Matt Smith

Matt Smith was a runningback for the Hilltoppers starting in 2014 and ending in 2018. He wore #24 and now is in the NFL.

Recruiting
Coming into Western Kentucky Smith was a high school star who played running back and linebacker for his high school. He was a 3 star recruit and the #56 rated athlete. He was the #13 commit of the 2013 class and Willie Taggert decided to make Smith a running back.

Freshman year- 2014
With established running backs like John Evans, Dwayne Godfrey, and Oliver Head taking all of the reps, Smith received a redshirt year his first season on campus.

Redshirt Freshman year- 2015
With the graduation of Evans, Smith was named the third string running back out of the spring to back up Godfrey and Head. Smith made his Hilltopper debut against the #3 Texas Longhorns in Week 2, and showed a lot of promise by gaining 58 yards on only 2 carries and finding the end zone on one of the carries. He received a carry against Indiana in Week 4 that resulted in a 9 yard touchdown. Smith was on a touchdown tear as he scored twice more on 3 carries for 10 yards in Week 5 against West Virginia. Smith received two more carries for 15 yards against ULL in Week 7. Smith scored his final touchdown on a 10 yard carry week 8 against FAU. He got 2 carries for 13 yards Week 9 against #4 Notre Dame. Smith received an 11 yard carry week 12 against Middle Tennessee State. Smith finally received an 8 yard carry week 14 against Troy. He finished his freshman season with 14 carries for 131 yards and 5 touchdowns

Redshirt Sophomore year- 2016
With the graduation of Head, Smith became the #1 backup to Godfrey in his sophomore year. In the opener against Virginia Tech in Week 2 he received 7 carries that he turned into 63 yards and a score. In a tough test the next week against #8 Alabama Smith played relatively well, gaining 30 yards on 5 carries and catching his first pass of his career for 8 yards. He showed power back promise the next week against another SEC power in LSU, scoring a whopping 4 touchdowns on 12 carries and breaking the 100 yard mark for the first time in his career gaining 102 yards. He flashed against #23 West Virginia the next week by gaining 33 yards on 3 carries for a score, as well as scoring through the air on a 17 yard touchdown catch. Smith struggled against #24 FIU the next week, only gaining 5 total yards on a mere 2 carries. Smith continued to show promise the next week against ULL where he caught 2 more passes for 31 yards and ran for 30 yards on 4 carries. Smith had to take most of the running responsibility after Godfrey left with an injury against Florida Atlantic. He caught 2 touchdowns through the air on 3 catches for 15 yards, and broke the 100 yard mark for the second time by gaining 110 yards on 11 carries. He found the end zone twice on the ground against Nebraska on a 6 carry 85 yard day while also catching a 14 yard pass. Smith vultured a touchdown against Arkansas State and just fell short of 100 yards by gaining 99 on 9 carries. He also caught a 14 yard pass that game. With Godfrey absolutely dominating against Middle Tennessee State, Smith was left on the bench more often than usual but still had a 16 yard catch to go along with 46 yards on 5 carries. He scored again on the ground against UL Monroe averaging 6 yards a carry (7-42). Smith didn't do much against Troy, catching a 1 yard pass and gaining a mere 29 yards on 5 carries. Smith got to shine in the BCS championship game against Maryland, where he scored on 6 carries for 41 yards. He also caught 2 passes for 10 yards as the Hilltoppers were champs again. He finished his sophomore season with 82 carries for 715 yards and 11 touchdowns backing up Heisman winner Godfrey. He also caught 13 balls for 124 yards and 3 scores.

Redshirt Junior year- 2017
With Godfrey moving on to the NFL after the 2016 season, Smith was given the keys to the Hilltopper backfield for his junior and senior seasons. The big question facing him was his speed, compared to Godfrey Smith was more of a goal line power back. The offense sputtered in Smith's first start against #24 Boise State, as Boise was content to have Smith beat them as opposed to Ben Simmons. As a result, Smith put up nice numbers by gaining 162 yards on 15 carries, but the Hilltoppers won by a much closer margin than they were used to. Smith actually scored against Nebraska, once again putting up great stats by getting 127 yards on 19 carries. He also caught his first pass of the year: a 10 yard strike. Smith was video game like again versus Houston, scoring again on 20 carries for 188 yards while catching 2 balls for 18 yards. The offense continued to sputter against Penn State, though Smith did score and gain 135 yards on only 12 carries. He caught two more balls for 13 yards. ULL was where the offense finally started to come out of its funk, Smith scoring on 11 carries for 107 yards. He was more important in the passing game, where he converted first downs like a mad man on 6 catches for 58 yards. He was the sufferer of poor offensive line play against Florida Atlantic gaining a mere 108 yards on 10 carries, but 75 yards did come after contact. He also gained 26 yards on 3 catches. Smith went on to dominate #19 Baylor the following week, scoring twice and gaining 158 yards on 19 carries. He also caught a 1 yard pass. Smith continued to ground and pound by scoring twice against conference rival Arkansas State on only 12 carries that went for 130 yards. He also finally scored through the air, catching 5 balls for 84 yards in the process. Smith was showing signs of wearing down against Notre Dame, showing he had issues breaking longer runs because of his lack of speed. Still, he excelled on the goal line scoring thrice, though he gained only 107 yards on 16 carries. He caught 3 balls for 70 yards as well. Smith had a huge breakout game against Middle Tennessee State, gaining 4 total touchdowns, two coming from both the ground and air respecively. He gained 119 yards on 17 carries on the ground and caught 8 balls for 143 yards through the air. This is the only time in Hilltopper history a running back has outgained himself through the air than on the ground as a starter. His inconsistency was maddening however, as he followed up this 4 touchdown performance with no touchdowns against UL Monroe. He gained 147 yards on 14 carries and caught an 8 yard pass. He ran well agaisnt Troy for a change, gaining 119 yards and scoring on a mere 10 carries while also catching a 17 yard pass. He finished in 3rd in the Heisman voting, but had a chance to take out that anger on #1 Pittsburgh in the BCS championship game. He didn't have his best game, getting 16 carries and turning them into 131 yards and a score, but he was instrumental in the victory. He caught 3 balls for 18 yards in the air. He turned in an overall successful junior season and first year as a starter, rushing 191 times for 1738 yards and scoring 15 times. He was also good in the passing game, catching 36 balls for 465 yards and 3 scores.