THE FLATS – College football’s awards season kicked off on Monday with Georgia Tech football freshman Jahmyr Gibbs (Dalton, Ga./Dalton), redshirt sophomore Dontae Smith (Spring Hill, Tenn./Spring Hill) and junior Charlie Thomas (Thomasville, Ga./Thomasville) all being named all-Atlantic Coast Conference by Pro Football Focus.
Gibbs and Smith both earned all-conference honors from PFF as running backs (Gibbs – first team; Smith – second team), while Thomas was named a third-team linebacker. Gibbs also earned second-team recognition as a kick returner.
Gibbs and Smith combined for 1,124 rushing yards and eight touchdown runs en route to both earning PFF all-ACC honors at running back.
Gibbs led the Yellow Jackets with 746 rushing yards and ranked second on the squad with 470 receiving yards. Combined with his 589 kickoff-return yards, he averaged 150.4 all-purpose yards per game, which currently ranks third nationally. His 1,805 total all-purpose yards were good for second in Georgia Tech single-season history, and he became just the sixth NCAA Division I FBS player since 2000 and the first since Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey in 2015 with 700 rushing yards, 450 receiving yards and 550 kickoff yards in a single season.
Smith was dynamic all year with 378 rushing yards and a team-high-tying four touchdowns on just 68 carries (5.6 ypc). His four touchdowns runs give him eight TDs in just 121 carries (one TD every 15 carries). After leading the Georgia Tech in yards per rush for the second-consecutive season, Smith is averaging a gaudy 6.1 yards per rush for his career (739 yards on 121 carries).
Thomas had an impressive campaign at linebacker, finishing with a career-best 70 tackles, including a team-best 10 tackles for loss, three sacks (second on the squad), two interceptions (also a team high) and a forced fumble. He recorded double-digit tackles twice – against then-No. 6 Clemson and Duke – and earned ACC Linebacker of the Week recognition after recording eight tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks against No. 20 North Carolina at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Atlantic Coast Conference’s official all-conference teams will be announced on Tuesday.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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