E.J. Smith is a running back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Texas A&M.
Smith does a little of everything without one standout trait. Played for three head coaches at two programs in six seasons: David Shaw, Troy Taylor and Mike Elko. One game to point at: 52 rushing yards and 7 receiving yards against Arkansas — Week 8, 2025.
Play style
Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
The closer
9.1% of carries overall (43/474) → 17.6% of Q4-with-lead carries (22/125) — 59.1% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
7 of the team's 37 inside-the-5 carries (18.9%).
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 9 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 42-24vs UTSA | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Wk 2 | W 44-22vs Utah State | 3 | 25 | 8.3 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-17vs Florida | 6 | 27 | 4.5 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 8 | W 45-42@ Arkansas | 7 | 52 | 7.4 | 0 | 15 | Season-high 52 yds |
| Wk 9 | W 49-25@ No. 20 LSU | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 0 | 5 | |
| Wk 11 | W 38-17@ No. 19 Missouri | 6 | 24 | 4.0 | 1 | 17 | |
| Wk 12 | W 31-30vs South Carolina | 7 | 25 | 3.6 | 1 | 15 | |
| Wk 14 | L 17-27@ No. 16 Texas | 4 | 27 | 6.8 | 1 | 13 | |
| Bowl | L 3-10vs No. 10 Miami | 4 | 14 | 3.5 | 0 | 6 | |
| Total | 44 | 205 | 4.7 | 4 | 17 |
Week 11 · 2025
W 38-17
at Missouri
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
53%36 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds4.7 yds/carry on 44 carries · 18% explosive (10+ yds) · 53% success rate.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 19.4 | 4.6 | 0.4 |
| Road4g | 27.0 | 4.8 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 18.0 | 4.8 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 26.6 | 4.6 | 0.6 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mike Elko
Pass share
45.8%
407 pass / 482 run
Plays / game
68.4
13 games
Team sack rate
2.9%
377 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #247 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-SEC
Based on 2025: #29 of 37 SEC RBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
A stat line in 44 games over six seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: David Shaw, Troy Taylor and Mike Elko.
