Noah Smith

#6 · WR · Sr. · Sam Houston5′11″ · 190 lb · Houston, TX

Noah Smith: WR · Sam Houston · #6.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Shemar ThorntonNorthern Illinois · 2022 · 84% season match
Jordan WatkinsOle Miss · 2022 · 82% season match
Barion BrownLSU · 2025 · 82% season match
Brian CasteelArizona · 2021 · 81% season match
Trey GoodmanUTEP · 2024 · 81% season match

Noah Smith

WR · Sam Houston · Sr · #6

Moves the chains on third down. Second year in the same receiving corps at Sam Houston. On tape: 65 receiving yards and 7 rushing yards against Jacksonville State, Week 13, 2024.

Style of play

Play style

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

Sam Houston in the news

Sam Houston fires head coach Phil LongoThe New York Times Oct 28

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2024	Sam Houston	40	313	7.8	0	22
2023	Sam Houston	79	782	9.9	6	42
Career		119	1,095	9.2	6	42

Season	Team
2024	Sam Houston	13	81	--
2023	Sam Houston	27	106	24
Career		40	187	24

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 34-14@ Rice	2	11	5.5	9
Wk 2	L 14-45@ UCF	1	5	5.0	5
Wk 3	W 31-13vs Hawai'i	2	3	1.5	4
Wk 4	W 31-11vs New Mexico State	4	38	9.5	13
Wk 5	W 40-39vs Texas State	2	16	8.0	11
Wk 6	W 41-21@ UTEP	3	37	12.3	19
Wk 10	W 9-3vs Louisiana Tech	6	47	7.8	22
Wk 12	W 23-17@ Kennesaw State	2	7	3.5	6
Wk 13	L 11-21@ Jacksonville State	6	65	10.8	17	Season-high 65 yds
Wk 14	W 20-18vs Liberty	7	56	8.0	13
Bowl	W 31-26vs Georgia Southern	5	28	5.6	9
Total		40	313	7.8	22

Signature game

Week 14 · 2024

W 20-18

vs Liberty

7 rec · 56 yds

A close one, won by 2 at home.

With J. Cardell — 44 yards per punt · 5 punts · 1 inside the 20 · H. Watson — 202 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 32.5 · 33 rush yds (14 car)

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 2 · UCF · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +5.15Noah Smith pass complete to Simeon Evans for 64 yds for a TD (Christian Pavon KICK)
Week 14 · Liberty · 3rd and 10 · Q2 · EPA +3.03Hunter Watson pass complete to Noah Smith for 13 yds to the LIB 47 for a
Week 10 · Louisiana Tech · 3rd and 2 · Q3 · EPA +2.80Hunter Watson pass complete to Noah Smith for 22 yds to the LT 41 for a
Week 6 · UTEP · 2nd and 7 · Q1 · EPA +2.06Hunter Watson pass complete to Noah Smith for 19 yds to the SHSU 42 for a
Week 5 · Texas State · 3rd and 3 · Q1 · EPA +2.00Hunter Watson pass complete to Noah Smith for 11 yds to the SHSU 43 for a
Week 13 · Jacksonville State · 3rd and 6 · Q2 · EPA +1.89Hunter Watson pass complete to Noah Smith for 9 yds to the SHSU 38 for a

4 more plays

Week 5 · Texas State · 2nd and 9 · Q3 · EPA +1.83Noah Smith run for 10 yds to the TXST 1 for a
Week 2 · UCF · 3rd and 4 · Q3 · EPA +1.82Hunter Watson pass complete to Noah Smith for 5 yds to the UCF 48 for a
Week 6 · UTEP · 3rd and 8 · Q2 · EPA +1.80Hunter Watson pass complete to Noah Smith for 13 yds to the SHSU 34 for a
Week 14 · Liberty · 2nd and 9 · Q3 · EPA +1.69Hunter Watson pass complete to Noah Smith for 9 yds to the LIB 44 for a

Teams and coaches

2 seasons under K.C. Keeler — 13-12 over that span.

2023Sam Houston3-9HC: K.C. Keeler · Balanced

2024Sam Houston10-3HC: K.C. Keeler · Run-heavy

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 39 (#299 of 466). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2024 season

39Below cohort / limited sample #299 of 466 · 2024?

13 metrics · season cumulative

2024 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: rush yards (90th percentile). Concern: explosive rate (4th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#445 / 610 · 27th pct

84.4%

EPA / target#504 / 610 · 17th pct

0.55

Yards / catch#545 / 610 · 11th pct

7.9

TD rate#522 / 610 · 7th pct

0.0%

Explosive rate#583 / 610 · 4th pct

2.2%

Box-score rates (8)

Rush yards#30 / 299 · 90th pct

Fumbles lost#1 / 221 · 80th pct

Receptions#177 / 541 · 67th pct

Rush TDs#55 / 299 · 41st pct

Rec yards#352 / 541 · 35th pct

313

Rec TDs#469 / 541 · 7th pct

Long catch#518 / 541 · 4th pct

Yards / catch#532 / 541 · 2nd pct

7.8

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

29th → 17th percentile

Explosive rate

43rd → 4th percentile

Catch rate

52nd → 27th percentile

TD rate

55th → 7th percentile

Yards / catch

23rd → 11th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2024. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home4g	4.8	36.0	6.7	0.0
Road5g	2.8	25.0	7.4	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.7	19.7	6.8	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	5.2	43.8	7.5	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2024 season

Head Coach

K.C. Keeler

Pass share

39.2%

349 pass / 541 run

Plays / game

68.5

13 games

Team sack rate

7.4%

364 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

40 catches, 13 carries and 2 pass attempts in 11 games

About as many catches a game as a typical FBS receiver who plays every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

39 · #299 of 466 WRs · 2024

Noah Smith

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Sam Houston in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

40 catches, 13 carries and 2 pass attempts in 11 games

Three seasons at Sam Houston