Donovan Smith

#1 · QB · Sr. · Houston6′5″ · 235 lb · Las Vegas, NV · Damien

Donovan Smith: QB · Houston · #1.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Trey OwensArkansas State · 2026 · 71% season match
Will HowardKansas State · 2023 · 70% season match
Zeon ChrissHouston · 2024 · 47% season match
Cameron FrielUNLV · 2021 · 47% season match
Andrew MartyNorthwestern · 2021 · 47% season match

Donovan Smith

QB · Houston · Sr · #1

Extends plays on the move until something opens up. Played for three head coaches across four seasons and two programs. Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week in 2022 made it two straight seasons on the honors list. One game to point at: 260 passing yards and 1 passing TD against Oklahoma — Week 2, 2024.

Style of play

Play style

Makes plays with feet when the pocket collapses. Efficiency still on the rise.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

Houston in the news

Nebraska coach blasts fanHouston Chronicle Nov 2
Yormark leaving Big XIIOct 30

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2024	Houston	87	133	65.4%	867	6.5	4	8	118.1	47
2023	Houston	255	396	64.4%	2,800	7.1	22	13	135.6	40
2022	Texas Tech	147	222	66.2%	1,506	6.8	12	8	133.8	28
2021	Texas Tech	85	139	61.2%	1,181	8.5	7	2	146.3	62
Career		574	890	64.5%	6,354	7.1	45	31	134.2	41

Season	Team
2024	Houston	66	159	2.4	3	37
2023	Houston	138	429	3.1	6	35
2022	Texas Tech	75	113	1.5	7	27
2021	Texas Tech	56	155	2.8	3	17
Career		335	856	2.6	19	37

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	Note
Wk 1	L 7-27vs UNLV	15/30	135	0	2	4.5	3.5
Wk 2	L 12-16@ No. 15 Oklahoma	24/28	260	1	1	9.3	83.5	Season-high 260 yds
Wk 3	W 33-7vs Rice	12/21	142	1	0	6.8	52.9
Wk 4	L 0-34@ Cincinnati	11/16	73	0	1	4.6	23.8
Wk 5	L 0-20vs No. 18 Iowa State	8/12	71	0	1	5.9	67.4
Wk 6	W 30-19@ TCU	2/2	13	0	0	6.5	85.0
Wk 8	L 14-42vs Kansas	15/24	173	2	3	7.2	57.1	3 INTs — rough day
Wk 10	W 24-19vs No. 17 Kansas State	—	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 12	L 3-27@ Arizona	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total		87/133	867	4	8	6.5	—

Signature game

Week 3 · 2024

W 33-7

vs Rice

142 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 52.9 · 36 rush yds (8 car) · 2 TD

Dominant 26-point win at home against Rice.

With L. Dougherty — 40.2 yards per punt · 5 punts · 3 inside the 20 · M. Mews — 3 rec · 22 yds

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 1 · UNLV · 3rd and 12 · Q3 · EPA −7.55Donovan Smith pass intercepted Jalen Catalon return for 36 yds for a TD (Caden Chittenden KICK)
Week 3 · Rice · 4th and 1 · Q4 · EPA +4.66Donovan Smith run for 37 yds for a TD (Joseph Kim KICK)
Week 5 · Iowa State · 2nd and 7 · Q4 · EPA −4.11Donovan Smith pass intercepted, touchback. Jontez Williams return for no gain
Week 8 · Kansas · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +4.01Donovan Smith pass complete to Mekhi Mews for 52 yds for a TD (Jack Martin KICK)
Week 4 · Cincinnati · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +3.51Donovan Smith pass complete to Joseph Manjack IV for 52 yds to the CIN 25 for a
Week 1 · UNLV · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +3.49Donovan Smith pass complete to Mekhi Mews for 57 yds to the UNLV 18 for a

4 more plays

Week 2 · Oklahoma · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +3.41Donovan Smith pass complete to Joseph Manjack IV for 44 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed)
Week 3 · Rice · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +3.41Donovan Smith pass complete to Stephon Johnson for 44 yds for a TD (Joseph Kim PAT MISSED)
Week 8 · Kansas · 3rd and 13 · Q3 · EPA +3.40Donovan Smith run for 15 yds to the KU 41 for a
Week 3 · Rice · 3rd and 7 · Q2 · EPA +3.28Donovan Smith pass complete to Maliq Carr for 22 yds to the RICE 45 for a

Passing profile

Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

87/133 (65.4%) · 4 TD · 8 INT

133 of 133 attempts matched to play-by-play

Adjusted ANY/A

3.52191 of 205 QBs

Sack rate

8.3%167 of 205 QBs

Sacked on 8.3% of dropbacks (167 of 205) and Adjusted ANY/A trails the field (191 of 205).

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Short

0–9 yds

66%of completions

57 comp3.8 yds avg

Middle

10–19 yds

21%of completions

18 comp13.5 yds avg

Deep

20+ yds

14%of completions

12 comp34.3 yds avg4 TD

Overall 65.4% completion on 133 attempts · 12 deep completions averaging 34.3 yds.

Teams and coaches

2021Texas Tech7-6HC: Matt Wells and Sonny Cumbie · Balanced

2022Texas Tech8-5HC: Joey McGuire · Balanced, fast tempo

2023Houston4-8HC: Dana Holgorsen · Balanced

2024Houston4-8HC: Willie Fritz · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 25 (#128 of 137). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2024 season

25Below cohort / limited sample #128 of 137 · 2024?

13 metrics · season cumulative

2024 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: fumbles lost (94th percentile). Concern: interception rate (2nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#110 / 169 · 35th pct

9.0%

Success rate#134 / 169 · 21st pct

36.6%

Sack rate#135 / 169 · 20th pct

8.3%

EPA / dropback#157 / 169 · 7th pct

-0.01

Interception rate#166 / 169 · 2nd pct

5.3%

Box-score rates (8)

Fumbles lost#1 / 159 · 94th pct

Completion %#38 / 165 · 77th pct

65.4%

Rush TDs#63 / 165 · 56th pct

Rush yards#80 / 165 · 52nd pct

159

Interceptions#92 / 165 · 40th pct

Yards / att#137 / 165 · 16th pct

6.5

Pass yards#146 / 165 · 12th pct

867

Pass TDs#147 / 165 · 10th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / dropback

44th → 7th percentile

Success rate

50th → 21st percentile

Explosive rate

52nd → 35th percentile

Sack rate

42nd → 20th percentile

Interception rate

49th → 2nd percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2024. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2024 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

After 125 dropbacks

47Zeitgeist Passer Rating74th of 136 FBS QBs

NCAA passer rating 118.1 123rd of 136 FBS QBs

ZPR ranks this quarterback 49 places higher than passer rating does: passer rating charges 200 points per interception and the season ZPR does not count the four picks (each game's grade word does); and the schedule adjustment credits the defenses faced.

Positive-play rate weight 24%

46.7%54th pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · +3.5% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

7.3956th pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded · +0.3 schedule adj.

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

8.5%11th pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see · -0.3% schedule adj.

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (20 of 145 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home4g	87.0	0.2	5.7	0.8
Road4g	86.5	0.2	6.8	0.5

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-76g	116	0.3	6.3	0.8
Weeks 8+3g	57.7	0.7	7.2	1.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2024 season

Head Coach

Dana Holgorsen

Pass share

39.8%

280 pass / 424 run

Plays / game

58.7

12 games

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

133 pass attempts and 66 carries in 9 games

Fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

25 · #128 of 137 QBs · 2024

Three-star recruit. Now #128 at the position.

Donovan Smith

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Houston in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Passing profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

133 pass attempts and 66 carries in 9 games

Five seasons, two schools

Moves

2021 8 games

2023 12 games