Reggie Davis has done a lot of overcoming the past few years.
No matter how difficult things appear to get for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running back, he seems to come out stronger on the other end.
A broken hip his sophomore season of prep football? He came back to rush for more than 800 yards with an average of 6-plus per carry as a junior at Percy Julian (then Robert E. Lee) High School in Montgomery, Alabama.
Then, in May 2020, his close friend Jamari Smith drowned in a lake at a state park near Auburn. Smith, who was about to be a freshman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and was going to play football for the Blazers, was a grade ahead of Davis.
"That's my dawg, man," Davis said of Smith. "We're related but we're not related. We grew up together, got baptized together, did everything together in little league and stuff, we didn't get to play too much football together. So his senior year of high school, we had to put that together and finally got to play against each other before he left us."
Davis came back stronger as a senior and was a finalist for AHSAA Class 6A back of the year in recognition of a season that included a 354-yard, three-touchdown rushing performance.
He signed with UTC in January 2021, joining a group of running backs that at the time included: Tyrell Price, who would be a sixth-year senior that fall; Gino Appleberry, who had played in 12 games as a Western Kentucky freshman two years earlier before transferring; Ailym Ford, who had been a 1,000-yard rusher for the Mocs as a freshman in 2019; and Lance Jackson, who would rush for 135 yards and two touchdowns in a game as a freshman that spring during the pandemic-delayed Southern Conference schedule.
It was always going to be hard for a first-year college player to find early playing time in that group, but it was equally hard for eyes not to gravitate to the ability and skill Davis showed in practice.
A former UTC personnel staff member once said that the prototypical running back should be 6 feet tall and weigh at or around 200 pounds in order to be able to absorb the punishment a ball carrier takes over the course of a game and a season. Davis is 6-0, 195, with shiftiness as well as speed.
He broke off a 30-yard run in the first game he appeared in for the Mocs, against Wofford in November 2021, then missed all of last season. Finally healthy entering this season, Davis logged one carry in the opener at North Alabama before an upper-body injury sidelined him for the next six games.
He made his return last week against East Tennessee State, a 34-3 win in which the Mocs improved to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the SoCon, and they're nationally ranked in both Football Championship Subdivision polls (15th by coaches, 17th by media) as they prepare to visit Virginia Military Institute (3-4, 2-2) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Now back, now healthy, Davis is ready to fulfill the word that floats around him: potential.
"I say it all the time, that Reggie is going to be a back to come through here that a lot of people remember," senior All-America edge rusher Jay Person said. "His first year here, he was on his way, and we've seen little spurts of it. We know he's going to be special for us here and for years to come."
Said UTC coach Rusty Wright: "Reggie has got a chance to be special."
Davis finally, finally got his opportunity last week, rushing for 68 yards in the Mocs' win over the Buccaneers. He should continue to receive more opportunities with Ford out after recently undergoing surgery for an ACL tear, but make no mistake about it: Davis is ready to prove everybody right who raves about his potential.
"Last year, just getting back into the swing of football. I couldn't play, but I knew I still had to get back into the swing of it for this year, and it was a big obstacle in my life, but I put God first and he led me through the whole way," Davis said. "I'm happy for the chance. I'd rather Ailym to be here with me, because our room is very talented and all, and it would have been scary seeing all of our running backs on the field at once, but now we've just got to go get what he was chasing and finish the season right for him.
"I'm just ready to get out there and ball. I've just got to come in to work every day, just put in my work, put God first and let the work I've put in show."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.