Steve Smith is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

. He was the starting quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1981 to 1983.

Smith was recruited from Grand Blanc High School

Grand Blanc Community High School

Grand Blanc Community High School is a public high school in Grand Blanc, a suburb of Flint, Michigan, USA...

 in Grand Blanc, Michigan

Grand Blanc, Michigan

Grand Blanc is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 8,242 at the 2000 census. The city is situated within Grand Blanc Charter Township, but is politically independent...

 by Michigan coach Bo Schembechler

Bo Schembechler

Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, Jr. was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234–65–8...

. He also played high school football for Swartz Creek

Swartz Creek Community Schools

Swartz Creek Community School District is a public school district in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and in the Genesee Intermediate School District...

 prior to transferring to Grand Blanc for his senior year. Smith was considered a running quarterback and while he employed speed, agility and, good field vision, he was also a competent passer. He started all 12 games for the 1981 Wolverines

1981 Michigan Wolverines football team

The 1981 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1981 college football season. The team's head coach was Bo Schembechler...

 and led the team to a record of 9–2 in the regular season and a win over UCLA in the 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl

1981 Bluebonnet Bowl

The 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl was a college football bowl game, played on December 31, 1981. It was the 23rd Bluebonnet Bowl game. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the UCLA Bruins by a score of 33-14. This was the first bowl game meeting of a Big Ten team and a Pac 10 team outside of the Rose Bowl Game...

. He again started all 12 games at quarterback for the 1982 Wolverines

1982 Michigan Wolverines football team

The 1982 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1982 college football season. The team's head coach was Bo Schembechler...

, leading the team to a record of 8–3 in the regular season, and a berth in the 1983 Rose Bowl

1983 Rose Bowl

The 1983 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, played on January 1, 1983. It was the 69th Rose Bowl game. The UCLA Bruins defeated the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 24-14. Tom Ramsey, UCLA quarterback and Don Rogers, UCLA defensive back, were named the Rose Bowl Players Of The Game...

, where the Wolverines lost to UCLA, 24–14. Receiver Anthony Carter was Smith's main target in 1981 and 1982, earning All-American

College Football All-America Team

The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...

 honors both years. As a senior in 1983, Smith threw four touchdown passes in a game against the Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue Boilermakers football

The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...

. He led the 1983 Wolverines

1983 Michigan Wolverines football team

The 1983 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1983 college football season. The team's head coach was Bo Schembechler...

 to a 9–2 record in the regular season and a berth in the 1984 Sugar Bowl

1984 Sugar Bowl

The 1984 Sugar Bowl was the 50th edition to the annual game. It featured the third ranked Auburn Tigers, and the eighth ranked Michigan Wolverines. Auburn won the game by a 9-7 margin....

, where the Wolverines lost to Auburn

1983 Auburn Tigers football team

The 1983 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by Pat Dye, the team finished the season with a 11–1 record and won their first SEC title since 1957....

, 9–7. Smith was 26–10 as a starter for the Wolverines and passed for 42 touchdowns. He rushed 329 times for 1,736 yards.

Career passing statistics

Season	Att	Comp	Int	Comp %	Yds	Yds/Comp	TD	Long
1980	6	3	0	50.0	44	14.7	0	24
1981	210	97	11	46.2	1,661	17.1	15	71
1982	227	118	13	52.0	1,735	14.7	14	62
1983	205	106	8	51.7	1,420	13.4	13	67
Career total	648	324	32	50.0	4,860	15.0	42	71

Career rushing statistics

Season	Att	Yd+	Yd-	Net Yd	Yd/Att	TD	Long
1980	9	29	21	8	0.9	0	9
1981	134	810	136	674	5.0	12	42
1982	83	438	51	387	4.7	9	37
1983	103	738	71	667	6.5	10	75
Career total	329	2015	279	1736	5.3	31	75