Marcus Smith Becomes Louisville's First FWAA All-American

The honors and awards just keep piling up for Mr. Smith this December.

University of Louisville defensive end Marcus Smith was named a first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.

By earning first team honors, Smith becomes the first player in school history to ever achieve FWAA first team honors. Elvis Dumervil was the last Louisville player to garner first team All-America accolades.

A native of Columbus, Ga., Smith emerged in 2013 as one of the nation's elite pass rushers. Entering the bowl season, he ranks second in the nation in sacks with 1.0 per game and 12.5 overall. The former quarterback also ranks 17th nationally in tackles for loss with 1.4 per contest and 16.5 total and is 29th in the country in forced fumbles at 0.25 per game (three total).

Since the Cardinals' regular season finale, Smith has earned numerous awards and accolades. Along with being chosen as the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, he has also been tabbed as a Walter Camp Second Team All-American, a CBSSports Second Team All-American, a USA Today Second Team All-American and an Athlon Magazine Third Team All-American.

Smith ranks seventh on the school's single season sack chart with 12.5 overall and needs just a half sack to tie for fifth most in a season. Entering the final game of his Louisville career, Smith ranks eighth on the Cardinals' career sacks leaderboard with 22.0. He is just one sack behind seventh place Marcus Jones (23 sacks from 2001-04), while Joe Johnson (1991-93) is sixth with 25 career sacks.