The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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weight I did last season. I feel better, and I'm going to come out and be productive for my team. "I was on a really strict diet. I was working out twice a day, doing a lot of stuff and running. I feel a lot faster, stronger. My body feels a lot better than it did last season." Meanwhile, Smith isn't going away. He showed flashes last season, such as carrying seven times for 57 yards against Ohio State. At the same time, Ray offered up some unsolicited pointers for the back out of his home state of Ohio. He's looking for better vision and burst out of the second-year Wolverine. "De'Veon just seems to have his head down a lot, and he missed a few holes," Ray said. "But he's tough. He runs hard, and he's aggressive. He gives you everything he has on every carry. "I understand Ohio football, and what great backs Ohio football has produced. He can be pretty good. My opinion is, it's De'Veon's job to lose. If he does everything right, runs the football, I think his natural skill set gives him the starting position." Ray likes Smith's ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, and praised his efforts in pass protection. In terms of ball security and yards af- ter contact, the analyst insisted there remains work to be done. "I need him to run with his chin up and his body a little lower," Ray noted. "If I played against De'Veon, I probably would put my face on him and separate him from the football eight out of 10 times on contact. "I study guys like that, how they run the ball, leverage, center of grav- ity. He needs to utilize his stiff arm a lot more, once he gets in the open field. That will help him get extra yardage. That will help him find an- other gear." Smith insists he's learning every day, and part of that involves push- ing hard to the end of every play. "Just run downhill," Smith sum- marized. "At practice, if you get tack- Sophomore running back De'Veon Smith rushed for 117 yards on 26 tries in 2013, with his best outing coming against Ohio State when he ran for 57 yards on seven attempts. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL