Football
Sawyer Smith - Football - University of Kentucky Athletics 12

SawyerSmith

  • position Quarterback
  • height 6-3
  • Weight 219
  • class Junior
  • Hometown Cantonment, Fla.
  • Previous School Troy
  • High school Tate

UK  Career

  • Played two seasons at UK after transferring from Troy where he played three seasons
  • Saw action in nine career games with three starts, all coming in 2019
  • Completed 57 of 125 career passes for 690 yards and four touchdowns
  • Became just the second UK quarterback since 1993 with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in his first career start (Florida 9/17/19)
  • Graduated in July of 2019 from Troy with a degree in social science … Graduated from UK in December of 2020 with a master’s degree in kinesiology and health promotion

2020 – Senior

  • Practiced with the team

2019 – Junior

  • Played in eight games with three starts
  • Completed 57 of 125 passes for 690 yards and four touchdowns
  • Saw his first action vs. Eastern Michigan at the start of the fourth quarter after an injury to starting QB Terry Wilson
  • His first pass at UK was a 54-yard touchdown throw to WR Ahmad Wagner … Completed 5 of 9 passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns in the game vs. EMU
  • Missed two games with injury (Georgia and Arkansas)
  • Made his first start vs. Florida, going 13-of-35 for 267 yards and two touchdowns
  • Became just the second UK quarterback since 1993 with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in his first career start … The other to accomplish that was Jared Lorenzen vs. Louisville in 2000 … His 267 passing yards are the most for a UK quarterback in his first career start since Patrick Towles vs. UT Martin in 2014 (377)

2018 – r-Sophomore (Troy)

  • Played in all 13 games, taking over as the starting quarterback seven games into the season after junior Kaleb Barker was lost for the year with a knee injury
  • Went 5-2 as a starter
  • Completed 144 of 229 passes with 1,669 yards and 14 touchdowns
  • Also rushed 74 times with 191 yards and one rushing TD
  • Named MVP of the Dollar General Bowl after leading Troy to a 42-32 win over Buffalo
  • Completed 31 of 44 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns, and added 191 rushing yards and a score
  • In Troy’s victory over South Alabama in the “Battle for the Belt” tossed three touchdown passes
  • Rushed for 56 yards against Georgia State, including a 63-yard rush, which is the second longest run by a Troy quarterback in the school’s Division I history

2017 – Sophomore (Troy)

  • Redshirt season

2016 – Freshman (Troy)

  • Played in six games as Troy’s backup quarterback
  • Completed 18-of-25 attempts for 181 yards
  • Threw a 47-yard touchdown pass on his first collegiate attempt; the first quarterback in Troy’s recorded history to do so
  • Completed all seven of his passes for 86 yards against Austin Peay
  • Also rushed 19 times for 73 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown against UMass, which followed a 41-yard run

High School

  • Finished with a 27-9 record as a three-year starter
  • Two-time PNJ All-Area pick
  • Earned all-state and all-district honors as a senior
  • Led Tate to the Florida 6A semifinals as a senior for the first time in 10 seasons; the Aggies finished the season 10-3
  • In his junior and senior seasons, combined to pass for 5,627 yards and 47 touchdowns
  • Also rushed for 1,063 yards and 20 touchdowns in those two seasons
  • Graduated as the No.33 ranked dual-threat quarterback according to 247 Sports and the No. 36 QB by ESPN
  • Threw for 2,304 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior in addition to rushing for 440 yards and seven touchdowns
  • Also an excellent baseball player

Personal

  • Born in Pensacola, Florida
  • Son of Johanna and Billy Smith
  • Brother, Austen, played baseball at Alabama and with the Miami Marlins organization

Sawyer Says

  • He chose Kentucky because it was a good fit and a good opportunity to play in the SEC
  • His sports hero is Joe Namath because he’s tough, cool and a winner
  • Most people don’t know he was offered a baseball scholarship by a rival SEC school as a freshman in high school
  • The best advice he’s ever received is “you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzky and Michael Scott
  • The three people he would invite to his fantasy dinner are Elvis, Max Duffy and Billie Eilish

 

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