Jeff Smith Season 1981

Honors & Awards

• Nebraska Football Hall of Fame Inductee (2004)
• Four-Year NFL Veteran (Kansas City and Tampa Bay)
• 10th-Round Draft Pick, 1984 NFL Draft (Kansas City)
• All-Big Eight (1984)

1984 (Senior)
A consensus All-Big Eight choice, Smith led the Big Eight in all-purpose yardage (116.1 yards per game) and was second in the conference to fellow Husker Doug DuBose in rushing (85.0 yards per game). He led the nation in rushing the first three weeks of the season, but he suffered a sprained ankle near the end of the first half against UCLA and never fully recovered. He rushed for 473 yards the first two-and-a-half games of the year, then just 462 the rest of the season. He did come back with a 165-yard effort against Colorado later in the season, but he also aggravated the ankle and was slowed the rest of the season. Smith finished second in the nation in punt returns with a 15.0-yard average on 15 punt returns. Smith finished his career as the 10th-best rusher in NU history with his 1,992 career rushing yards.

1983 (Junior)
Smith backed up Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier at I-back and rushed for 439 yards on 78 carries for Nebraska. Smith came off the bench in the Orange Bowl to rush for 99 yards on nine carries after Rozier sustained a badly sprained ankle late in the third quarter. Smith ran for a pair of touchdowns, including a 24-yard TD run on fourth-and-eight with 48 seconds left in the game to bring Nebraska within 31-30. In addition to his stellar performance against Miami, his top rushing-yard output of the season, Smith ran for 84 yards on 14 carries against Rose Bowl champion UCLA. Smith led the Big Eight and finished fourth nationally with 13.9 yards per return. Smith ranked 11th in the Big Eight in all-purpose yards with 83.4 per game.

1982 (Sophomore)
Smith ran for 569 yards on 56 attempts as he backed up Rozier and Roger Craig at I-back. In his top effort of the year, Smith ran for 126 yards on seven carries against New Mexico State, including an 80-yard TD run on his first carry of the game. A force on special teams, Smith averaged 16.0 yards per punt return, including a 65-yard touchdown return against Kansas. Smith finished ninth in the Big Eight with 74.3 all-purpose yards per game. 

1981 (Redshirt Freshman)
Smith redshirted.

1980 (Freshman)
Despite battling injuries and illness, Smith ran 38 times for 232 yards (6.1 average) and four touchdowns for the freshman squad. Smith had four carries for 49 yards for the freshman squad.

At Wichita Southeast HS
Smith was named an all-state runner back for Coach Dennis Caviler at Wichita Southeast High School.

Personal
Jeff was born on March 22, 1962, and is the son of Juanita Smith.

Smith's Career Statistics

Career Punt/Kick Return Statistics 

Year	PR	Yds	Avg.	TDs	KOR	Yds	Avg.	TDs
1980	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1982	11	176	16.0	1	7	147	21.0	0
1983	19	264	13.9	1	8	152	19.0	0
1984	15	225	15.0	0	2	36	18.0	0
Totals	45	665	14.8	2	17	335	19.7	0

Career Rushing/Receiving Statistics

Year	Att.	Net	Avg.	TDs	Rec.	Yds.	Avg.	TDs
1980	4	49	12.3	0	0	0	0	0
1982	56	569	10.2	7	0	0	0	0
1983	78	439	5.6	5	6	146	24.3	2
1984	177	935	5.3	7	6	81	13.5	0
Totals	315	1,992	6.3	19	12	227	18.9	2