A native of Rockford, Illinois, Smith played for Bernie Bierman's great Golden Gophers teams of 1933, 1934, and 1935.
He was not particularly impressive in his early sophomore games last year either but suddenly he seemed to hit a stride and the name 'Smith, left tackle,' appeared in the Gopher lineup from that time on.
"[2]Smith was one of the anchors of the 1934 and 1935 teams that compiled perfect, undefeated records and were recognized as national champions.
The United Press in 1935 wrote that Smith and Widseth formed the backbone of one of America's greatest teams.
In December 1935, he was picked as one of the Eastern All-Stars to play in the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco.