By JAMAL THALJI and BRIAN LANDMAN
Published September 15, 2004
Jay Davis' first start for North Carolina State was Sept. 4, a 42-0 rout of Richmond. The former Clearwater Central Catholic star and Times 2000 county Player of the Year was 16-of-22 for 168 yards, throwing two touchdowns.
Davis is living his dream. And Saturday is the day he has always dreamed of.
The Wolfpack host No. 9 Ohio State at Carter-Finley Stadium in a game to be broadcast nationally at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
"I'm pumped," Davis said. "Any time you get to play a top-10 team, it's certainly exciting. I just can't wait to get out there."
What has gotten the 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior to this point - starting for the Wolfpack, succeeding first-round draft pick Philip Rivers - is his football mind.
But then it runs in the family.
His father, Countryside coach John Davis, is an offensive whiz and playcalling force in Pinellas County.
But dad swears his son is passing him by.
"He comes home now and we talk X's and O's and he's left me way behind," the coach said. "He's pretty sharp. When I talk to the coaches up there they're very impressed with his knowledge of the game. He studies it and knows it pretty well."
Davis said experience has been a great teacher. He redshirted in 2001, saw playing time in six wins in 2002 and backed up Rivers in 2003, when he played in the Tangerine Bowl.
"I definitely have gotten a little bit smarter as far as seeing the defenses," said Davis, 20. "Knowing what they do, reading all the pre-snap stuff that I didn't know in high school, I think that's the biggest difference from college to high school.
"I've just been a student of the game."
N.C. State coach Chuck Amato said Davis was impressive in his first start.
"He seemed awfully confident and awfully cool and he took control of not only the huddle, but the line of scrimmage," Amato said. "We're not going to ask him to do something that he may not be capable of doing, but he's been in this program now for going on four years, so he's seen it all.
"Whatever we give him, he'll absorb and be able to execute it."
Davis' father is noted for picking the minds of coaches coming through his door. Add Jay Davis to that list.
"I think he's tried to pick my brain, too," Davis said. "He does ask me some questions about what we're doing. It's kind of fun just to sit back and talk football with him.
"It's kind of been a hobby of ours for a long time now."
