Recapping DeVonta Smith's Heisman season: stats, highlights from Alabama receiver's historic year

DeVonta Smith's 2020-21 season is one that will be talked about for many years to come in college football.

The Alabama senior became the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy since Michigan's Desmond Howard won it in 1991. He beat out a tough field that included Clemson legend Trevor Lawrence and Florida QB Kyle Trask.

Some could argue that Smith might not even be the best player on his own team; his quarterback, Mac Jones, was a Heisman Finalist, and running back Najee Harris came up just short of making the final cut. Then again, Smith's numbers, as well as his tape, are pretty convincing.

Here's a closer look at Smith's Heisman season, including stats and highlights.

* Led NCAA Division I

Smith was head and shoulders above all other receivers in college this season, leading the nation in receptions (105), receiving yards (1,641), receiving touchdowns (20) and all purpose yards (1,912).

What's crazy is that Smith put up these kinds of numbers, yet he wasn't even supposed to be Alabama's best receiver coming into the season. That title belonged to Jaylen Waddle, who CBS ranked as the best wide receiver prospect to ever play for the Crimson Tide.

Waddle was actually outproducing Smith up until he suffered a broken ankle on the opening kickoff against Tennessee in Week 5. Waddle had 557 receiving yards and four touchdowns, compared to Smith's 483 yards and four touchdowns.

Smith took over from then on, hauling in 11 catches for 203 yards and a season-high four TDs in the following game against Mississippi State.

Here's a look at Smith's game-by-game production, including highlight clips from each game.

This was one of Smith's less spectacular games, as Waddle got most of the work in the receiving game with eight catches for 134 yards and two TD, while Harris added 97 yards rushing and three TDs.

Smith nearly hauled in a couple of touchdowns. He couldn't quite secure a one-handed diving catch in the first quarter (0:34 mark). Later in the quarter he made a nice leaping grab, but the throw from Jones carried him out of bounds and he couldn't get a foot down (1:13).

He had one rushing attempt on a reverse sweep, which was well covered by Missouri as he lost 12 yards on the play. Overall, not a bad game by any means, but there were definitely better days to come.

There was even less work for Smith this game as Jones did a great job of spreading the ball around, completing 20 of 27 passes for 435 yards and four TDs. John Metchie led the way with five catches for 181 yards and two TDs, while Waddle added five catches for 142 yards and a TD.

That said, Smith did get his first touchdown of the season with this impressive leaping catch and toe tap in the back of the end zone.

It didn't quite match last season's performance against Ole Miss in which he set the school record for receiving yards (11 catches, 274 yards and five TDs), but this was the first great game for Smith as he paced the team in receptions and receiving yards. Even so, he wasn't the player of the game. That went to Harris, who ran for 206 yards and five TDs in the shootout victory.

Smith scored his first and only rushing TD of the season late in the fourth quarter to extend Alabama's lead to 56-45 and seal the victory (2:48).

This marked back-to-back 100-yard games for Smith as he once again led the Tide in receptions and yards. There still probably wasn't any Heisman hype yet, but it was becoming clear that he was one of the best receivers in the country.

Does this play look familiar? It's practically a mirror image of his first touchdown of the season, a leaping grab in the back of the end zone.

This was probably Smith's most "meh" game of the season, and it came in the game in which Waddle broke his ankle on the opening kickoff.

Metchie led the way with 151 yards receiving while Harris added 96 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

This was the last game Smith went without getting into the end zone and the only game of the year in which Jones didn't throw a single touchdown pass.

There wasn't much to show from this one except this nice catch after taking a tough hit from Tennessee DB Jaylen McCollough.

This was the breakout game for Smith that finally started generating some Heisman buzz.

Many had concerns about how the Tide offense would look with Waddle gone. As it turns out, they were still historically great. Smith tied Amari Cooper for the school record with 31 career touchdown catches after hauling in his fourth TD of the game, matching his season total coming into the contest.

Make that back-to-back big games for Smith, who had no problem shredding apart the Kentucky defense.

His first TD grab came early in the second quarter as Jones found him in the back of the end zone, breaking the SEC record for career touchdown receptions shared by Cooper and Florida's Chris Doering.

Smith later added a second touchdown catch after Alabama freshman QB Bryce Young eluded the sack and found Smith in traffic for the first passing TD of his career.

Smith came ready to play in the Iron Bowl. While he was primarily used in the short and intermediate passing game earlier in the season, he showed that he can also stretch the field as he burned Auburn's entire defense for a 66-yard TD grab.

Smith averaged 24.4 yards per catch against Auburn, which was a season-high for him until...

Smith had arguably his best game of the season against LSU, averaging a season-high 28.9 yards per catch. He also had arguably his best catch of the season on another incredible leaping grab for a 20-yard score just before halftime. It was his third TD of the half.

On the other two TDs, Smith toasted his man over the top for 65- and 61-yard scores (0:36, 1:14).

Receiving-wise, this was Smith's worst game of the year. Yet he still added to his Heisman resume with an 84-yard punt return TD right up the middle of the field, untouched.

On the following punt return, Smith fortunately avoided injury after Arkansas' Nathan Bax made a dirty play by trying to twist Smith's leg at the end of the tackle.

Smith really showed his strength in the intermediate receiving game in the SEC Championship as he consistently found space in Florida's defense for easy yards.

His first touchdown came on a simple crossing route underneath a double post, and he trotted into the empty space left by the safety for an easy 31-yard score (0:24).

After Florida tried to mount a comeback, Smith iced the game with his second TD with 4:59 remaining in the fourth quarter. He just beat his man on the post route for 15 yards off the play action fake to Harris. (1:02)

Making one last push for his Heisman campaign, Smith showed out on the national stage in the College Football Playoff Semi-Final against No. 4 Notre Dame.

He set the tone early, taking a screen pass 26 yards for the opening touchdown.

He showed another great burst of speed midway through the second quarter as he caught a quick slant off the play action fake and zipped right by his man to the opposite sideline, diving in for the 34-yard TD.

He then capped off his night with a third TD catch in the third quarter, running a nice comeback route to catch a perfect pass in the front corner of the end zone to make it 28-7. (3:03)