TAMPA, FLA. — Dontae Smith is aiming to end his lengthy Georgia Tech career on a high note. But for now, he is savoring the moment.
In the days leading up to Friday’s Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa, Smith has been enjoying time with his teammates and coaches as they bond and prepare for Central Florida. He said the feeling that it’s his final game with the Yellow Jackets will likely hit him soon after six years with the team.
“I think after the game, I’ll feel it,” he said Tuesday. “But right now I’m just having fun, enjoying it, taking it one day at a time.”
It’s full circle for the senior running back, one of just two current Jackets who were on the roster the last time Tech played in a bowl game. Smith was a redshirt freshman during the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl that Tech lost to Minnesota in Detroit. He says this time already feels different. The Florida weather certainly helps.
“It was cold, the day after Christmas,” he said of the last bowl game. “So definitely being home for Christmas and we’re playing in warm weather. I mean, it doesn’t get better than that.”
In 2023, Smith rushed for 439 yards as the Jackets finished with the ACC’s top rushing attack at 197.1 yards per game. Sophomore Jamal Haynes led the team with 931 rushing yards behind an offensive line that improved its play down the stretch, racking up 238.2 yards per contest over the second half of the season. Smith needs just 15 more yards to move up to 26th place all-time in team history, with 1,602. If he gets 104 rushing yards Friday, he will move past Bill Teas for 25th place.
“Dontae is awesome,” Tech coach Brent Key said. “I mean, you talk about a guy that’s had some ups and downs. Tae has a special place with me now. He’s an unbelievable kid.”
Before the bowl game, Key said his young daughter, Harper, made Smith a good luck bracelet with his name on it. She thinks of Smith and a few other players as her big brothers and was excited to see him wearing it during the plane ride down to Tampa, the coach said.
Credit: Photos courtesy of Georgia Tech
Credit: Photos courtesy of Georgia Tech
“I noticed Coach Key had one on and I was like, ‘Can I have one?”’ Smith recalled. “So shout out to Harper for my little bracelet.” He expressed slight disappointment about having to take it off during Tuesday’s practice.
Coaches and players are looking to send off the seniors with a win, especially those like Smith who have experienced the ups and downs over the past several seasons. The team’s 6-6 record is the best since the 2018 season.
Smith said everything that happened over the last six years made him the person he is today. On Oct. 28 against North Carolina, he rushed for a season-high 178 yards, averaging 8.1 per carry.
“He’s what college football is all about,” Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner added. “He stayed here at Georgia Tech, stayed with us even though he wasn’t playing as much as he probably would have liked to early in the season. And, man, he was awesome down the stretch and really gave us a lift that we needed to finish this thing. We want to send him out the right way.”
“He’s special,” Key added. “He’s gonna do great things for the rest of his life. He really is.”
Enjoying the little things
As the Tech coaches were busy preparing for the bowl game on Monday afternoon in Tampa, their players went to nearby Busch Gardens for some bonding time.
It reminded quarterback Haynes King of a school trip, where you’re just being a kid again. He said the players were able to take their minds off the game and just have fun.
Both King and Smith, who hadn’t been on a roller coaster in years, made sure to grip the lap bars tightly.
“My knuckles got a little white,” King said.
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