hard to believe when there’s a receiver on his team he has been throwing to since the ninth grade.
“There might be something there,” Russell said Tuesday “I’m just not thinking about it. Maybe other people can see it, but he always seems to catch most of my passes.”
Chris Smith caught five passes for 42 yards, including a touchdown on a 12-yard strike from Russell, last week in a 24-7 loss to then-No. 4 University of Alabama.
Russell and Smith considered going to Alabama until they both decided to stay in the state of Mississippi and continue their careers at MSU. It’s a choice both of them don’t regret.
“He’s the reason we got up here and I guess I’m the reason for him, so it’s a blessing because we know how we both play the game,” Smith said. “He knows if he expects me in a specific spot and I’ll be there.”
The Russell-to-Smith connection has been a pitch-and-catch duo dating back to their days at Meridian High School when as seniors they won a state championship against traditional power South Panola.
Russell believes the first time he threw a pass to Smith was in middle school, and it wasn’t on purpose. Russell’s interception while playing for Northwest Junior High gave the ball over to Kate Griffin Junior High and a defensive back named Chris Smith.
“For some reason, we were always on the same page,” Russell said.
Over the next few years, Russell and Smith began a journey filled with several touchdowns and even some broken bones. Smith detailed Tuesday how Russell broke the bone in his right thumb in a Meridian High practice.
“He has always thrown it about 90 miles an hour since high school, but he’s gotten better as the years go by,” Smith said.
With a sly grin and almost an assured confidence, Russell said the most important thing was Smith “caught that pass in practice” because Smith knows dropped passes make his longtime quarterback friend mad.
“Chris will always run consistent routes to beat his man,” Russell said. “He’s gotten so better with his preparation and attention to detail in his attitude.”
Russell is averaging 159.2 yards per game in the past five games. Smith has caught two of his eight touchdown passes.
“I see him start to become a leader because we were around so many leaders in high school,” Smith said. “He’s changed his attitude toward being very intense. The two of us talk all the time about how badly we want to win together.”
The most notable pass was an over-the-middle route where the 6-foot-2 Smith went head over heels against the University of South Carolina. Smith joked Tuesday that his favorite quarterback led him a little too much on that one.
“It was a perfect throw, but that was a tough situation,” Smith said laughing. “I wasn’t even thinking about the hit.”
In what may turn out to be a shootout at 2:30 p.m. today (WCBI) in Little Rock against No. 6 Arkansas, MSU coaches feel more and more comfortable with Smith being a primary pass target and an underrated athlete, even after playing so consistently in practice.
“Coming into the year, he was the least-paid-attention-to receiver, so he gets the best matchups,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said. “There’s something to that as well.”
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