Davis named First-Team All-American
- Updated: December 7, 2017
2017 EAST COUNTY FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE FOOTBALL STANDOUTS
From staff and wire reports
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State’s Jalen Davis, a product of Helix High, has been named a Walter Camp Football Foundation First Team All-American.
The nation’s oldest All-America Team was announced at The Home Depot ESPN College Football Awards Show on Thursday in Atlanta, Ga.
Davis, a former All-San Diego CIF first team performer as a defensive back with the Highlanders, is just the second Utah State football player to ever earn Walter Camp Foundation First Team All-America honors along with Phil Olsen, who won the award in 1969. Overall, Davis is just the ninth Aggie ever to be named a first-team All-American, and just the second defensive back joining Henry King.
All season long he stood on an island. Davis Island.
Now he is an All-American. #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/1tieyAbLJ2
— USU Football (@USUFootball) December 8, 2017
Davis, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior cornerback from La Mesa, earned first-team all-Mountain West honors as he finished the season ranking first in the conference and seventh in the nation with his five interceptions, and first in the conference and eighth nationally with his 18 passes defended (1.5 pg). He also ranked first on the team with his 4.0 sacks and was second with his 5.0 tackles for loss, while adding one forced fumble as he started all 12 games. He finished the regular season with a team-best 13 pass breakups and ranked 10th with his 32 tackles.
Davis, who was named a unanimous mid-season All-American and one of 13 finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award as the top defensive back in the nation, ranks tied for first in the nation with his three defensive touchdowns. He is also the only player in the nation with three interception returns for a touchdown and one of just three FBS players to have multiple interceptions in multiple games during the season. Furthermore, he is the first FBS player to have three interceptions and return two of them for touchdowns in the same game since 2012, doing so against BYU on Sept. 29. Davis also had a career-high four pass breakups against Hawai’i on Nov. 18, which ranks tied for the ninth-most in a game at the FBS level this year.
Davis leads a Utah State defense that ranks second in the Mountain West and is ninth in the nation with 26 forced turnovers, and ranks second in the nation with its 15 forced fumbles. USU’s defense also ranks tied for third in the nation with five touchdowns, and is third in the MW and 17th in the nation allowing just 181.8 passing yards per game. USU’s defense also ranks fourth in the conference and 49th in the nation in red zone defense at 80.0, as it has allowed its opponents to score on 32 of 40 trips, with 20 touchdowns and 12 field goals. And finally, USU’s defense ranks third in the MW and 17th in the nation in fourth down conversions at 39.1 percent.
Davis was also named a mid-season All-American by The Associated Press, ESPN, CBS Sports, and Sports Illustrated, as he was the only non-Power 5 player listed.
Other Aggies who have been named first-team All-Americans include C Elmer “Bear” Ward in 1934 (Newspaper Enterprise of America), HB Kent Ryan in 1936 (All-America Board), T Merlin Olsen in 1960 and 1961 (Associated Press, United Press International, Football Writers Association, Helms Athletic Foundation, Movietone News, Newspaper Enterprise of America), DB Henry King in 1966 (The Sporting News), DL Bill Staley in 1967 (Central Press, Time Magazine, The Sporting News), DE Phil Olsen in 1969 (Associated Press, United Press International, Central Press, Football Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise of America, The Sporting News, Walter Camp Football Foundation), DL Rulon Jones in 1979 (The Sporting News); and KR Kevin Robinson in 2007 (CBSSportsline).
This is the 128th edition of the Walter Camp All-America team – the nation’s oldest All-America team. Twenty-five players have been selected to the first team by the 129 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors. In addition, 25 players have been selected to the Second Team.
The 2017 Walter Camp All-America team members will be honored at the organization’s national awards banquet on Saturday, January 13, 2018, at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.
Utah State will conclude the 2017 season against New Mexico State in the third-annual NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl on Friday, Dec. 29, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Ariz. The game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.
