Grantland Article on USC, Mike Davis 1.0, & Mike Davis 2.0

Nice read.

Was painful to watch the RB's between Derek Watson and Lattimore on Saturdays.

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Didn't like him tearing down the first Davis

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agreed

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And I still think Lattimore when healthy is better than Davis

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Agreed.

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Didn't like him tearing down the first Davis so much like he did

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Glad you didn't sit near me in the stands during those years,

IMO the whole thing was 60% John Hunt, 30% the OL, and 10% Mike Davis. Hunt just seemed to struggle in most facets one look to in their OL coach: recruiting talent to the position, developing the talent, etc.

Davis was a high 3* RB prospect right in the backyard of USC out of Columbia High. He came to USC and quickly found himself tasked with starting duty as a true freshman with the dismissal of top RB Demetrius Summers and year-long suspension of #2 RB Cory Boyd.

It seems to be a paradox, but Davis' best year as a Gamecock came in that freshman season, while arguably his worst came his senior year. Mostly sharing carries in the backfield with various others on the depth chart, the overall RB unit fared poorly with the exception of the 2nd half of 2006, but individually Davis' production wasn't all that terrible:

2005: 146 carries, 666 yds (4.6 ypc), 5 tds
2006: 100 carries, 474 yds (4.7 ypc), 6 tds
2007: 114 carries, 518 yds (4.5 ypc), 5 tds


Compare with Marcus Lattimore's numbers:

2010: 249 carries, 1,197 yds (4.8 ypc), 17 tds
2011: 163 carries, 818 yds (5.0 ypc), 10 tds
2012: 143 carries, 662 yds (4.6 ypc), 11 tds

Now, to try to say that Mike Davis I's total rushing output was on a level with Lattimore's deserves derision. But look at their yds per carry averages. Also, Davis - let's face it - was a career back-up back, the #2 to a better option's #1. In 2005 there was no one else, so he HAD to be the #1 back. Lattimore would always be the #1 in most if not all situations...


But then look at Davis' senior season, in 2008:

2008: 163 carries, 573 yds (3.5 ypc), 3 tds


The entire team only rushed for 7 touchdowns all season long. SEVEN (7) TDS!?! That's absurd. They rushed for an average of 2.9 yds per carry, well below Davis' season average. No matter how bad Davis was in 2008, he was the best USC had at the time.

IMO the entire OL performance that season was atrocious, and it was already spiraling down from it's 2007 performance. The ability for the OL to create seams for the RBs to run through was pretty poor.

Mike Davis the 1st was not a very good RB in terms of making adjustments and finding daylight. He was a straight-ahead runner who made 1 or 2 quick lateral moves, and then lunged forward. He made his moves in the 2nd level - where the LBs are - not behind the OL. Brian Maddox was also like this. Cory Boyd was much better at making adjustments, but even he struggled often behind that OL. Lattimore was a bigger and more powerful back than both Davis and Boyd...

Once Hunt was gone and Wolford came in his lone year at USC, the blocking schemes and philosophy improved like night and day. We went to the zone read. Wolford assumed responsibilities in how the RBs and OL worked together (Run Game Coordinator), and the units began to work better together. I don't know if Hunt ever had any of that kind of responsibility.

The difference in 2009 was subtle, but also profound. USC was dead last in the SEC in rushing offense in 2008, and was again in 2009. But we gained 30 ypg rushing more than the previous year, and scored 12 rushing tds, 5 more than in '08. The problem was, the entire SEC as a conference gained 30 or so ypg rushing across the board, so while USC's rushing offense gained in the rankings nationally, it stayed put in the SEC. Davis was gone by then, but the top 3 RBs (Miles, Maddox, & Giles) averaged 4.5 ypc. Elliott replaces Wolford for 2010, Lattimore comes in, and USC hasn't come close to the rushing woes of the Hunt Era since...