Stephen Smith has always viewed his son as a bit of an overachiever.

It goes back to when Devin Smith was 4 years old and a few months shy of the minimum age requirement to join a Pop Warner football league. The boy was eager to play, so Stephen Smith lied about his son’s age to get him in the league.

But you never would have known Devin Smith’s age based on how well he played against the older kids.

It’s a little bit like this season, Smith’s first as a starting cornerback for the University of Wisconsin football team. The sophomore has had to deal with some growing pains, as expected, but most of the time you’d never guess he was a first-year starter.

“He loves a challenge,” Stephen Smith said. “That’s probably why he’s been so successful.”

Smith, who is set to start his 11th consecutive game Saturday when the No. 17 Badgers (8-2, 5-2) close the Big Ten Conference season with a game at Northwestern (7-4, 4-3), has been by far the most consistent cornerback this season. He’s the only one to start every game and has a team-leading five passes defended to go along with his two interceptions, which is tied for second on the team.

“Devin’s gotten better,” UW defensive coordinator Dave Doeren said of Smith, who is from the Dallas suburb of Coppell, Texas. “He takes it very personal. He’s consistent. You know what he’s going to bring to the table.”

That Devin Smith embraced football at an early age was no surprise. His father played defensive back at Memphis from 1986-90.

“The boy has had a football in his hands since Day One,” said Debra Smith, Devin's mother.

Devin Smith says he’s learned a lot about the game from his father. The two exchange text messages or phone calls after games, with Stephen Smith often providing pointers to his son based on what he’s seen on television.

“He played early in his career as well,” Devin Smith said. “He’s been there and done that. He knows the different things going through my head. When he watches the game, he’ll call me and tell me what I did well with and what I need to improve on.”

Stephen Smith wasn’t initially a big fan of his son’s decision to attend to UW. He wanted Devin, whose finalists were UW, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma State, to play closer to home.

But UW secondary coach Kerry Cooks made a lasting impression on Devin Smith and his parents.

“He was very impressionable,” Stephen Smith said of Cooks, a former Iowa defensive back who recruits the Dallas area. “The guy played the position, he coached the position, he could relate to Devin going so far away for school. I felt very comfortable with him.”

Cooks said Devin Smith immediately jumped out on film because he was good at everything he did. He played quarterback, running back and wide receiver on offense in addition to cornerback and safety.

Devin Smith, who lived mostly with his mother after she and Stephen separated when Devin was 6, was even better in the classroom, where he maintained a nearly 4.0 grade-point average.

“Everything you see about that kid, you like,” Cooks said. “His demeanor, his personality. Seeing a kid like Devin playing on both sides and playing everywhere, you know he’s got a lot of intangibles. It’s showing up now.”

Smith and the Badgers face a difficult task this week with Northwestern’s no-huddle spread offense. Behind a short-passing attack directed by fifth-year senior quarterback Mike Kafka, who leads the Big Ten with a 65.8 completion percentage, the Wildcats lead the Big Ten in first downs and are third in time of possession.

“You can’t fall asleep,” Devin Smith said. “You’ve got to be patient and make sure your focusing every single play. Those short passes can lull you to sleep, but they’ll keep throwing the ball so you have to be awake the whole game.”

Devin Smith views his career as a series of building blocks. He was mostly a special teams player last year as a true freshman, but considered it a valuable season because he got to travel with the team and got the first-year jitters out of the way.

This season, he gained experience as a first-time starter and learned a great deal along the way.

He can’t wait for the next step.

“Next year, I feel like I’m going to be way more confident,” he said. “My confidence is constantly building every single week. Next year, I’ll be able to play 10 times faster than I have been.”

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