toledoblade.com --

TEMPE, Ariz. - A year ago, Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith was sacked by his own stupidity.

He was a little over a month removed from the greatest game of his career against Michigan, and was riding high.

But two days before the Buckeyes left for the Alamo Bowl, Smith was suspended for accepting $500 from a booster, an NCAA violation.

A year ago, quarterback Troy Smith was suspended for Ohio State's bowl game.
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He didn't make the trip to San Antonio.

Instead, he sat at home over the holidays and watched backup Justin Zwick lead Ohio State to a 33-7 victory over Oklahoma State.

All the while, Smith pondered his future, which was as questionable as his decision-making.

"He let the team down," receiver Santonio Holmes said.

Smith's suspension carried over to the opener this season. Zwick started the second game against Texas before sharing time with Smith, who didn't get his first start until the third week against San Diego State.

Smith finished 8-1 as the starter, losing only to Penn State, and he beat hated rival Michigan once again.

It appears Smith, who has a history of behaving badly and testing coach Jim Tressel's patience, has matured as both a player and a person since his latest incident.

But let's not forget that Smith was charged in 2003 for his part in an off-campus fight that involved Holmes and five women.

And in a 2000 high school basket-ball game against St. John's Jesuit, Smith decked guard John Floyd, who now plays for Bowling Green State University, with a flagrant elbow to the head. Smith was kicked off the Lakewood St. Edward team and transferred to Glenville High in Cleveland, where he was a teammate of Ted Ginn Jr.

"I don't regret anything that happened in the past because it helped me become the person that I am now," said Smith, who will make his first postseason start today against Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. "I can't say I like this Troy Smith better, because I wouldn't be who I am without the things that happened in the past. I take everything in stride."

We can only hope that Smith - 12-2 overall as the Buckeyes' starting quarterback - finally has cleaned up his act.

On the field, he is one of the best scrambling quarterbacks in the country. He needs only 60 yards passing against the Fighting Irish to become the first Buckeyes player to throw for 2,000 yards and run for 500 in a season.

Once Smith began running and passing the second half of the season, Ohio State's offense started piling up points in bunches. Smith passed for 200 or more yards in five of the final six games, including a career-high 300 against the Wolverines.

He accounted for 16 touchdowns - 11 passing and five rushing - and 1,672 yards during the team's season-ending six-game winning streak, which included four games where the Buckeyes scored 40 points or more.

"Troy has matured a whole lot," Holmes said. "The things he's doing for the program now are unbelievable. We love him around here. He's going to stick around for another year and be the vocal leader of this team. He's been doing a lot of great things for this program.

"We really feel comfortable with him as our starting quarterback."

Smith, 21, credits the Ohio State coaching staff with helping him turn things around.

Tressel met with Smith shortly after he ran afoul of the NCAA, and scolded him about his transgressions on and off the field.

Smith refused to divulge details of his conversation with his boss.

"He's on my speed dial and I'm sure I'm on his," he said. "I pretty much have an understanding that football is not forever. When you have a chance to become better as a man, you capitalize on it. Who else better to groom me than coach Tressel?"

Smith, 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, finished the regular season ranked first in the Big Ten and sixth in the country in passing efficiency with a rating of 158.4. He passed for 1,940 yards, rushed for 545 more and accounted for 25 touchdowns.

It was one of the best seasons by an Ohio State quarterback in recent memory.

"I think Troy has handled things very, very well and I'm sure he's learned a lot," Tressel said. "Most growth is through adversity. You've got to fight a little bit to grow. That, in my mind, may be one of the reasons why Troy's had the extensive growth that he's had."

Slowly, but surely, Smith has earned back the respect of his teammates, his coaches, his opponents and the fans.

But he's just another bone-headed blunder from squandering the trust that he worked so hard to recapture this season.

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