J’Mar Smith wrapped up his career at Louisiana Tech with the program’s first 10-win season since 1984 and won the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year Award.
Smith is Louisiana Tech’s all-time wins leader at the quarterback position in the D1 era after going 25-13 in 38 career starts.
For his career, Smith totaled 10,379 yards, 66 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.
In 2019, when leading the Bulldogs to 10 wins, Smith completed 64% of his throws, totaled 3,241 yards, 22 total touchdowns and only 5 interceptions.
Let’s take a look at how Smith fared in the various details of the passing game, according to Pro Football Focus.
-- At LOS or Behind | 89/97 (92%) for 619 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT (86% completion rate in 2018)
-- 0-10 Yards Down Field | 86/127 (68%) for 860 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs (64% completion rate in 2018)
-- 11-20 Yards Down Field | 40/74 (54%) for 787 yards, 5 TDs (53% completion rate in 2018)
-- 20+ Yards Down Field | 22/51 (43%) for 712 yards, 8 TDs, 1 INT (32% completion rate in 2018)
Smith’s improvement in 2019 comes from a number of different things. The two biggest things that stand out are that Louisiana Tech dropped 38 passes in 2018 compared to only 14 in 2019. The second biggest thing was his ability to identify the blitz pre-snap and get the ball out quickly. Smith’s completion percentage jumped from 49% to 60% from 2018 to 2019 against the blitz.
-- No Pressure | 205/295 (70%) for 2,464 yards, 15 TDs, 5 INTs
-- Under Pressure | 32/76 (42%) for 514 yards, 3 TDs
-- Not Blitzed | 154/232 (66%) for 1,917 yards, 10 TDs, 3 INTs
-- When Blitzed | 83/138 (60%) for 1,061 yards, 8 TDs, 2 INTs
If Smith is going to have any chance at playing in the NFL, he must figure out a way to be more successful when pressured. Dealing with pressure in his face was one of the biggest struggles that Smith faced throughout his 3-year run as the starting quarterback.
In a career that saw Smith finish as Louisiana Tech’s third all-time leading passer, one thing is for certain, J’Mar Smith left the Bulldog program better than he found it.
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