Iowa · L 0-40
No tackles.
Arizona · L 17-42
No tackles.
Air Force · L 7-28
No tackles.
Smith has tackles in 5 of Northern Illinois’s 8 games: none against Iowa, Arizona and Air Force.
Champ Smith III
On tape: 3 tackles against Hawai'i, Week 8, 2026.
8 tackles · 0 sacks
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Northern Illinois | 8 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 |
| Career | 8 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 9): 1 pass breakup, 1 tackle.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 5 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | L 24-28vs Illinois State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 14-35@ Georgia State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 23-41@ Wyoming | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 21-56vs Hawai'i | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 9 | L 24-31@ UNLV | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 8 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 |
Oct. 31 · L 24-31 at UNLV, play by play
1 tackle, including 1 interception, 1 pass broken up. His interception ended UNLV’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Intercepted. Third quarter, down 31-24. Ended UNLV’s drive (int).
His game this year: coverage — 2 passes defended in the 5 games with play by play.
How Northern Illinois’s defense played that day
UNLV’s 10 drives: 5 stopped (2 takeaways) · 5 scored. While the game was within a score they held 5 of 10. His interception came with Northern Illinois down 7.
3 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle.
Ratings of the games shown run from -10 to -2 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Road3g | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Rob Harley
Pass share
53.1%
266 pass / 235 run
Plays / game
62.6
8 games
Team sack rate
8.0%
301 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
The No. 1,474 recruit in the country is starting in the secondary in the Mountain West as a freshman.
