| 4 |
Justin Smith |
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Experienced defensive backfield hand will play noteworthy role for Notre
Dame secondary in 2001 . . . approved for extra season of eligibility by
Faculty Board on Athletics since he did not play at all as rookie in '97 .
. . reserve defensive back for the '00 Irish appeared on special teams . .
. has played both wide receiver and corner in past but switched to safety
in spring of '99. . . gained opportunity to get on the field late in '98
and expanded that role in '99 . . . made '98 springtime switch from
offense
to defense and landed backup assignment as cornerback for Irish in '98 . .
. top-flight skilled athlete who found a home for himself in secondary.
AS A JUNIOR: Reserve defensive back in 2000 . . . appeared on special teams
vs. Texas A&M, Nebraska, Navy, Rutgers and USC . . . also played on
defense
as safety vs. Midshipmen and Scarlet Knights.
AS A SOPHOMORE: Played in
nine games in '99 as top reserve at free safety behind veteran Deke Cooper
. . . missed only USC, Navy and Tennessee games after pregame warmup
injury
vs. USC prompted arthroscopic knee surgery . . . made 68 combined special
team appearances . . . made tackles vs. Michigan State and Oklahoma.
AS A FRESHMAN: Played in four late-season games for Irish in '98 . . . made 20
regular-season special team appearances and also saw action in defensive
backfield vs. Baylor and USC . . . four game appearances came vs. Baylor,
Boston College, Navy and USC . . . had two tackles vs. USC, one vs. Navy .
. . did not see varsity action as rookie wide receiver in '97.
HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Caught 18 passes for 460 yards and six TDs as senior in
'96 at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Fla. . . . caught 11 passes
for 333 yards and four TDs in '95, also averaging 22 yards on punt returns
. . . made five interceptions as a defensive back in '95 . . . an
honorable
mention pick on Florida Class 5A all-state team in '96 . . . earned
all-conference, all-district and all-county honors as senior . . . also
returned punts, averaging 38 yards per runback as a junior . . . missed
much of sophomore year with knee injury . . . from same high school as
former Irish standout defensive backs Tom Carter and Pat Terrell . . .
competed in 100 meters, 110 hurdles, long jump and 4x400 relay in track .
.
. advanced to state finals in 110 hurdles and long jump as freshman . . .
born 7-10-79 in St. Petersburg . . . received his degree in May 2001 from
College of Engineering as chemical engineering major.
| | G-GS | Time | Solo | Asst. | Tot | PBU |
| 1998 | 4-0 | 4:26 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1999 | 9-0 | 28:23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2000 | 5-0 | 5:14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 18-0 | 38:03 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
