By KATE HAIROPOULOS / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected] UNIVERSITY PARK – SMU sophomore linebacker Ja'Gared Davis has loved to hit since he started playing football.
"Parents used to come up to me and say 'Good game, but why'd you have to hit my child so hard?'" said Davis, of Crockett. "I used to say 'Sorry.' But it's just how I play."
A bone-rattling tackler, Davis is ranked sixth in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 11 tackles for loss and seventh in sacks, with six in five games. He also returned a blocked field goal attempt 77 yards for a touchdown in a second-half turning point in last week's win at Rice.
Davis (6-1, 216) and the Mustangs (3-2, 2-0 Conference USA) have a big test in front of them this weekend as Tulsa, which has the No. 8 total offense (507.8 yards per game) in the Bowl Subdivision, visits Ford Stadium in a key West Division matchup.
Coach June Jones said Davis has benefited from a year of experience in defensive coordinator Tom Mason's 3-4 defense and from adding about 20 extra pounds in the off-season. Now he must work on putting his knowledge and size to use all game long.
"He still needs to learn how to play for 60 minutes," Jones said.
Mason said Davis has a rare talent for hitting that he's seen only a handful of times in his 30 years of coaching.
"They have it or they don't," Mason said. "He gets six inches from somebody and all the muscles just pop."
Davis said football provides stress relief and he loves riling up his teammates and SMU fans with big pops.
About Tulsa: Mason said while studying game tape of the Golden Hurricane (3-2, 1-1), he finally saw a formation he hadn't seen before in all his years of coaching. He said Tulsa generally runs about six plats out of about 64 different formations. Jones said he was seeing "creative" things out of Tulsa's offense, which has been balanced, with 216.8 rushing yards per game and 291.0 passing yards per game. Defensively, Tulsa ranks 118th – third from the bottom – against the pass and gave up 722 total yards in a loss against potent Oklahoma State.
Beasley brings it: Junior receiver Cole Beasley had 158 receiving yards last week against Rice, a career high in his first 100-yard game. He also tied his career-high with eight receptions. Along with Aldrick Robinson's 148 yards and two touchdowns, it marked the first time SMU had two 100-yard receivers since last year's Hawaii Bowl.
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Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:38 am
