Southern Miss QB Davis rose from walk-on to star

You could say it is altogether fitting that quarterback Austin Davis leads the Southern Mississippi football team across five time zones to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

The most distant postseason site in the school’s history comes, in part, courtesy of somebody who was a long shot even to set foot in the Golden Eagles’ huddle.

Relegated to the seventh string when he walked on as a scrawny, unimposing freshman five years ago — and assigned to help out as a wide receiver on the scout team — Davis has helped lead the Golden Eagles to an 11-2 season, a Conference USA championship, a No. 21 national ranking and a date with Nevada in Saturday’s Hawaii Bowl.

In four seasons as a starter, Davis has gone 29-15, passed for 10,727 yards and 81 touchdowns and broken just about every school passing record that had been held by a Southern Miss quarterback you might have heard of: Brett Favre. This season he passed for 3,331 yards and 28 touchdowns, all of which helped Davis win the Burlsworth Trophy this month as the top walk-on performer in major college football.

Head coach Larry Fedora would like to tell you he saw any of this coming the first time he met Davis, but he can’t.

"The first time I looked at him he didn’t look like much to be honest with you," Fedora said.

"That was about all I thought about him until we got into winter workouts and this guy was out-hustling, out-competing and out-working a lot of guys. He was only a redshirt freshman and he already had a lot of guys’ respect, so I thought, ‘there must be something to this kid.

"Then he went out and won the (starting) job."

Not only that, he capped his redshirt freshman season leading the Golden Eagles to a victory in the New Orleans Bowl, where he was named the game’s MVP.

"So I think he is pretty special," Fedora said.

The 6-foot-2, 221-pound Davis not only hit the weights, he wore out video of the Golden Eagles’ new spread offense.

"I loved the game and I was interesting in finding out as much about the offense as I could," Davis said.

Good thing, too, because it was a world of difference from the wing-T option offense he ran at Lauderdale High in Meridian, Miss.

"We threw the ball about eight times a game," Davis said. Which was why scholarship offers were scant.

He followed an older brother who played baseball at Southern Miss to Hattiesburg, "just looking for an opportunity to play," Davis said. "Once I got here, everything just kind of fell into place. Coach (Fedora) brought in a new system from Oklahoma State that fit me well and I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good players around me and good coaches to help me get where I am."

Five years after making the uncertain trek to Hattiesburg, Davis had an opportunity to ponder the change of fortunes this fall when he got a police escort up Highway 49 to the banquet where he was named the outstanding college football player in the state.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.