Strauss: Davis is a story worth rooting for/PD

Strauss: Davis is a story worth rooting for
• Joe Strauss

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/joe-strauss/strauss-davis-is-a-story-worth-rooting-for/article_4794dbbe-c4a4-56a1-b679-94e7afc66203.html

Folks frequently inquire if this space roots for their local team of choice. The honest response is that one roots for the story, whether it be the up-from-nothing bunch taking down Goliath, someone pulling off the miracle approach at the final hole or an everyman given up for dead defiantly returning to life’s arena. The race usually goes to the swiftest — at least, that’s the way to bet — but sometimes inspiration is also found up the track.

Sunday, as the Rams confront the Dallas Cowboys at the Edward Jones Dome, Austin Davis is a story.

If not for what Davis spearheaded last week in Tampa, the Rams would be 0-2 with an air of indifference awaiting their home follow-up to a 34-6 Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Davis didn’t throw a touchdown pass last week, but he did take the Rams on five scoring drives including a last-gasp march that allowed Greg Zuerlein to kick a game-winning field goal with 38 seconds left.

Davis is expected to start Sunday as Shaun Hill’s strained quadriceps still can’t fully support him. Coach Jeff Fisher is on record as buzzkill-in-chief, saying Hill reclaims the starting job when healthy.

Wonder what happens if the Rams emerge from Sunday 2-1?

Wonder what happens if Davis maintains his 142-yards-per-half rate while avoiding a spate of turnovers?

Wonder what happens if the Rams wake up tomorrow with a share of the NFC West lead?

Might some folks actually become interested in a team they booed off the field 14 days ago? Wouldn’t an alleged quarterback “controversy” be a welcome alternative to whether Rams ownership should call United or Mayflower to carry its colors to Los Angeles, Toronto or London?

Davis threw for 192 yards in one half against the Vikings and then completed 75.9 percent of his attempts without a pick against the Buccaneers in his first career NFL start. We now know the Bucs stink. But two weeks ago most said the same about the Rams. Sunday it’s OK to wonder aloud whether this former walk-on at Southern Mississippi who went undrafted in 2012 and was allowed to sign with the Miami Dolphins last autumn might be something novel, even special.

No one has to invent a story for Davis. His is good enough.

Davis became an “invited walk-on” at Southern Miss. He followed his baseball-playing brother, Bo, to Hattiesburg and was given a better chance to play third base than to line up behind center. Davis redshirted his freshman year. Head coach Jeff Bower resigned.

Upon Larry Fedora’s hire, the new coach was told Davis was the least promising of six returning quarterbacks. If Davis had a chance to play it supposedly would be at safety or wideout. Davis then played his way into a scholarship and became starting quarterback the next season.

“We weren’t at Oklahoma. We weren’t at Texas. We didn’t have a 4-star quarterback in the room,” remembered Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson, who served first as Fedora’s quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator during Davis’ four seasons with the Golden Eagles. “He didn’t come from a high school that featured its quarterback. But we saw talent and he got the system quicker than anybody there. He has tremendous football IQ and tremendous work ethic. It clicked.”

Anderson plans to attend Sunday’s game. He was expected to make the trek after Arkansas State’s game Saturday night against Utah State. Don’t count him among those stunned by last Sunday’s performance in Tampa.

“Austin is humble but he’s also very confident. You have a conversation with him and it comes across. He knows what he can do but he’s not boastful about it,” Anderson said.

Davis was a senior in Fedora’s fourth season and “probably knew the system better than me,” insisted Anderson. But Davis always arrived at meetings with legal pad and pen. He took meticulous notes even though he could finish Anderson’s sentences. “Most people would zone out, but not him,” his ex-position coach said early Friday afternoon.

Davis and Anderson share a faith. And the former walk-on was unafraid to hold his coach accountable more than once when competition brought out something unseemly.

“I let my kids know that I want to maintain witness all the time. I want perfection. A couple times I lost it on the offense. My language was pretty bad. And I remember Austin coming in the office telling me, ‘You don’t want to lose witness to these guys.’ He said it in a way that broke my heart because he was right. He did it exactly the way he should.”

Davis broke most of Brett Favre’s passing marks at Southern Miss. However, he never led Conference USA in a significant passing category, mostly because of Case Keenum, who signed with the Rams three weeks ago to back up him and Hill. Keenum threw for more than 5,000 yards in each of his final three seasons at Houston, where he became a local cult hero. Both were seniors when Southern Miss denied Houston a perfect season and a BCS bowl berth by rolling the Cougars 49-28 in the conference championship.

What Anderson saw in Hattiesburg has revealed itself in Earth City.

“You come from being a third-string quarterback, you step into a huddle with some pretty strong personalities, and he’s handled it terrific,” Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said on Thursday. “The guys respect him, and that’s what we’re trying to build in a next-man-up type deal.”

Fisher has remained emphatic about Hill’s standing since first asked the question moments after last week’s win. Schottenheimer is of the same mind, regardless of vox populi.

“Quite honestly, I don’t listen too much to what the public has to say,” Schottenheimer said about the debate-in-waiting. “Certainly I understand they all have opinions, but we go by what we see. We go by what we believe. We have a philosophy. You win a game, you lose a game, you move onto the next game. You prepare the best you can.”

Hill, 34, has started as many games the last four seasons as Davis. He is, however, more of a known quantity, albeit currently an injured quantity. He uses a quicker release to throw with more velocity than Davis. That’s what Fisher and Schottenheimer see daily.

The ticket-buying public saw Hill throw for 81 yards in a scoreless first half that included a hurtful second-quarter interception. It saw a team that bumbled through its Sept. 7 loss and win on a nerveless drive Sept. 14.

A story may expand or wilt Sunday.

A stinker could again send the locals scrambling for the exits before the fourth quarter. Or Davis could become the first Rams quarterback since Marc Bulger in 2002 to win his first two NFL starts. So you root for the story and maybe, just maybe this franchise again generates a blip of suspense.