After coming up a fumble recovery and an interception in the 31-24 come from behind win over Utah State Saturday night, senior linebacker Kevin Davis has been named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week, the conference announced Monday.
The Fountain, Colorado native recorded seven tackles in the win to along with the fumble recovery, interception and one quarterback hurry. Davis’ interception came with 47 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, with Utah State driving in an attempt to tie the game. It was the second interception of Davis’ career.
“Don’t drop the ball, it was too wide open, my thoughts were just don’t drop the ball, and get down,” Davis said about the interception following Saturday’s game. “It was a relief. It was something we needed as a team.”
Davis helped spark CSU’s comeback effort in second half one play after the Rams cut the lead to seven. Senior cornerback Tyree Simmons forced a fumble one play after the score as Davis recovered the fumble — it was his second career fumble recovery. The turnover resulted in an Izzy Matthews 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
Davis’ quarterback hurry came on the a third-and-three, forcing Utah State quarterback Kent Myers out of the pocket and stopping the Aggies drive. The ensuing CSU drive resulted in a game-winning 10-yard touchdown run by Matthews.
Davis was named to the Butkus Award watch list earlier in July, an award annually given to college football’s most outstanding linebacker. Davis also to the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list in October, which honors college football’s best defensive player in character and performance.
On the year, Davis has 58 tackles, 32 solo. He recoded a season high 17 tackles against the University of Colorado and has 3 sacks on the year.
Davis and CSU (3-3, 1-1 MW) will be on the road this week as they travel to Boise, Idaho, to face No. 15 Boise State (5-0, 2-0 MW) Oct. 15 at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN2.
Collegian sports editor Chad Deutschman can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @ChadDeutschman
