Linebacker looks for improvement after Iowa win

That IU football player who burst through Iowa's offensive line with ease last Saturday wasn't a safety. He might have displayed the explosive running ability of a safety, and he certainly had the size of one.\nBut Justin Smith plays linebacker and he lets his performance, not his size, prove he can handle the position. Smith stands 6-foot and said he weighs about 215 pounds, which is smaller than most linebackers in the Big Ten. \n"I personally never thought of weight as a big deal," Smith said. "This summer I got up to 230 pounds, but I'm at the point now where I lost a lot of that weight. My body is just not made to handle all that weight."\nSmith, who started his career at IU as a defensive back, makes up for his lack of size in other areas. He still has the speed of a defensive back, which allows him to make some plays most linebackers can't get to.\n"He's extremely athletic," said sophomore offensive tackle Enoch DeMar, who has blocked Smith in practice. "When he does blitz, we're ready for it, and he gets us ready for the athletic linebackers we will see on other teams." \nSmith is also a cerebral player. He was selected as an academic All-Big Ten performer in 1999 and is an academic All-American candidate this season. When Smith isn't at the Kelley School of Business working toward his degree in business management or practicing with the team, he is a film room junkie and spends countless hours each week studying opponents.\nOne of the biggest challenges IU's defense has faced this season is learning new defensive coordinator James Bell's system. While some players are still learning Bell's system, Smith, who is a quick learner, is beginning to flourish in it.\n"It's a very easy system to learn, especially for the front seven," said Smith, a junior. "Everybody has their one gap to play." \nSmith had no problem playing his gap against Iowa, as he recorded a career-high four sacks during IU's 45-33 win. His sack total was the most for an IU player since Adewale Ogunleye's four against Ohio State in 1997. Smith currently leads the Big Ten in sacks with five and tackles for a loss with nine. He also ranks second on the team with 31 tackles.\n"He's an academic All-Big Ten guy and a potential academic All-American, so he maybe has picked up the system a little faster than some of the other guys," said coach Cam Cameron. \nPrior to the Iowa game, Smith wasn't one of the Big Ten's household names. Despite being one of 70 players nationally named to the Butkus Award Watch List, Smith was rarely mentioned in the same breath as some of the Big Ten's defensive Goliaths. After his performance against the Hawkeyes, which earned Smith Big Ten Defensive-Player of the Week honors, it's unlikely he will remain anonymous to opponents.\n"That's been a couple of weeks in a row he's played well," Cameron said. "Now the challenge comes that a lot of people didn't know about Justin Smith. The challenge he'll find is that there will be an emphasis to try and control him in the ball game."\nSmith said if teams do focus on him it could open things up for some of IU's other defensive players.\n"I've never been put in that position before," Smith said of being a focal point of a blocking scheme. "If teams are going to concentrate on one player, then I'm thinking someone else will come free and they are going to try to compensate for him the next time"