If you’re a fan of a MAC team, a NIU die-hard or a member of the national college football literati, then you are most likely very well aware of Sutton Smith. If you’re somebody who doesn’t fit into any of those three stated categories, then your awareness of the Northern Illinois Huskies junior defensive end may be limited.
In 2018, all of us should get more edification on the St. Charles, Missouri native, who became just the second player in school history, and the first since LeShon Johnson in 1993, to be named a consensus All-American last season.
Despite that All-American status last season, we haven’t seen Sutton Smith on too many pre-season All-America teams this season. It’s a snub to say the least, and it serves to make Smith arguably the best player flying under the radar right now.
The converted former safety and running back led the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in tackles for loss with 29.5 and broke the school record for sacks in a single season with 14, which tied for the nation lead in ’17. The 2018 Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year finished just 2.5 TFLs shy of Western Michigan’s Jason Babin (2003) for the NCAA single season record. Smith also ran two recovered fumbles back for touchdowns.
“Obviously Sutton gets all the headlines, deservedly so, those are historic numbers,” said NIU Coach Rod Carey. “He may be even better (this season), and not even touch those numbers because those are historic numbers.”
Carey added that Smith will hear this quote and then become more motivated to produce at an even higher level in 2018, and obviously that’s a good thing.
“This year I made a few more goals to make that happen and hopefully we’ll be able to get that done,” said Smith because you have to start somewhere, and so far I started with the school (record book), so let’s work our way up to the NCAA (records).”
Sutton Smith led the way for a Huskies defense that set a school-record for least rushing yards allowed per game (120). NIU also led the MAC in total defense, scoring defense and first-down defense. The Huskies ranked second nationally in sacks.
The 6-0, 221 end isn’t very big, obviously, but he more than makes up for lack of size with his speed and relentlessness. For those who left him off their preseason All-American teams, they’ll get to see what he can do against top tier competition this season, with the Huskies’ non-conference schedule as tough as anybody’s in the entire nation. Northern will make road trips to Iowa, Florida State and BYU, while hosting Utah.
Sutton Smith was asked about the opportunity to play bigger schools, and if it fires him up another notch.
“It’s a big opportunity, to the media and everybody else they’re a bigger school than us, supposedly they have better athletes than us, and a better football team,” he responded.
“But to us, we’re just as equal as them. Maybe not in number of fans, or money, or stuff like that, but athletes- I think we can play with any school in the country.”
“I’m actually a Florida State fan when I was younger, growing up, I liked them a lot,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to hear the tomahawk chop.”
“I was just a fan of their hard hitting safeties, and Xavier Rhodes was a corner and I loved how he played the game, He was a beast,” said Smith.
“They had a lot of good athletes over there and I loved how they played the game on defense.”
Smith is also a friendly acquaintance of Larry Levy, a Boynton Beach native who was a walk-on on FSU’s ’14 national title team.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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