Penn State's Smith responds to LeBron James
Penn State reserve cornerback Jordan Smith was happy to take advantage of an opportunity on Saturday night to help his team upset Ohio State, even feeling the need to respond when the best basketball player on the planet thought he committed a penalty on the play.
Penn State reserve cornerback Jordan Smith was happy to take advantage of an opportunity on Saturday night to help his team upset Ohio State, even feeling the need to respond when the best basketball player on the planet thought he committed a penalty on the play.
A Twitter exchange between Smith and Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James, an Ohio State fan, had to be a highlight of a memorable night at Beaver Stadium, where the Nittany Lions shocked the Buckeyes, 24-21, and people on social media got to know the quiet senior.
Smith broke up a deep pass intended for James Clark at the Penn State 20 as the Buckeyes were trying to drive to a tying field goal or a winning touchdown late in the closing minutes. A replay showed Smith grabbed Clark's arm a split second before J.T. Barrett's pass hit Clark in the face mask and fell incomplete.
James tweeted to his 33- million-plus followers: "That was pass interference man!!!"
After the game, Smith responded: "I think my play was clean King."
"I first found out about the tweet when someone texted it to me," Smith said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. "When I found out, I was showing it to my teammates [in the locker room], and my teammates were telling me to respond to it. So I wrote the first thing that came to mind."
Smith, who admitted that he stumbled coming out of his stance on the play, successfully defended the last pass Ohio State would throw. A pair of sacks followed, and Smith shared in the euphoria of the historic night with his teammates.
"It was kind of crazy, something I didn't expect," he said.
"Any time a play comes your way, that's your opportunity. All I want to do is take advantage of that opportunity and just help the team get a victory. So it was awesome. It was awesome to make that play."
Smith had seen his playing time dwindle since he committed to Penn State in July 2012, the same month that the NCAA imposed sanctions on the football program. He played in all 12 games during his freshman year under Bill O'Brien but saw that time cut to nine games in 2014 and six last year.
This season, however, Smith has played in all but one contest. He contributed a valuable interception, the first of his career, in the end zone late in the Lions' overtime win over Minnesota earlier this month.
Assistant head coach Terry Smith said the experience that Jordan Smith shares with his teammates has been extremely beneficial.
"Just his veteran savviness. He's a great leader in the cornerback room," said Smith, who coaches the cornerbacks. "He's kind of that wise, older spokesman. He's been around the block and he doesn't get too high, he doesn't get too low. He understands what his role on our football team is, and when he's asked to contribute, he's contributing greatly for us."
As one of just 12 seniors on the 2016 Nittany Lions, Smith said his role this week is to keep everyone focused on the next game, Saturday at Purdue, and not keep looking back on last weekend.
"This week we're going to approach it like every other week," he said, "but we're going to have a different level of focus and a different level of attention to detail to focus on making sure we come out 1-0 this week."
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