Northern Illinois junior defensive end Sutton Smith was named First Team All-American by Sports Illustrated. Smith, who leads the Football Bowl Subdivision in sacks with 15 and is second in tackles for loss with 24.5, helped lead the Huskies to the 2018 Marathon MAC Football Championship with a 30-29 win over Buffalo on Nov. 30 in Detroit.
The 2018 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, Smith broke the school record for sacks in a season, which he set last year, and led an NIU defense that set the school record for team sacks in a season with 50.