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'J-Fly' overcomes his early mistakes
Playmaker tallies 184 all-purpose yards
"J-Fly" turned a little Jekyll and Hyde on Saturday.
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Fortunately for the Colorado Buffaloes, the good outweighed the bad for playmaking receiver and return man Josh Smith.
One week after piling up 189 all-purpose yards in the Buffs' win over Colorado State, Smith compiled 184 more and his first career touchdown catch in Colorado's 31-24 come-from-behind win over Eastern Washington at Folsom Field.
He also got called for a block in the back penalty and fumbled on a puntreturn to set up an Eastern Washington touchdown that gave the visitors a 14-7 second-quarter lead.
"My game individually has been going up and down," said Smith, who also fumbled on a return last week that was recovered by CU. "I'm just trying to stay level, stay focused. I'm not trying to get excited about too many plays. I'm definitely trying not to get too down about others."
Smith continued to electrify in the return game, averaging 27 yards per punt return and returning one kick for 40 yards.
But his fumble proved a painful momentum changer. After a 24-yard punt return from his own 3, Eastern Washington's cover men stripped the ball from behind and recovered it at the CU 27 to set up a score six plays later.
"I looked over at (special teams coach Kent Riddle) and I said, 'Get him out,'" CU head coach Dan Hawkins said. "And then it was a long, long time before we had another punt return and so my temperature had gone back down there. He said, 'Are you sure, because that would have been a touchdown if he hadn't fumbled.' And I go, 'Well, okay.' And then he had a huge return."
His team trailing 21-7 in the third quarter and needing a spark, Smith fielded a punt at his own 45 and raced 51 yards down the left sideline to set the Buffs up first-and-goal at the 4. CU scored three plays later to start a 24-3 second-half run.
"There was still a lot more game left to be played," Smith said of the fumble. "So I felt like they've got to continue to punt me the ball, and the next time I get the punt I'm going to make sure they never want to punt me the ball again. That's all I was thinking."
Riddle said his return man no doubt needs to clean up the mistakes but also knew he wanted to stay with Smith.
"I knew he learned," Riddle said. "You look at him and you know he's thinking, 'Geez.' But it's hard to give up that big play when you know you need one. And I think that punt return got us going a little bit. That was a huge play."
Smith has 314 yards and a touchdown on 10 returns in two games, including four returns for 40 yards or more.
"He's had some great plays and some bad ones," Riddle said. "We're going to work hard to eliminate the bad ones and keep him going on the other ones."
Smith's other top play Saturday came early on his 9-yard touchdown catch, an acrobatic grab in which he leaped for a Cody Hawkins pass in the back corner of the end zone and managed to get one foot down inbounds to tie the game 7-7.
The only thing was, Smith had run a fade pattern when he was supposed to run a post.
"So I mean that was great looking on Cody's part to anticipate and see, 'Okay, Josh ran the wrong route, but I think we can still have him over here in the corner.' He stuck with me.
"We've got to make sure those things don't happen even though it was a score."
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Posted by BuffMan6236 on September 7, 2008 at 12:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
He's carrying the ball out and high and sometimes out and low, its only a matter of time before he fumbles.
Darian, can you help him?
Receivers coach isn't getting the job done.
Posted by hinfinityl on September 7, 2008 at 9:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We believe in you, Josh! Keep working at it and you'll be fine.
Posted by buffballaz on September 7, 2008 at 10:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
He's a great return man and a trully electric player. But someone needs to tell to never catch a punt at the 3yd line. It was good return until he fumbled but still, you never catch the ball that close to the endzone. GO BUFFS BLACKOUT!!!!
Posted by CoNFiNaLGuRu on September 7, 2008 at 4:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Stuck here in Texas, I was pressing the Refresh key like nobody's business! Football 101, never catch the ball inside the 10 yd line. It's a recipe for DISASTER! Every team has close game during the season, just keep on rollin' Buffs! Better be ready for those Mountaineers, they are going to be hungry after their beat down by East Carolina!
Posted by rbboulder on September 7, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Josh has only been playing football for a few years. He has great talent and speed. He will get better. He is a playmaker and will learn from his mistakes. GO BUFFS !
Posted by ruffemupbuffaloes on September 7, 2008 at 6:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's great to see the return yardage and the field position change. But man....hold on to the ball! I thought CU wanted Rodney Stewart to return kicks. If the fumbles persist, it may be time for a change. I love J'Flys courage though. He ain't afeard of nothin'. It must have been interesting for the 1-2 punch to be lined up together to receive a kick off.
The best performance of the day was from the CU student section. Great energy and noise. Though alcohol may have been a factor, they were all on the same page. College football! And now we have to suffer through a Saturday withdrawal of no Buff Stuff. I've said many times on this venue that WVU on Thursday night would make or break this season. If CU wins, confidence is restored and FSU and all other opponents will be very nervous. A loss might spin this young team down. The EWU game didn't do much in regard to confidence but it did give experience to a lot of young guys who needed it. Advantage is that we have 1.5 weeks to prepare and get some CBs back. Hope to see a more imaginative offensive game plan and the defense study Eastern Carolina film and copy how they stopped Pat White, if we have the personnel. I like our chances. Big challenge Hawk. Hope you don't disappoint.
Posted by rodrigo on September 7, 2008 at 7 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My voice: there is no way you take Smith out of the return game. Simply put, regardless of the fumble against EW, without his big plays CU would be 1-1 right now, if not 0-2. He's young, he's raw, he's a HUGE, HUGE weapon.
Posted by RWE on September 7, 2008 at 8:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree, J-Fly is awesome on returns. He just needs some fine tuning. He'll be even better next year, and hopefully better yet (assuming he doesn't head to the NFL) in two. Although I wouldn't mind seeing what Speedy could do.
Posted by archalon on September 8, 2008 at 12:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hold onto the Ball, J-Fly. That's all some of us ask. The yards and TDs will come in due order.
Posted by BuffTime on September 8, 2008 at 9:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You can have (and most do have) 2 return guys. One on each side. If they want to kick away from J-Fly, I say give them Speedy to kick to. I know Summler has been back there a bit. Somehow I think Speedy could take it to the house just as well as J-Fly.
That would make them pick their poison or make sure they have the leg to kick it out of the end-zone. We've never had to marquee return guys at the same time. I think it's a good time to start!
Posted by davndeb on September 9, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Josh, cut the "I" talk when interviewed. Your head is getting bigger than the football. The TEAM did the blocking or you wouldn't get 2 yards. Be humble and act like you've been there before. Coach should make you keep your boasting to yourself. The only people your boasting helps is you and the future teams that will try like hell to put you down. No one wants to hear it. Finally, run your routes correctly since it just might help the QB know where you are. You might spend time reading and memorizing the playbook as opposed to letting us all know how good you are.