The last time MSU sixth-year linebacker Ed Davis played Wisconsin, he was a redshirt-freshman. He recorded a tackle for loss in that game, and seemed to bring an extra competitive fire wherever he played, whether it was through his work on the scout team, his redshirt season or his 58 tackles his junior year as a starter.
The hype surrounding him prior to his knee injury that sidelined him for the entire 2015 season was substantial, as he was named to numerous award watch lists. Finally, with the long-awaited approval of the NCAA to grant him a sixth year of eligibility, Davis is back with the Spartans.
Now, Davis is finding his way into the full swing of things, re-working his way into the linebacking corps he was supposed to lead the previous year.
“It was real hard, me still not knowing if I’d be able to come back and play,” Davis said. “It was a tough process, but I persevered through it and in the end, God came through and gave me my chance.”
Davis didn’t see much of the field against Notre Dame despite suiting up, he only entered the game for one play. MSU head football coach Mark Dantonio said he wants his sixth-year senior to be fully healthy and not have to experience a situation like he had in the past.
“We just felt like he wasn’t quite there yet,” Dantonio said. “It’s a week-to-week thing. It’s rehab, it’s all these different things that are tied together, but he did play last week. If he’s capable of playing, he’ll be in that football game.”
Davis said he is fully capable of playing, and it showed with his teammates’ ecstatic attitude regarding his tumultuous ordeal with injuries and the NCAA.
“It’s a blast because we are all cheering for each other,” junior linebacker Jon Reschke said. “We know whoever is out there is going to make plays and we feed off each other. One guy does something well and we want to do it well, too.”
And with Wisconsin lurking and Saturday quickly approaching, Davis said he is ready to be back on the field, and with a gritty offensive rushing attack to face at the start of Big Ten play, it doesn’t get much better than a matchup with the Badgers.
“I got my wind back,” Davis said. “My strength is up to par, and I’m just tweaking some little things and getting back. I should be back to my normal self in no time. I hope to play a lot more on Saturday.”
With Davis ready to go, it further solidifies the strength of the MSU linebacker unit, which with the addition of Davis gets a fifth player that Dantonio has the potential to start or play in any situation. He already had that with senior Riley Bullough, juniors Chris Frey and Reschke, as well as sophomore Andrew Dowell.
Dantonio said he thinks it is a good problem to have, especially when trying to get Davis back into game conditioning and to his old playmaker self.
“I think the more good players you have, the better it is,” Dantonio said. “The more you can spread it around a little bit, keep people fresh, different packages, different things we can do to try to get him (Davis) involved.”
Above all else, Davis said he just wants to get back to playing football, and putting up stats like he did in his 2014 junior season, where he was an honorable-mention All-Big Ten selection and ranked third on the team in tackles for loss with 12 for 48 yards and in and sacks with seven for 33 yards.
“When I ran out there (against Notre Dame), my adrenaline was just rushing,” Davis said. “Kind of fast-paced, you know I didn’t know he was going to put me in at the time. I really couldn’t feel anything, I was so hyped up and my heart was going so fast that I just felt like I was out there on clouds.”
