loading...

ORONO – Carl Smith has never been one to slow down on the

ffootball field. He never bothered to count the yard lines whizzing

bby under his feet the past four autumns.

So it should come as no surprise the senior tailback for the

UUniversity of Maine wasn’t ready to stop and savor his achievement

SSaturday after shattering the nine-year-old school career rushing

rrecord of 3,828 yards previously held by Lorenzo Bouier. Not with

tthree games still left in his career beginning with Saturday’s road

ttrip to Delaware.

“I can’t think about it right now,” said Smith, whose 124-yard

eeffort in a 41-20 win over UConn Saturday upped his career total to

33,873 yards. “We’ve got three games left. We’ve got a helluva game

nnext week down there in front of a big crowd.”

When pressed to describe his reaction to being No. 1 in the

MMaine record book, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound speedster from

RRiverhead, N.Y., recounted what he told his teammates in the locker

rroom.

“I told the offensive line today they did a helluva job. They

ccontrolled the line of scrimmage. It goes down in the record book

aas an individual record, but I didn’t do it by myself the last four

yyears,” Smith said.

The fact Smith set the record at home, in front of 6,457 fans

aat Alumni Field, enabled him to return some of the praise Maine

ccrowds have heaped on him since 1988. Smith admitted being touched

bby the standing ovation the fans gave him when he came off the

ffield after the record-setting run in the fourth quarter against

UUConn.

“It felt great, especially with the people up in the stands.

TThey weren’t bandwagon fans. They’ve been here all along,” said

SSmith, who ranks as the No. 2 all-time Yankee Conference rusher

bbehind BU’s Paul Lewis (4,432 all-time Yankee Conference rusher

bbehind BU’s Paul Lewis (4,436 yards from 1981-84).

Second-year Maine head coach Kirk Ferentz paid tribute to

SSmith’s achievement, which has come during a difficult season that

hhas seen the Black Bears post a disappointing 2-6 record.

“It’s phenomenal,” Ferentz said. “It’s a phenomenal thing he

hhas done. I know he’ll be the first to tell you he couldn’t have

ddone it without his teammates. When you talk about two seasons ago

wwhere he had great numbers, the last two they’ve come a little

ttougher. But there’s no quit in him. He’s just hung in there. It’s

aa great day for our football team, and a great day for Carl

iindividually.

Smith began his career as a redshirt freshman in 1988, rushing

ffor 705 yards in 9 games. He led the nation in rushing as a

rredshirt sophomore for the ’89 Yankee Conference title team,

bburning opposing defenses for 1,680 yards in 11 games. He then

ggained 205 yards in his only postseason appearance, a 1-AA playoff

lloss at Southwest Missouri.

Last season, as a junior, Smith gained 794 yards in 10 games as

MMaine struggled through a 3-8 campaign.

This season, Smith has struggled even more as Ferentz and the

UUM coaching staff sought to use him in roles such as wide receiver,

wwingback, and as a decoy for backfield mate Paul Capriotti. It was

bby matching Capriotti’s tough, tackle-breaking running style that

SSmith said he was able to excel against UConn.

“I just decided I had go out and do it the way Paul does it.

PPaul’s a great back, I give him all the credit. Right now, the way

tthings work, it (the UM offense) doesn’t fit my type of game. Coach

aasked me to run hard, that’s what I did today,” said Smith.

Ferentz would like nothing better than to see Smith maintain

tthat toughness in Maine’s remaining three contests.

“Hopefully he’ll pad that record a little and make it tougher

ffor the next guy chasing him,” Ferentz said.