If Tulsa gets the freshman version of Zach Smith, or even the sophomore version that torched the Oklahoma defense, then TU’s offense will again be rolling after two years of inconsistent results.

Smith, the heralded and experienced Baylor transfer, isn’t a lock to be the starter at TU, as he has been in a heated battle with good friend Seth Boomer and redshirt freshman Davis Brin to be the quarterback in the season opener at No. 18 Michigan State.

But if Smith is at the helm, TU will get a quarterback who is used to putting up big numbers in an offense that was very similar to TU coach Philip Montgomery’s offense.

So why did the 6-foot-3, 224-pound Smith, who was a four-star recruit out of Grandview High School, want to leave Baylor?

“The new coaching staff in my second year, we just didn’t see eye-to-eye on some things. I decided it was in my best interests to go ahead and transfer,” Smith said of Baylor coach Matt Rhule and his staff. Rhule had come from Temple to take over for one-year coach Jim Grobe.

Grobe, with many assistants from the controversial, scandal-ridden Art Briles still there, ran basically the same offense Briles ran in 2016 as essentially an interim coach.

That offense wasn’t much different from the offense Smith ran in high school to pass for 10,217 yards and 113 touchdowns to place in him in the top 10 in Texas high school history.

And with that offense being almost the same offense that Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery uses and to the one where Montgomery was the offensive coordinator at Baylor, it was natural that Smith turned to Tulsa. Especially with the bond he already had with Montgomery.

“I knew that Coach Monty was here. Obviously, I had a great relationship with him,” Smith said. “He was the one who originally recruited me at Baylor. I knew I could come up here. I talked to him and he said it would be a great fit.”

Smith was riding high after his freshman season. After taking over as the starter in his final four games as a true freshman at Baylor, Smith averaged 313.5 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in those four games.

That season was capped off by Smith leading Baylor to a 31-12 bowl victory over 10-2 Boise State where he completed 28 of 39 passes (71.8 percent) for 375 yards and three touchdowns.

This was accomplished despite the bottom having already fallen out of Baylor’s season when Smith took over as a freshman. Baylor had lost three consecutive games after a 6-0 start when Smith got his first chance.

Despite losing his first three starts, he completed at least 60 percent in three of his four games, with his lowest yardage game being 244 yards at West Virginia in his third start. By comparison, Tulsa had only one game passing last season -- 271 yards in the season-ending win over SMU -- where the Golden Hurricane surpassed that yardage mark.

And Smith, with a cannon arm, wasn’t throwing dinks either, averaging a healthy 7.8 yards per attempt, compared with 6.7 yards per attempt for TU last season.

Smith’s performances as a starter in 2016 included 27 of 45 for 258 yards and three touchdowns at Kansas State in his first start, and 30 of 46 for 377 yards and three touchdowns versus Texas Tech.

Smith had survived all the turmoil of the Briles scandal after signing with him, and had to endure a chaotic freshman season under an uncertain coaching future. Then when Rhule came in, it was a new offense. But worst of all, Baylor was terrible.

Going 1-11 and getting battered by opposing defenses week after week left Smith a shell of his former self by the end of the season. It took him almost his entire redshirt season at Tulsa to recover.

“I had ankle problems at Baylor. I hurt my ankle a couple of times. I injured my collarbone,” Smith described. “I came up here and got healthy. I wasn’t healthy when I came up here. I’ve really been working out and getting stronger and healthier.”

During that nightmare year of 2017 that caused Smith to transfer, he had his much-ballyhooed game against the Sooners where he completed 33 of 50 passes for 463 yards and four touchdowns in his second start of the season in a 49-41 loss.

Unfortunately for Smith, he would have only four more starts after that game. The next week he was 26 of 44 for 291 yards and a touchdown at Kansas State. He followed that with 11 of 28 of 127 yards at OSU, and was 16 of 27 for 261 yards in a heartbreaking 38-36 loss to West Virginia. His last start came on Oct. 28 where Texas demolished the undermanned Bears and Smith didn’t last long in the game.

Although it didn’t have the desired ending, Smith’s time at Baylor was not a loss for him.

“I made great friendships that will last a lifetime,” Smith said. “I think it was a great experience playing in the Big 12 against some pretty good teams. I think it’s really going to help me going forward.”

Coming to Tulsa is, in a way, like a continuation of Smith’s freshman season because of the type of offense.

“My freshman year offense was pretty similar to this one because obviously that’s where Coach Monty was before,” Smith said. “We do a lot of the same stuff. We were pretty balanced in what we did. We really just tried to isolate our receivers on their DB’s, and we knew we could do, and we could score a lot of points.

“My sophomore year, when Coach Rhule came in, it was more of a prototypical pro style type of offense. Under center quite a bit. I had to learn to read the defense a little bit more with that offense. I think that really benefited me, just really learning how read defenses with an offense like that.”

If Smith gets his chance, he will be ready to surpass any impressive numbers he put up at Baylor.

“Coming back here to this offense is kind of taking me back to my freshman year a little bit with some of the stuff we do,” Smith said. “We obviously do some different stuff than what I used to do, but I think we have some really great plays and schemes.”

Smith knows he is not a finished product, but is confident in his ability now and in his ability to keep improving.

“I feel I can make most of the throws on the field,” Smith said. “I think I’ve done a really good job of improving my decision making process. I’ve just tried to be quicker getting the ball out of my hands. I feel like I have a good pocket presence, just standing in there and trying to wait until my receivers get open so I can deliver them the ball.

“I’m trying to improve on escaping the pocket and extending the play some. I’m getting better at that. I think that’s still an area where I can improve on, that I’ve been working on to get better.”

Smith is more of the classic downfield passer, while some of Seth Boomer's best success has come scrambling. Including sacks, Smith has negative yardage rushing in his two years at Baylor.

Whether it is Smith, Boomer or Brin, TU’s quarterback will likely have to escape some pressure from Michigan State’s defense. The quarterback will also need to have better production from its receivers.

With Keylon Stokes and Keenen Johnson both being experienced and both being expected to have big seasons, the key could be how well the third and fourth receivers play.

Candidates to fill those spots include Sam Crawford, JC Santana, Cannon Montgomery, Jarion Anderson (who still needs to be cleared to play) and Josh Stewart.

“I think Sam Crawford has had a really good fall camp,” Coach Montgomery said. “He’s a guy who has been pretty consistent all the way through fall camp as far as making plays. I think JC has kind of stepped up into those areas. Some of these younger guys are starting to make some moves. But JC and Sam have probably been a dramatic increase in production for us. And Cannon has stepped up and done some good things as well.”

The challenge of playing the Spartans (7-6 in 2018, 10-3 in 2017, 3-9 in 2016) in East Lansing is something that doesn’t faze the TU players.

“It is always fun to play the bigger schools,” said Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins. “You just have to go into it like you’re playing another game. Don’t take them lightly, but don’t fear them at all, either. We’re ready to go up to East Lansing and see how it is to play in that stadium. That should be fun.”

Smith is going up there with one goal in mind.

“Michigan State is a worthy adversary,” Smith said. “We have to go up there and execute and just go win.”