Gary Smith III is a defensive lineman who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at UCLA.
Controls the point of attack and doesn't move. Played for three head coaches across five seasons and two programs. One game to point at: 7 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Northwestern — Week 5, 2025.
Play style
The heaviest frame on the interior. Sack production is intentionally not the point of this profile.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
40 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 1.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 10 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 10-43vs Utah | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 23-30@ UNLV | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 10-35vs New Mexico | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 14-17@ Northwestern | 7 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 7 | W 38-13@ Michigan State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 6-56@ No. 2 Indiana | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 21-28vs Nebraska | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 10-48@ No. 1 Ohio State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 14-48vs Washington | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 10-29@ No. 19 USC | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 19 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
4%2 TFLSack rate
1%0 sacksHurry rate
0%0 hurries40 tackles · 1.5 for loss · 0.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 5.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road6g | 3.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 4.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Tim Skipper
Pass share
48.9%
358 pass / 374 run
Plays / game
61.0
12 games
Team sack rate
6.7%
388 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2025
40 tackles in 10 games, more tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #293 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #65 of 69 Big Ten DLs
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%).
The No. 1,487 recruit in the country is starting on the defensive line in the Big Ten as a senior.
A stat line in 41 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
4 coachesPlayed for 4 head coaches at 2 schools: David Cutcliffe, Chip Kelly, Deshaun Foster and Tim Skipper.
