(ITALICS) Kelvin Smith stands at the outside linebacker position Saturday. In his familiar crouch, the redshirt freshman is on the verge to make the biggest play of his life. (ITALICS)

He’s now known as the kid that saved the game for Syracuse. Smith’s goal-line stuff of Jacque Lewis gave SU a 49-47 victory over North Carolina on Saturday. Now, he’s a hero to his teammates and the fans.

But before all of the adulation and hype, Smith was a 190-pound 10th grader from New Hempstead. Naturally, he was told he wasn’t big enough or strong enough to play big-time football. Frankly, it was enough ‘enough’s’ to prompt him to work that much harder.

(ITALICS) Saturday, UNC quarterback Darian Durant takes the snap from center. He rolls to his right. Lewis cuts left in front of him and takes a shovel pass from Durant. (ITALICS)

When he first came to Syracuse in 2002, he had his doubts.

‘It took a while to bring myself to being part of the team,’ Smith said. ‘The town I came from was pretty small. A lot of freshmen go through that, though.’

It took some time to get used being told what to do. But the older guys helped, captain Rich Scanlon and senior Jameel Dumas in particular. Both serve as role models to the young corps of linebackers that includes sophomores Kellen Pruitt and Tommy Harris, and freshman Luke Cain, Jerry Mackey and Jameel McClain.

Saturday, Smith and Cain saw action at linebacker after Dumas went down with a leg injury. Pruitt and Scanlon started the game at outside and inside linebacker, respectively. The defense gave up 505 yards total, including 165 rushing yards. Scanlon, the vocal leader on defense, said that was largely because of missed assignments by the linebackers. He said some of the errors were due to inexperience, but that it is still no excuse.

‘I was frustrated,’ Scanlon said of the mistakes by the linebackers. ‘I have a short temper, and I’m not a very patient man. When things aren’t going my way, I get fired up. But I know when to yell at them and when to comfort them.’

‘It was my first game,’ Smith said. ‘It’s hard for anyone to adapt from high school. But I have a lot of confidence. Every play made me more confident.’

(ITALICS) Lewis takes the pass and shuffles left. He eyes a gap in the defense. If Lewis doesn’t make it to the end zone on the two-point conversion, the game is over. (ITALICS)

Now, Smith’s doubts are gone. He’s found his niche in the Syracuse defense, a unit that boasts five senior starters in the front seven, yet is overflowing with young talent. Making friends is no longer an issue for Smith.

Ever since he made the bone-jarring tackle to preserve the game, he’s been a popular face at practice. But those that stuck with him the longest were Cain and Mackey. The three linebackers call themselves the Young Gunners, after the rap duo, Young Gunz. The rap group adopted the name because of their rough upbringing in Philadelphia. Smith can relate.

On his left arm is a tattoo, literally a scroll that reads, ‘Fear Don’t Live Here.’ It’s something he came up with last year at a time when he didn’t know if he fit in.

‘When I was younger I was real skinny,’ Smith said. ‘A lot of people thought I wasn’t going to make it to a collegiate level and play ball at a school like this. So I was always coming down and bringing the heat to people to let them know ‘Fear Don’t Live Here.’

‘I bring that mantra to every play. I bring the heat every play.’

(ITALICS) Smith plugs the hole. He knocks Lewis off his feet and plows him at the one-yard line. Syracuse wins, and suddenly, a young gunner who at one point thought he didn’t fit in, is now the toast of the town. (ITALICS)

Published on September 9, 2003 at 12:00 pm