Former Troy quarterback Sawyer Smith has enrolled at Kentucky as a graduate transfer and will be eligible to play the 2019 season, it was announced on Monday. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
“We’re excited to have Sawyer join our program,” head coach Mark Stoops said. “It’s great to add a quarterback with his experience and success. He helped lead Troy to an outstanding season last year and we’re glad to have him here.”
Smith, from Cantonment, Florida, played in all 13 games last season for Troy, starting the final seven games for coach Neal Brown, a former Kentucky wide receiver and offensive coordinator. Smith went 5-2 as the starter, completing 144-of-229 passes for 1,669 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also rushed for 191 yards and a score.
The 6-foot-3, 219-pounder will graduate from Troy in July 2019 with a degree in social science and will work on a master’s degree in sport leadership at UK.
In 2018, Smith helped settle the Trojans after starter Kaleb Barker was lost for the season to a knee injury. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Dollar General Bowl after leading Troy to a 42-32 win over Buffalo. In that game, Smith completed 31-of-44 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns.
Smith appeared in six games as a freshman in 2016 before redshirting the 2017 season. At Tate (Fla.) High School he was a two-time Pensacola News Journal All-Area pick, all-state as a senior and combined to pass for 5,627 yards and 47 touchdowns his final two seasons.
Smith’s transfer gives Kentucky six quarterbacks on their 2019 roster. Joining Smith and returning starter Terry Wilson are sophomores Walker Wood and Christian County alum Kolbe Langhi, and incoming freshmen Amani Gilmore and Nic Scalzo.
(INFORMATION FROM UKATHLETICS.COM)
