Enoch Smith Has Big Void to Fill in Absence of Injured Darrion Daniels

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State’s defensive front has been an issue for opposing offenses this season.

The Cowboys lead the country in sacks and are five ahead of second-place Ohio State. Before OSU’s game against Kansas, though, the Cowboys lost a key contributor to their disruptive front when it was announced that defensive tackle Darrion Daniels will miss the remainder of the season with a hand injury.

The Cowboys bring experience in Daniels’ place with Enoch Smith. Smith is a redshirt senior who transferred from Michigan State. Smith played in 11 games at OSU in 2017 where he had 14 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

“That was a tough blow for us,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “Enoch has been around. The only downfall is, now he doesn’t get to rest. He’s in there a lot. When you have a veteran guy, it makes it a lot easier. … Enoch made a big difference just having the experience.”

Smith said his approach to practices isn’t any different now that he’s the starter. He said his focus is on doing his job just like the other 10 players on defense. Through OSU’s five games this season, Smith has seven tackles. He said he hasn’t been pleased with his individual performance thus far. With his snaps increasing, though, he has a chance to turn that around.

“It’s not going the way I want it to go, personally, but we’re winning as a team, so I can’t argue with the results,” Smith said. “We had one week when we took a loss, but we built on that. I’m not here for individual stats or anything like that. I’m just here for, ultimately, the team’s success. Helping them get to the playoffs, Big 12 Championship. If the team’s doing good, I’m doing good. That’s all I care about.”

Defensive tackles have accounted for only 2.5 of OSU’s sacks this season. The interior defensive lineman might not lead the Cowboys in flashy numbers like sacks, but Smith said its easy to understate the importance the defensive tackles bring to the pass rush.

“If you pay attention to the film, you can see the inside D-tackles, we’re clogging it up so the quarterback has nowhere to run,” Smith said. “Then, as soon as he turns, Jordan (Brailford) is there. Mike (Scott) is there. Jarrell (Owens) is there. We have a plethora of players there to make plays. I’m not complaining with the results.”