Tulsa QBs Johnson, Bower want to shake Smith's shadow

By Bob Hersom

Published: August 24, 2008

TULSA — Paul Smith isn't here anymore. The quarterback who broke so many Tulsa records on the field and set so many examples of good works off the field isn't on the TU roster anymore.

And while someone will obviously have to replace Smith as the Golden Hurricane's starting quarterback, no one's going to pretend to be Paul.

"I'll just be myself. That's all I can do,” said senior quarterback David Johnson. "There's a lot of stuff I learned from Paul, but at the same time I'm David Johnson and I've got to act like who I am.”

Sophomore quarterback Jacob Bower, in his first year at TU, also has no plans to remake himself.

"I feel like I'm Jacob Bower and I've got strengths that Paul Smith doesn't have, and I've got things that I need to work on that he can do,” Bower said. "Each quarterback's got to be his own style, his own version, in trying to be the best quarterback he can be. What it comes down to is throwing touchdowns and not throwing any interceptions.”

Gus Malzahn, TU's co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, said both quarterbacks' jobs will be made tougher if they try to remake themselves into Paul Smith clones.

"We're trying to mold our offense around Dave and Jacob's strengths,” Malzahn said, "and not ask them to have to ‘save the world' like we did with Paul at times.”

Smith was Tulsa's starting quarterback for four years. He is TU's career passing yardage leader, and his team was the NCAA total offense leader last year.

"I think a lot of people think it's not going to be the same, because he was a great player and everything,” Johnson said, "but I feel like I'm confident enough and mature enough to be able to step in and not miss a beat. So I'm excited to go out there and prove some doubters wrong a little bit.”

Last season ended in sensational fashion, as Tulsa had the most lopsided win in NCAA bowl history, bashing Bowling Green 63-7 in the GMAC Bowl. That's a tough act to follow.

"It's definitely going to be difficult at times,” Johnson said, "to come in and have that looming over your head – the Paul Smith era and all that kind of stuff. But at the same time it's exciting to get out there and play.”

Johnson, who redshirted in 2004, has been Smith's understudy the past four years. Bower, unlike Johnson, doesn't know Paul Smith, but he's seen the video.

"Breaking down the film from last year,” Bower said, "I'm really looking forward to trying to do some of the things he did. It could be a bad thing or a good thing, but I've got to look at it as a good thing and try to fill his shoes.”

Both Smith successors stand 6-foot-3 and hail from the western part of the United States.

Johnson, 22, is from Portland, Ore., and Bower, 23, is from Meridian, Idaho.

Both quarterbacks know they'll be subjected to extra scrutiny, as Smith's successor.

"Paul was such a great player,” Johnson said, "that there's going to be a lot of comparing and contrasting.”

Another thought to ponder is that in many cases the fans' favorite is the second-team quarterback.

"If a team loses it's usually the quarterback's fault even if it's not,” Bower said. "So we take a lot of the glory when the glory doesn't deserve to be ours and we take a lot of the blame when the blame shouldn't be ours, too. That's just part of being quarterback.”

Comments