As Courtland Sutton jogged to celebrate with teammates after catching his third touchdown of the game, he shrugged. He just made a one-handed catch in midair on a short fade route while a defensive back interfered with him. No big deal, apparently.
Sutton was asked after the game if he truly made a one-handed catch. His response: “Something like that.”
Yeah, no big deal.
Following a 2015 season full of acrobatic and improbable catches, Sutton wasted no time showing off his ball skills in the 2016 opener, a 34-21 win at North Texas. Anything less would have been a surprise. His three touchdowns were an 88-yard catch-and-run, an implausible 46-yard reception on a 3rd-and-45 heave, and the 4-yard one-handed grab. The lone non-touchdown catch? A 24-yarder on a tricky back-shoulder throw on Ben Hicks’ eighth career pass attempt.
Sutton couldn’t pick a favorite touchdown of the three. That’s unsurprising for a player who doesn’t try to draw attention to the impressive and acrobatic catches that look effortless when he makes them.
“Whenever I get a chance to help the team in a positive manner, that’s something that brings joy to me because I’ve been blessed to be put in this position,” Sutton said. “My team looks to me for a spark.”
“I enjoyed all of the because seeing the joy on my teammates’ faces is awesome.”
Picking out one spark from Saturday’s win is hard. On SMU’s fourth possession, head coach Chad Morris put Hicks at quarterback to make his college debut in a planned one-series substitution for starter Matt Davis. After a shaky first pass intended for Sutton fell incomplete, Hicks linked up with him on 3rd-and-11 for the 88-yard score.
“The coaches always tell me, ‘be that spark,’” Sutton said. “So I go out every day and I prepare to be the best so that I can give my team the best opportunity to be successful.”
In the second quarter, SMU faced 3rd-and-45 on UNT’s 46-yard line, a situation where a spark is the last thing on a play-caller’s mind. Even the always-upbeat Sutton didn’t think SMU would try to score on that play.
“I thought we were just going to get some of the yardage back, but then I heard what play was called and I thought, ‘OK, we have an opportunity.’”
On a rare second-quarter Hail Mary, Sutton out-jumped three defenders and hauled in Matt Davis’ pass. The score gave SMU a 24-7 lead with two minutes to go until halftime.
“As I was running down there, I thought there was no way Matt was going to throw it,” Sutton said. “I looked up and it’s coming, so I had to make sure I made the play.”
After Sutton caught it, he saluted, flexed and crossed his arms in celebration as teammates mobbed him. It appeared, for a moment, that this was a big deal.
