NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players: No. 92 - Terrell Goldsmith, Auburn

Terrell Goldsmith was the engine of an under-manned Auburn team that recorded the school's last winning season for 15 years.

The Knights went 9-9 in Goldsmith's two years as a starting running back/defensive back. While this may not seem super impressive, Auburn had fewer than 30 players on the squad both of those seasons and Auburn would go just 2-43 over the next five years. 

Goldsmith shared the ball in 1996 with his brother Stephen. Stephen would finish with 869 yards on 91 carries and Terrell would add 590 on 76 rushes as the Knights went 4-5. Both were chosen to the NIC-10 All-Conference team.

In 1997, Terrell won the conference rushing title with 1,228 yards on 172 carries in nine games. He scored 12 rushing TDs. Included in this was perhaps one of that decade's most memorable games. In week eight, Goldsmith ran over, around and through an undefeated Boylan team in a 34-14 route.

Boylan had given up just 59 points in the first seven weeks of the season. Goldsmith gashed the seventh-ranked Titans for 222 yards rushing. That included a 58-yard TD run on a fake punt six seconds before halftime and a 55-yard TD run on fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter.

That evened Auburn's record at 4-4 and a 10-9 win over Janesville Craig in the final week clinched the 5-4 record. Goldsmith was named All-State by the Champaign News-Gazette.

Goldsmith played for NCAA Division II power Northern Michigan in an up-and-down college career. He was a starter immediately as a freshman and then a star as a sophomore, rushing for 1,030 yards on 229 carries. He was voted team Co-MVP and first team all-conference for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Then Goldsmith missed all of 2001 after letting his grades slide. Instead of heading home, he put in the work to get back on the field for his senior year where he led Northern Michigan with 731 yards. All told, over three seasons, Goldsmith rushed for 2,355 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Goldsmith didn't get any serious NFL looks, but he continued to play football for several minor league teams over the next decade.

No. 92 - Terrell Goldsmith, Auburn
Year	Level	School	Accomplishments	Points
1996	High School	Auburn	First Team All-Conference	2
1997	High School	Auburn	First Team All-Conference	2
			Winning Team	1
			League Leader (rushing)	1
			All-State	1
1999	College	Northern Michigan	Letter Winner in D2	2
			Starter	1
			Winning Team	1
2000	College	Northern Michigan	Letter Winner in D2	2
			Starter	1
			All-Conference	1
			Winning Team	1
2001	College	Northern Michigan	Ineligible
2002	College	Northern Michigan	Letter Winner in D2	2
			Starter	1
			Winning Team	1
Total				20

NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players

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