Kind of lost in the hubbub out of the Clemson game, with freshmen debuts abounding and two transfers scoring touchdowns, was that Arian Smith quietly had the great game we’ve been waiting for.

“Yeah, we want to depend on everybody because you don’t want to be a one-dimensional team. So, the idea ever since we’ve been here is spread the ball around. We’ve had a lot of guys with a lot of touches, nobody with a ton individually. And Arian’s been a great case study in that because he’s touched the ball vertically. He’s touched the ball sideways. He’s become a more complete receiver and route runner. I thought he made some plays out on the – besides the rocket sweep things and the edge runs – he made some plays catching the ball outside. And that’s big for him. That’s growth for him. We need more guys to step up and be able to do that. And we’ve got to be innovative in ways to get touches that make us hard to defend.”

I mentioned in the offseason that I was hoping Arian has a great year, and color me surprised to see him catching intermediate routes and crossings instead of trying nothing but verticals all day long. Five targets, five receptions. And, apparently music to Kirby’s ears, he was blocking well.

Good for him, and here’s hoping he closes out his career on a high note. He’s hung in there and stayed true to his team and himself, which counts for something, does it not?

As long as he keeps blocking like that, it’s going to be hard to convince Smart to ever give him a breather.