The Evolution of Mike Davis
posted by Scott Hood, Thursday, September 13, 2007
Davis was prone to sluggish starts in his first two seasons but he’s completely turned that around in 2007 by rushing for 150 yards on 24 carries in the first two games.
He had 94 yards on 15 carries in the season opener before punishing Georgia for 56 yards on just nine carries last Saturday in Athens.
That’s an eye-popping average of 6.2 yards per rush.
That figure is impressive because most of his yards have come between the tackles. Davis just flat out runs over people, as he’s done on several occasions this year.
In fact, Davis is running so strong that I believe he’s going become the first South Carolina rusher since Derek Watson in 2000, and just the fourth since 1981, to total more than 1,000 yards in a single season.
Before the season, if USC fans had guessed which running back would have 1,000 yards this year, most would have said Cory Boyd after he ran for 823 yards last season after sitting out the 2005 season.
Frankly, I’m not surprised at Davis doing so well. I predicted he would run for 1,000 yards last season
I’ve watched with amusement this week as the national media has scratched its collective head over Spurrier winning with defense and a running game. Some have bemoaned the passing of the Fun-‘n-Gun/Cock-‘n-Fire offense like it was a sacred deity or a holy relic.
Here’s an example: we were driving back to the hotel after Saturday night’s win at Georgia and a pair of hosts on ESPN were aghast about Spurrier actually winning a 16-12 game. Frankly, they couldn’t believe it.
They said, and I quote, “Spurrier wants to throw the ball all over the field. He’ll throw it every play if he could.”
Uh, no.
There are three huge misconceptions about Spurrier: 1) he’s a jerk; 2) he hates recruiting; and 3) he just wants to throw the ball all over the field.
This is my third season hanging around Spurrier and I can confidently say all three myths are way off the mark. But, for purposes of this blog, the third one is most relevant.
People often forget that when he was at Florida, Spurrier ran the ball about 50 percent of the time. In his first two seasons at USC, well over one-half of the plays he’s called have been running plays.
Why, some people ask?
That brings us back to Davis, as well as his backfield mate Cory Boyd.
Let’s get one thing straight: the nation may not know it yet but Davis and Boyd are one of the top running back tandems in the country.
They may not be as well publicized as Clemson’s duo of James Davis and C.J. Spiller or Darren McFadden and Felix Jones at Arkansas, but they’re just as good.
Spurrier certainly believes that.
Right now, the Gamecocks’ strengths are the running game, a swarming team defense and the powerful right leg of Ryan Succop. As Spurrier said Tuesday, the passing game is very average, and will remain so until a second reliable receiver emerges to support Kenny McKinley.
In the opinion of some national media hacks, Spurrier should ignore his strengths and keep tossing the ball around in order to live up to his reputation as a pass-happy coach.
But, reputation is not the same as reality.
McKinley leads USC with 13 receptions. He’s off to a great start and should approach 70 receptions this season. If he sticks round – he claims he will - he’ll be in good shape to break the all-time record next season.
But he’s gotten little help from any other receiver. Freddie Brown has the second most receptions – three – among the wide receiver corp. In between McKinley and Brown, you find Davis and Boyd (seven receptions) and tight ends Jared Cook and Andy Boyd (four receptions).
What’s amazing is that Davis already has over one-half as many receptions as he had all of last season (11).
When Spurrier was at Florida, he had great wide receivers like Jacquez Green, Ike Hilliard and Reidel Anthony. It wasn’t that Florida threw the ball a lot, they were just highly productive when they did.
It’s the same thing with running backs. Houston Nutt makes sure Darren McFadden gets the ball a lot at Arkansas because he’s extremely productive.
If Mike Davis is able to maintain his current average of 6.2 yards per rush, I can assure you he’s going to get the ball a lot. So will Cory Boyd.
Coaches will always seek to travel the smoothest route to victory.
Right now, for USC that’s means putting the ball in the gut of Mike Davis and Cory as often as possible.
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Are you as impressed as I am by the development of running back Mike Davis over the last year?
Davis was prone to sluggish starts in his first two seasons but he’s completely turned that around in 2007 by rushing for 150 yards on 24 carries in the first two games.
He had 94 yards on 15 carries in the season opener before punishing Georgia for 56 yards on just nine carries last Saturday in Athens.
That’s an eye-popping average of 6.2 yards per rush.
That figure is impressive because most of his yards have come between the tackles. Davis just flat out runs over people, as he’s done on several occasions this year.
In fact, Davis is running so strong that I believe he’s going become the first South Carolina rusher since Derek Watson in 2000, and just the fourth since 1981, to total more than 1,000 yards in a single season.
Before the season, if USC fans had guessed which running back would have 1,000 yards this year, most would have said Cory Boyd after he ran for 823 yards last season after sitting out the 2005 season.
Frankly, I’m not surprised at Davis doing so well. I predicted he would run for 1,000 yards last season
I’ve watched with amusement this week as the national media has scratched its collective head over Spurrier winning with defense and a running game. Some have bemoaned the passing of the Fun-‘n-Gun/Cock-‘n-Fire offense like it was a sacred deity or a holy relic.
Here’s an example: we were driving back to the hotel after Saturday night’s win at Georgia and a pair of hosts on ESPN were aghast about Spurrier actually winning a 16-12 game. Frankly, they couldn’t believe it.
They said, and I quote, “Spurrier wants to throw the ball all over the field. He’ll throw it every play if he could.”
Uh, no.
There are three huge misconceptions about Spurrier: 1) he’s a jerk; 2) he hates recruiting; and 3) he just wants to throw the ball all over the field.
This is my third season hanging around Spurrier and I can confidently say all three myths are way off the mark. But, for purposes of this blog, the third one is most relevant.
People often forget that when he was at Florida, Spurrier ran the ball about 50 percent of the time. In his first two seasons at USC, well over one-half of the plays he’s called have been running plays.
Why, some people ask?
That brings us back to Davis, as well as his backfield mate Cory Boyd.
Let’s get one thing straight: the nation may not know it yet but Davis and Boyd are one of the top running back tandems in the country.
They may not be as well publicized as Clemson’s duo of James Davis and C.J. Spiller or Darren McFadden and Felix Jones at Arkansas, but they’re just as good.
Spurrier certainly believes that.
Right now, the Gamecocks’ strengths are the running game, a swarming team defense and the powerful right leg of Ryan Succop. As Spurrier said Tuesday, the passing game is very average, and will remain so until a second reliable receiver emerges to support Kenny McKinley.
In the opinion of some national media hacks, Spurrier should ignore his strengths and keep tossing the ball around in order to live up to his reputation as a pass-happy coach.
But, reputation is not the same as reality.
McKinley leads USC with 13 receptions. He’s off to a great start and should approach 70 receptions this season. If he sticks round – he claims he will - he’ll be in good shape to break the all-time record next season.
But he’s gotten little help from any other receiver. Freddie Brown has the second most receptions – three – among the wide receiver corp. In between McKinley and Brown, you find Davis and Boyd (seven receptions) and tight ends Jared Cook and Andy Boyd (four receptions).
What’s amazing is that Davis already has over one-half as many receptions as he had all of last season (11).
When Spurrier was at Florida, he had great wide receivers like Jacquez Green, Ike Hilliard and Reidel Anthony. It wasn’t that Florida threw the ball a lot, they were just highly productive when they did.
It’s the same thing with running backs. Houston Nutt makes sure Darren McFadden gets the ball a lot at Arkansas because he’s extremely productive.
If Mike Davis is able to maintain his current average of 6.2 yards per rush, I can assure you he’s going to get the ball a lot. So will Cory Boyd.
Coaches will always seek to travel the smoothest route to victory.
Right now, for USC that’s means putting the ball in the gut of Mike Davis and Cory as often as possible.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.