Ben Schmidt

Panther Plus: Battling Nick Nelson for the starting strong safety spot ... also serves as the holder on special teams.

2007: Played in all 13 games ... notched six tackles on the season as a reserve defensive back ... returned a kickoff eight yards in a 14-13 win over Youngstown State (10/27) ... secured two tackles in a 68-14 win over Indiana State (11/10) ... recorded his first collegiate interception to go along with two tackles in UNI's 48-10 win over Southern Utah (11/17).

2006: Saw action in UNI's 48-7 season-opening win at Drake (8/31) ... did not record a statistic during the regular season ... credited with the lone interception in the Spring Game ... his pick set up the only touchdown of the game.

2005: Did not see action.

2004: Redshirted.

High School: A 2004 graduate of Tri-County High School ... two-time all-state selection at safety ... tied a state record with five interceptions in a single game with five vs. Moravia-Moulton-Udel on Sept. 13, 2002 ... tied another state record with 13 interceptions in 2002 ... tied for eighth on the Iowa High School career interception chart with 15 picks ... all-conference performer in basketball and track averaged 18.0 points per game in basketball ... honor roll student ... member of National Honor Society ... Wendy's High School Heisman nominee ... earned letters in football (3), baseball (3) and track (3) ... high school coach: Shawn Striegel.

Personal: Born Jan. 26, 1986, in Oskaloosa, Iowa ... son of Randy and Beckie Schmidt ... has a brother (Ryan) and two sisters (Ginny, Macy) ... majoring in biology/pre-dental ... selected UNI because the "football program is great and it is an all-around good school."

Schmidt's Career Defensive Stats

Year	G-GS	UT	AT	Total	TFL	Sacks	INT	FF	FR	PBU	BK
2006	11-7	18	8	26	3.0	1.0	0-0	0	0	3	0
2007	13-13	27	20	47	8.0	3.5	0-0	0	0	1	0
Totals	24-20	45	28	73	11.0	4.5	0-0	0	0	4	0