Temple freshman Re’Mahn Davis has a game worthy of his Twitter handle | Mike Jensen
“They trust you with the ball on a fourth-and-1,'' Davis said. "It just shows they believe in me, and believe in my ability to go and get what we need to get.”
Temple freshman tailback Re’Mahn Davis has a great Twitter handle -- @MrHeisman7.
“Prep school, guys used to call me like a human joystick -- they used to call me ‘The Heisman,’ ’’ Davis said of the origins of the handle. “I kind of stuck with it. I’m going to change it, though, probably. I probably should change it.”
Maybe he’ll go with something generic, he said, just his name.
Some advice: Don’t be so quick to change.
Not that Davis is going to get in this year’s Heisman race. But whatever the new guy has done so far, it’s working. Temple’s plan against Georgia Tech Saturday hit the mark to a final tune of Owls 24, Visitors 2. The plan, Owls coach Rod Carey made clear, was to run the ball. By the end, the rookie had 135 yards and two scores on 29 rushes.
The game still scoreless, the Owls going for it on fourth-and-1 from Georgia Tech’s 18, Davis got the ball and took it left for the first score.
“Our team trusted me,’’ Davis said later. “They trust you with the ball on a fourth-and-1. It just shows they believe in me, and believe in my ability to go and get what we need to get.”
Davis hadn’t known his exact stats, he said, until he saw a text afterward from his father -- “you got 100.”
Davis brought up how Temple’s line really did the job in front of him, and Temple’s defense dominated, adding big plays.
“I saw them continue to play hard,’’ Davis said of Georgia Tech’s defense. “But they were arguing with themselves a lot, questioning certain stuff. Just keep our foot on the gas, let them argue with each other.”
His goal, stay in his place. Don’t try to overthink anything.
“Just a bigger stage, more people,’’ Davis of his adjustment to college.
Asked about Saturday’s interesting coaching matchup, Davis thanked Geoff Collins for the opportunity to be at Temple, since Georgia Tech’s head coach was in charge of the Owls when Davis was offered a scholarship out of Blair Academy (N.J.).
“Coach Collins is a great guy,’’ Davis said. “But I wasn’t able to get coached by him. My coach is Rod Carey, and I’m going to ride with him every day. I don’t play the whole revenge game.”
With the Owls now 3-1, Davis was asked about bouncing back from last weekend’s Buffalo loss.
“I think we were playing against ourselves last week,’’ Davis said. “We hurt ourselves, we shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times, had some key mistakes … We saw our mental mistakes, our errors.”
Learning from senior running back Jager Gardner, who had 69 yards of his own, has been a big key for the new guy.
“He’s been able to sit me down and say, ‘Listen, everything is going to be fast-paced, is going to come at your quick. Just take a deep breath, learn everything.'”
His role, Davis realizes, has gotten bigger. He didn’t say bigger than he’d expected right away. But you can’t expect to get so many carries so early in your career.
“I’m just trying to be able to handle it, and not make too many mistakes,’’ Davis said.
The veteran willing to offer insights to the rookie splitting time with him, by the way, that’s MVP stuff.
“It’s amazing,’’ Davis said, adding that he didn’t think most teams have veterans even talking to freshmen much. “Our guys embrace it.”
When Davis converts on short-yardage, what does that do to his head? (Or get 2 yards on third-and-3, then get the ball right back on fourth down, which is how it played out on his first TD.)
“It lets me know that I’m a downhill back,’’ Davis said. “A lot of guys try to put me in a category where I’m just side to side and I’m always a home run hitter, but I’m trying to show that I’m very versatile and I can go downhill and get the yards that we need to get.”
To be clear, that Twitter handle -- there’s nothing wrong with it at all.
“That’s the goal, right?’’ Davis said after his press conference, a new guy already getting a spot at the podium.