Corey Smith (2017) - Hall of Fame - Montana State University Athletics

Corey Smith

Induction:
2017

   “This place is off the hook!”
   That proclamation by Kris Atteberry on the radio call during the 2003 Cat-Griz game, aptly describing the pandemonium unfolding below him, accompanied Corey Smith across the goal line on the business end of the opening kickoff, providing what would be the winning margin in the Bobcats’ 27-20 victory on that bitterly cold day. That moment set off a wild day in Bobcat Stadium that boosted Montana State to its second straight Big Sky title, its author to legend status.
   Corey Smith’s 2003 season was one of the epic campaigns ever for a return specialist at the FCS level. He returned two kickoffs and four punts for touchdowns that season, and he also caught 36 passes for 465 yards and a touchdown. In his career he caught 58 passes for 685 yards and five touchdowns, returned 69 punts for 1,899 yards and five touchdowns, and returned 42 kickoffs for 988 yards and two touchdowns.
   Bobcat head coach Mike Kramer said the key to Smiths’ success was “he doesn’t chop his steps. Great returners never do.” His fearless returns rendered peerless moments.
   Against Gardner-Webb in the second game of the 2003 season, Smith returned a punt late in the third quarter 49 yards for a touchdown, and a fourth quarter kickoff 100 yards. He caught a touchdown pass in MSU’s thrashing of Weber State in game seven, and two weeks later against Sacramento State he returned two punts for scores. He returned another punt for a TD in the regular season’s penultimate game, then knocked the stuffing out of the Grizzlies with the kick return in Bobcat Stadium on November 22.
   In that Gardner-Webb game he became the first player in Big Sky history to return a punt and kickoff for touchdowns in the same game. Against Sac State he became the first player in league history to return two punts for touchdowns in the same game. He led the Big Sky Conference in punt return average his final two seasons as a Bobcat, and was eighth in Division I-AA in that category in 2002 and led the nation in 2003. He was also MSU’s second-leading receiver in 2003.
   But it’s that spectacular moment in the first Cat-Griz game the Bobcats won at home since 1985 that will stand as his greatest, and as one of the most memorable in the storied history of that rivalry.