Donovan Lamont Smith (born October 27, 2001) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

and the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

Early life

Smith originally attended

Bishop Gorman High School Bishop Gorman High School (commonly referred to as Gorman or BGHS) is a four-year private, Roman Catholic college preparatory school located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The school is administered by the Archdiocese of Las Vegas. The school opened i ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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, mainly playing as a wide receiver while also serving as the team's backup quarterback. Donovan would transfer to

Frenship High School Frenship High School is a public high school located in Wolfforth, Texas, United States. It is classified as a 6A school by the UIL. The school serves students in grades 10–12 from Wolfforth, parts of western Lubbock, and southwest Lubbock ...

in the

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

suburb of Wolfforth prior to the 2019–20 school year. Smith finished his senior season completing 212-of-328 passes for 3,114 yards with 26 touchdowns and 8 interceptions along with 489 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. Smith finished his senior year with the 32nd-most passing yards in the state of Texas for the 2019 season. Smith was listed as a three-star recruit by

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coming out of high school. He committed to Texas Tech over

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

, and Utah State.

High school statistics

''Source'':

College career

Texas Tech

Smith suffered a shoulder injury prior to the 2020 season, and did not appear in any games during the season. He had surgery on his shoulder and returned to practice the following spring. Smith entered the team's week nine game against

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

in the second quarter after starter Henry Colombi was shaken up on a tackle. Smith made his first collegiate start in the team's week 11 game against

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

, with original starter Tyler Shough still recovering from a broken collarbone he suffered in week 4 and Colombi out due to an illness. Smith finished the game 25-of-32 for 322 yards with three touchdowns and one interception as the Red Raiders won 41–38, becoming bowl eligible for the first time since

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. For his performance, Smith was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. Following the game, interim head coach

Sonny Cumbie Sonny Jack Cumbie (born August 8, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He currently serves as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University, a position he has held since the 2022 season. Cumbie previously served as ...

stated that Smith would remain the team's starting quarterback. The Red Raiders were invited to the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic Cit ...

, playing against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

. Smith finished the game with 252 passing yards and a touchdown along with a rushing touchdown in the 34–7 win and was named the game's MVP. Entering into the 2022 season, Smith was in a competition for the starting quarterback position against Tyler Shough and Behren Morton. Shough was named the team's week one starter on August 21. Shough started the game against

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

, but exited the game after the first quarter due to a possible injury and was replaced by Smith. In Week 2, Smith started Texas Tech's game against no. 25

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The Red Raiders jumped out to a 17–3 halftime lead, but the Cougars stormed back in the second half due in part to three interceptions by Smith, including one that was returned 54 yards for a touchdown. Houston took a 20–17 lead with 0:37 left in regulation before Smith led the offense down field to tie the game 20–20 with a 47-yard field goal from Trey Wolff; the Red Raiders would win the game 33–30 in double overtime, with Smith scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 9-yard run. Smith finished with a career-high 350 yards passing and three total touchdowns, two passing and one rushing. For his performance, Smith was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. Two weeks later, against no. 22

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, Smith threw for 331 yards and two touchdowns along with 42 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 37–34 overtime victory. For his performance against Texas, Smith was named the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award National Player of the Week. In the regular season finale against

, Smith had both a rushing and receiving touchdown. On December 5, it was announced that Smith would be entering the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

Houston

On December 21, 2022, Smith transferred to

Statistics

''Source'':

Professional career

Personal life

Smith's father, DeAndre, was the running backs coach for Texas Tech from 2019 to 2021. As of 2023, he is the running backs coach for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

References

External links

Texas Tech Red Raiders bioHouston Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Donavan 2001 births Living people American football quarterbacks Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Players of American football from Las Vegas Houston Cougars football players