Southern Miss' Davis Earns AP All-America Honors
12/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss' Davis Earns AP All-America Honors
Rod Davis |
HATTIESBURG, Miss.
? Southern Miss linebacker Rod Davis can add one more honor to his already-decorated Golden Eagle career after being selected to the 2003 Associated Press All-America Team.Davis was a member of the AP's All-America Third Team. The 6-foot-3, 245-pounder from Gulfport, Miss., also was selected to the organization's third team in 2002.
With the honor, Davis now has been named to four All-America teams by various organization's including The Sporting News, Collegefootballnews.com and CNNSI.com. Davis has been selected to at least one All-America team for the last three years.
Davis was selected a first-team All-Conference USA member for the third-straight year and was named the Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He leads the nation in solo tackles, is tied for the top spot in total tackles, is tied for ninth in forced fumbles and is No. 18 in tackles for loss.
Davis accumulated 148 tackles in 11 games this season, averaging 13.45 tackles a contest. He has 103 solo stops, 17 tackles for loss, three sacks, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and three pass breakups. He posted a career-high 22 tackles against Cincinnati on Oct. 4, collecting four tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
Davis becomes the 13th Southern Miss player to be named to the AP All-America team in the school's history. He joins Adalius Thomas (1996-99) as one of only two players to be named to the AP team in two separate seasons.
The Golden Eagles have five players with All-America honors this season. Along with Davis, linebacker Michael Boley, kick returner John Eubanks, punt returner Marvin Young and placekicker Darren McCaleb have been named to various organizations' All-America teams.
Southern Miss, which finished the regular season with a 9-3 record and the Conference USA title, will face the champions from the Mountain West Conference, Utah, in the Liberty Bowl on Wed., Dec. 31, at 2:30 p.m.