From a room that has produced multiple playmakers for the Colorado State football team, wide receiver Terrence Smith Jr. has emerged as one of them.
With another touchdown catch against UTSA last week, Smith has three on the season and had his first 100-yard game of the year with 102 against the Roadrunners.
CSU is Smith’s second college stop. He was recruited by Jim Mora at UConn and originally began his college career with the Huskies.
“It was Jim Mora,” Smith said. “I never had even heard of … well, I heard of UConn like the basketball program and stuff, but I never thought in my life I’ll ever go to Connecticut. Everything was so genuine with Jim Mora and my own position coaches and stuff like that. It was a pretty easy decision.”
Choosing to go to UConn also meant the high school quarterback would transition into a receiver.
So far, it has worked out for him.
“They’ve got pros and cons for sure,” Smith said. “But I would say the hard part was just getting my conditioning up because receiving, you’re running every play. And just working on my blocking too.”
Smith redshirted his first season at UConn, and then played in all 13 games for the Huskies last season. He rushed 14 times for 75 yards and one touchdown while making four receptions for 34 yards.
When Mora decided to take the job at CSU, it wasn’t a hard decision for Smith to follow him to Fort Collins.
“I know if I want to develop myself and be a better me, this would be a great move for me,” Smith said. “So, it kind of was a no-brainer.”
In CSU’s season opener against Wyoming, he caught four passes for 29 yards and also threw a pass for a 28-yard completion. Then the next week, he set career highs with 90 yards and two touchdowns against Southern Utah.
After a quiet game against BYU where he only made one catch, he had a big game against the Roadrunners with 102 yards and a touchdown.
From offseason workouts last winter to CSU’s first four games this season, hard work has paid off for Smith as he becomes a more important piece of the Rams’ offense.
“I think they’re trying to put my head down and stack days since I got here in January,” Smith said. “All the guys, we’ve just been putting in the work. We just put our heads down to work. Everything can work itself out.”
It hasn’t mattered who is throwing the ball to him either. In the Rams’ first two games, it was Hauss Hejny who connected with him eight times for 114 yards and two scores. With Hejny out with an injury last week, K’saan Farrar completed found Smith often, including a 74-yarder that gave CSU an early 14-0 lead against the Roadrunners.
Smith has confidence in both quarterbacks. He already had a relationship with Farrar before they got here, as Farrar was at UConn as well.
“It really hasn’t been too much of a difference because I’ve been playing with K’saan since he got to college at UConn,” Smith said. “I feel confident with all our quarterbacks. So, whoever is back there, we’re just ready to work with whoever we’ve got.”
Smith will look to build on his big game against UTSA on Saturday when the Rams open Pac-12 play against Oregon State (4 p.m., USA Network).
Hejny update
Mora couldn’t say Monday if Hejny will be available for Saturday’s game against the Beavers.
Hejny injured a hamstring in the first quarter of CSU’s third game against BYU. He was a game-time decision last Saturday but wasn’t able to go.
His availability this week will likely be the same.
“He has made progress because he’s doing everything humanly possible, along with Casey Carter, our head athletic trainer, and the rest of his staff to get ready,” Mora said. “For instance, on game day, rather than come into the morning meetings, he was in getting treatment. We had determined at that point he wasn’t going to play.
“Sunday, he was in here all day, so between Casey and Hauss, they’re doing everything they can possibly do to get ready. If he’s ready to go on Saturday, then he’ll play. If he’s not, we have a guy that now has two starts under his belt.”
Farrar started in his place against UTSA and completed 29 of 46 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns.
In the Rams’ first two games and part of one quarter, Hejny passed for 619 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Up next
CSU will open Pac-12 play Saturday at home against Oregon State, ahead of its only bye week of the season.
The Beavers are also 2-2 and coming off a 33-7 victory over UTEP last Saturday. Quarterback Braden Atkinson passed for 301 yards and three touchdowns, while running back AJ Newberry rushed for 111 yards and a TD. Receiver Jesse Legree caught six passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns.
This will be the fifth meeting between the two schools. Oregon State won the last game in the series, 39-31 in two overtimes, in 2024 in Corvallis, Oregon.
The Rams’ lone win against the Beavers came in 2017, when CSU won 58-27 in the inaugural game at Canvas Stadium. Oregon State hasn’t visited Fort Collins since.
