Torrey Smith - College Career - 2009 Season

2009 Season

Before the 2009 season, Smith reportedly struggled in Maryland's summer camp, dividing his time between practice and online courses at night. Towards the end of camp, head coach Ralph Friedgen noted an improvement in his performance, which reestablished Smith as the team's top receiver alongside Adrian Cannon.

During the season, Smith saw action in all twelve games, including ten as a starter, and he amassed 61 receptions for 824 receiving yards and five touchdowns, 51 kickoff returns for 1,309 yards and two touchdowns, and eleven rushing attempts for 59 yards and one touchdown. His kickoff return yardage surpassed the ACC single-season record that he had set the previous year. Smith finished the season ranked sixth in the nation in all-purpose yards. He was one of two players, alongside Donald Buckram of UTEP, to record more than 260 all-purpose yards in three games. Smith led the team in receptions, receiving yards and return yards. Smith's 2,192 all-purpose yards were the second-most ever recorded by an ACC player behind only C. J. Spiller of Clemson.

In the season opener at 12th-ranked California, he caught one pass for 28 yards and made two rushing attempts for 16 yards. Against Division I FCS James Madison, Smith caught eight passes for 80 yards, rushed twice for 22 yards and a touchdown, and returned four kickoffs 127 yards, including one 81-yard touchdown return. Despite the strong statistical performance, head coach Ralph Friedgen said, "To be honest with you, I was kind of expecting more out of Torrey. I've got a lot of faith in him. I'm not surprised at all about the return yards. But I think if you asked Torrey, he has high expectations for himself, too." Smith agreed with the criticism, and acknowledged that in his second season as a wide receiver, he had room for improvement. He recorded five catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the Middle Tennessee game, and caught four passes for 112 yards against Rutgers. He led the team with three receptions for 64 yards and a 29-yard touchdown against Clemson, and became the first player in the nation to reach 1,000 all-purpose yards on the season. Against Wake Forest, Smith returned six kickoffs 194 yards and caught a career-high ten passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. For his performance, he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Specialist of the Week. Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe said, "This kid is probably a better receiver . He catches the ball better, he's got great foot speed. He can hurt you running the ball or catching it. Everywhere you look, he's a problem."

Coach Friedgen named Smith the special teams captain for the Virginia game. During the game, Virginia chose to kick short to keep the ball away from Smith on kickoffs, and quarterback Chris Turner did not target him until the fourth quarter. He finished with three receptions for 34 yards and no returns. He recorded two receptions for 13 yards at Duke. At NC State, he caught eight passes for 64 yards and returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. During the game, he surpassed the ACC single-season kickoff return yards record which he had set the previous season. He had four receptions for 55 yards against 21st-ranked Virginia Tech, seven receptions for 71 yards against Florida State, and six receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown against Boston College.

After the season, the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association named Smith to the All-ACC second team as both a wide receiver and return specialist. Phil Steele's and The Sporting News named him to their All-ACC first teams as a wide receiver. Phil Steele's and Rivals.com named him to their All-ACC second teams as a kick returner. Smith submitted his name to a panel of NFL scouts after the season, which evaluated him as a third- or fourth-round selection in the 2010 NFL Draft.