He was the quarterback and the conductor.
After guiding MSU to an emotional win in his return to the Spartan offense, Smoker took his just reward, standing atop the band director's ladder and leading the remaining fans from the 27th consecutive sellout home game in a victorious rendition of the school's fight song.
"It's the coolest thing I've ever done outside of Michigan a couple years ago," the senior signal caller said. "My time is almost up. It was almost up already and it's going to be up soon. Being on the field, let alone standing in front of the band members, was great."
The John L. Smith regime was ushered in on the first play by five receivers lined up wide and a pass-happy offense that allowed Smoker to become the all-time leader in passing yardage at MSU. They spread the field, with anywhere from two to five receivers, slanting and hitching for 324 yards of passing offense.
He broke Dave Yarema's record of 5,809 career yards by 52 yards. He also broke former Spartan Ed Smith's school record of 5,556 total yards by 200.
Western Michigan matched the Spartans first two touchdown catches by sophomore wide receivers Agim Shabaj and Kyle Brown, before a second Shabaj touchdown put the Spartans up for good with a 23-14 halftime lead.
"It felt so good," Shabaj said. "Last year, being hurt, I never got into the end zone. Today, I had no pain going into the end zone."
A Greg Jennings touchdown catch with 30 seconds remaining brought the game within five points, but when senior wide receiver Ziehl Kavanaght fell on a Western Michigan onside kick attempt, the final score was sealed.
Smoker's decision making was precise most of the day, distributing the ball to seven different receivers while going 21-for-34 with three touchdowns. Spartans fans welcomed him back with several long applause, including a meaningful welcoming during the starting lineup introductions.
His two major mistakes came in the first and fourth quarters. In the first, he failed to see a wide open Shabaj downfield and instead threw to a covered sophomore wide receiver Aaron Alexander, which resulted in an interception by Broncos cornerback Willie Pope. In the fourth, another pass intended for Alexander was intercepted by safety Scott Robinson after All-American defensive end Jason Babin collided with Smoker.
"We really needed a win, but we made some mistakes," Smith said. "That's good for us, because we have some things to work on tomorrow.
"We are a long way away. It's a win, but we need to get better"
Smith was encouraged, however, with Shabaj, a 5-10, 194-pound receiver, who was brilliant, displaying his speed with a 50-yard touchdown catch on a short slant pattern. He abused the middle of the defense again in the second quarter with another short slant and run for a 21-yard touchdown catch. They were his first touchdowns as a Spartan.
"(The first touchdown) really opened it up," Alexander said. "When Agim caught the pass and took it to the house we knew that this was going to be our day. "
The success of the passing game loosened up the defense a little for the running backs. Despite passing four more times than they ran the ball, the Spartans had 237 more passing yards.
The running backs were lead by junior running back Tyrell Dortch, who managed to rush for 58 yards with 38 yards receiving in his first game since breaking his right leg at Wisconsin on Oct. 27, 2001. Sophomore backup Jaren Hayes then joined the act with a 43-yard second quarter run.
"I don't feel as good about (the running game) because of the end," Smith said. "There comes a point in a ball game when you have to run the ball to win. There was that point out there, and we didn't get that accomplished."
The defense was suspect against the passing game, but several key turnovers halted Western Michigan drives. They allowed just six yards rushing on 24 attempts, They allowed 280 yards passing from senior quarterback Chad Munson, who utilized seniors Kendrick Mosley and Phil Reed and sophomores Greg Jennings and Tony Scheffler to spread the Spartan defense.
Senior linebacker Mike Labinjo and cornerback Darren Barnett both intercepted passes while junior defensive tackle Matthias Askew had three sacks and a forced fumble, which was recovered by WMU left guard Kyle Ras.
"We have a new season, a new coach, everybody felt good coming in and getting off the ball," Askew said. "We made some adjustments on the sidelines, once we did that, coach filled us in on some little stuff and we just turned it on."
Labinjo and Clifton Ryan also recorded sacks.
Junior placekicker Dave Rayner kicked 31 and 49 yard field goals for the other Spartan points.
