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| Jayquan Smith (28) runs for the game-sealing first down in Furman's victory over William & Mary. Photo courtesy of Furman |
Among the final moments of Furman's season opening win over William & Mary last Saturday, one seemed like it was out of a Disney movie. With the Paladins needing one more first down to seal the victory, they turned to running back Jayquan Smith.
Playing for the first time in 22 months, Smith had three carries earlier in the game but this was different. This was Furman coach Clay Hendrix and his staff believing a young man, who fought back from a devastating knee injury that required three separate surgeries to rebuild, had what it took to put the game away.
With William & Mary fully aware of what was coming, Smith carried to his left on first down and powered through a couple of tacklers to fall forward for six yards. On second down, he gained one. On third-and-three, Smith took his third consecutive handoff. After finding nowhere to go immediately ahead of him, Smith bounced to the right and found daylight. There was only one Tribe defender straight ahead of him, but another dove in from the side and grabbed his right ankle - just inches below the brace that protects his surgically repaired knee.
While the tackle prevented an even bigger gain for Smith, the eight yards he got were plenty. His longest gain of the day moved the chains and allowed the Paladins to run out the clock.
"I just said, 'God, let your will be done.' Playmakers make plays," Smith said. "My team needed a first down and I just said, 'let me take care of it.' "
While Hendrix said it was kind of a "heartwarming" thing to see, that's certainly not the reason they had Smith out there. Smith earned his way there through everything he showed coaches in preseason camp. Hendrix believes he's a nice compliment to starting running back Gavin Hall. While both are really strong, Smith is a little bigger.
"When we started August practice, I thought Jayquan had a really good spring and was really ahead of where I thought he'd be," Hendrix said. "And he had a really good summer, but he's still not out there getting tackled yet. Then (once tackling started) he's been really productive in the fall.
"In that situation on Saturday it wasn't a slight on Gavin at all. It was just more of a feeling of trust in the old guy. ... It wasn't like we were trying to do some sentimental moment."
Irony abounded in that moment. It was a bit similar to that fateful October day in 2023 when Smith was trying to help Furman run out the clock in the fourth quarter of a 28-14 win over The Citadel. On a third down carry with less than five minutes remaining, he went for five yards. He was stood up by one defender before another came in low to finish off the tackle.
While Smith immediately grabbed his knee, it didn't look nearly as bad as it turned out to be at first glance. All of his knee ligaments were torn and the knee itself was dislocated. Just like that this promising redshirt freshman, who had shown signs of becoming Furman's next standout back, was done for the season. As the weeks went by and more surgeries were needed, some might have wondered if he was done for good.
It was also ironic Saturday that Furman coaches had faith in Smith to get the job done because Smith's faith is a big reason he was back on that field. It was a long, arduous rehab, but Smith never lost faith that he would play again.
"Some days looked better than others. Some days you have doubts. But in all God commands faith from his people, so I kept it and kept working," Smith said. "I trusted him with the outcome, so I'm very thankful that this day was that outcome."
Hendrix said Smith remained positive throughout those long months off from football. He said even though Smith couldn't participate, he'd show up at every practice. As it turns out, trying to get a Furman education can also serve as a big distraction from rehabbing an injury.
"He's a terrific student who wants to go to med school," Hendrix said. "He just has a lot of things going for him that he works hard at. He did a good job of keeping himself busy during that time away."
While Smith's faith remained strong, the anticipation of that first carry last Saturday made him nervous and excited at the same time. Things quickly got back to normal though.
"After that first carry, I was like, 'Alright, I've been doing this since I was four years old," Smith said with a smile. "I'm back."
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