Not surprisingly, the Pacific-10 Conference took full notice of the record-breaking performance of Onterrio Smith on Saturday.
Smith was announced Monday as the Pac-10’s Offensive Player of the Week after running all over Washington State in Oregon’s 24-17 victory in Pullman, Wash.
The sophomore backup tailback sat out the first quarter before exploding for 285 yards in the final three quarters.
The rushing total was 36 yards more than the previous Oregon school record set by Bobby Moore, now Ahmad Rashad, in 1971. Smith also surpassed Rashad in the record books by returning three kickoffs for 57 yards for a total of 342 all-purpose yards.
Smith reached the end zone three times Saturday, with his 73-yard scoring sprint in the fourth quarter giving the Ducks a 24-10 lead.
“Looking up at the playback board and seeing all those guys behind me made my face light up,” Smith said.
He has had games like this before Saturday, but they occurred back when he was setting single-season school records for Grant High in Sacramento, Calif. As a senior, he ran for 3,154 yards and 60 touchdowns, earning him SuperPrep All-American status.
“Yeah, it reminded me of those days a little bit once I started getting the ball, getting the ball and getting the ball,” Smith said of his performance Saturday. “I hadn’t touched the ball that much in a long time, probably three years.”
Smith became the fifth Oregon player to be honored by the Pac-10 this year, following Keith Lewis, Steve Smith, Joey Harrington and Keenan Howry.