Mocs DE Davis writes another success story

UTC defensive lineman Keionta Davis, right, tackles Wofford quarterback Michael Weimer during the Mocs' 31-13 win last season at Finley Stadium. Davis is off to a strong start in his junior season with the Mocs, who return to action this week by hosting Southern Conference foe Furman.
UTC defensive lineman Keionta Davis, right, tackles Wofford quarterback Michael Weimer during the Mocs' 31-13 win last season at Finley Stadium. Davis is off to a strong start in his junior season with the Mocs, who return to action this week by hosting Southern Conference foe Furman.

It's a familiar story.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team adds a defensive end on national signing day who was injured his senior season of high school. That player goes on to a standout career with the Mocs.

Only this time it's not Davis Tull, the former Moc who was named the Southern Conference defensive player of the year his final three seasons and is now a rookie with the NFL's New Orleans Saints.

It's Keionta Davis.

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Red Bank graduate leads the SoCon and is second in the Football Championship Subdivision with six sacks. The junior also leads the conference with eight tackles for loss, which ranks fifth in the nation.

"His focus is to be dominant," UTC defensive line coach Marcus West said. "I'm proud of him. Like the rest of those guys, he's self-made. He's got a lot of talent, but he's worked to get where he is. He's a lot like Davis (Tull) in how he was injured and received the opportunity to be here and has made the most of this chance and had success."

Davis tore his ACL in a noncontact drill at practice before his senior season at Red Bank even started. At the time of his injury, he was a member of the Times Free Press Dynamite Dozen, which recognizes the top 12 rising senior prospects in the area, and was drawing interest from schools such as Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee in addition to the Mocs.

He said the process of not knowing what his future held was tough, but UTC wide receivers coach Will Healy - who did most of UTC's recruiting of Davis - reassured him the Mocs were still interested. The coaching staff used Tull's success as a selling point to Davis, noting that the former walk-on was a freshman All-American at UTC.

"That's one of the things that got me, was them telling me about Davis (Tull) and how he went through the same process," Davis said. "Seeing his success here is something that I wanted to keep an eye on."

Coaches believed they got a steal when Davis picked the Mocs. Said Healy when Davis signed: "In a few years, people will be looking at Davis saying, 'Wow, how did Chattanooga get him?'"

How profound a statement.

"Keionta is a fine human being," UTC head coach Russ Huesman said. "He's a great kid, and when you can get that type of kid, to get a good player on top of it is icing on the cake. We knew he was a good player, we knew he was athletic out of high school, and it was fortunate for us that he was injured and didn't get a chance to play and kept a lot of people off of him (in recruiting)."

Davis earned his first conference defensive player of the week award after recording three sacks in the Mocs' 21-0 shutout of Presbyterian College on Sept. 26. The Mocs (3-1, 1-0) were off last week and return to competition Saturday with a home game against SoCon opponent Furman (3-2, 1-0).

"I think our defense is headed in the right direction. Last game was a stepping stone to where we want to be," Davis said. "We're not there yet. There's some things we need to fix, but we'll get there."

Before the season, Davis set a goal of 15 sacks in 2015. He's currently on pace for 16.5 in an 11-game season, which will assuredly cause him to garner more attention from opposing offensive coordinators as the season goes on. He said he's not concerned, because the rest of the defense "has got my back."

"They're going to be able to make the plays when I'm not able to," he said. "I trust and believe in those guys, and I know my time is going to come when I get my one-on-one or time to make a play, and I'm going to do that. I know they'll do the same. Trusting in your guys is all it takes.

"I'm working for 15 (sacks). I want it bad, I know I can get it, I just have to continue to play how I'm playing and help my team win."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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