April 26, 2013

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State All-American defensive back Will Davis became the fifth Aggie selected in the NFL Draft in the past three years as he was taken in the third round with the 93rd overall pick by the Miami Dolphins.

Overall, Davis becomes the 18th Utah State football players selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft, including the fifth since 2003 joining wide receiver Kevin Curtis (3/74) in 2004, tight end Chris Cooley (3/81) in 2005, cornerback Curtis Marsh (3/90) in 2011 and linebacker Bobby Wagner (2/47) in 2012. All-time, Utah State has now had 115 players selected in the NFL Draft.

Davis is also the third Aggie ever to be drafted by Miami joining offensive lineman Shawn Murphy (4/110) in 2007 and running back Ron Holmes (15/423) in 1976.

Davis, a 6-0, 186-pound cornerback from Spokane, Wash. (Central Valley HS/DeAnza College) was named a third-team All-American by CBSSports.com, a fourth-team All-American by Phil Steele, an honorable mention All-American by SI.com, and earned first team All-Western Athletic Conference honors as a senior as he finished the 2012 season ranking tied for second in the nation in passes defended (1.69 pg) and tied for 17th nationally in interceptions (0.38 pg), as three of his five interceptions occurred in the red zone. Davis concluded the season with 17 pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, 4.5 tackles for loss and 64 total tackles (46-solo, 18-assist), as he ranked 35th in the WAC with 4.9 tackles per game.

As a senior, Davis registered five interceptions to rank as the most by a USU player since 2003, and those five picks came in consecutive games, which is the longest streak by a USU player since 1973. Davis also returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown against Idaho, which was USU's first pick-six since 2007. In all, Davis' 100 interception return yards in 2012 rank tied for the seventh-most in a single-season in school history.

Davis, who was named the WAC's Defensive Player of the Week twice in 2012, was the first player in 2012 to intercept Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron, who had an NCAA single-season record 444 pass attempts with an interception before being picked off by Davis.

Utah State had its most successful season in school history in 2012 as it went 11-2 and set school records for wins (11) and home wins (6), while recording just its second bowl win in school history with a 41-15 victory against Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. USU also won its first outright conference championship since 1936 and just its third in school history joining the 1921 and 1936 teams that both won Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles.

Nationally, Utah State was one of just 19 teams to finish the 2012 season with 11 or more wins and USU was one of just four teams across the country who did not lose a league game joining Ohio State (8-0) from the Big Ten and Kent State (8-0) and Northern Illinois (8-0) from the Mid-American Conference.

Utah State ended the 2012 season nationally ranked for just the third time in school history as it finished the year ranked 16th in the Associated Press poll, 17th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll and 22nd in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

Utah State also finished the 2012 season winning its final seven games, which is tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in the nation and tied for the third-longest winning streak in school history.

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