Record Day for QBs Davis, Moore and Keenum

While Keenum and Moore were expected to put their names in the NCAA record books Saturday, Davis did so with a remarkable show of accuracy for East Carolina at Navy.

Davis completed his first 26 passes to break a record held by Tennessee's Tee Martin and California's Aaron Rodgers — heard of him? — and led the Pirates to a 38-35 victory.

Davis also set a record for most completions over more than one game. He had completed his final 10 passes against Memphis last week, so his stunning first half against Navy gave him 36 completions in a row — breaking the NCAA mark of 26 set in 2004 by Rodgers, now a star with the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.

After going 26 for 26 for 251 yards before halftime, Davis' streak ended when he misfired on his first attempt in the third quarter. He finished 40 for 45 for 372 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Funny thing is, it wasn't until he reached the locker room that Davis learned just how special his numbers were.

"I had no idea until after the game," the 6-foot-3 quarterback said. "When they told me, I was like, 'Wow, really?' It's amazing, but when you do your job and put the ball in your receiver's hands, that's what happens."

In Houston, Keenum became the Football Bowl Subdivision's career leader in total offense, throwing for 376 yards and tying his career high with six touchdown passes in No. 21 Houston's 63-28 win over Marshall.

The senior quarterback needed 130 yards to eclipse the record (16,910 yards) set by Chang from 2000-04. He moved past Chang on a 30-yard pass to Justin Johnson with 3:56 left in the first quarter.

Keenum completed 24 of 28 passes — 15 in a row during one stretch — and also crept closer to the major college football career records for passing yards and touchdown throws. He needs 802 passing yards to move ahead of Chang's record (17,072) and five TD passes to eclipse the mark (134) set by Texas Tech's Graham Harrell from 2005-08.

Houston coach Kevin Sumlin awarded the game ball to Keenum at midfield, where the Cougars gathered behind him. Keenum turned to his teammates and hoisted the ball.

At Boise, Idaho, Moore threw three touchdown passes and No. 5 Boise State beat Air Force 37-26 to give the senior his 45th career victory as a starter.

That put him in a tie with the former Texas star McCoy for the most wins all-time by a college quarterback. His second TD pass of the day, a 19-yarder to Matt Miller, gave him 122 for his career and pushed him past former BYU quarterback Ty Detmer for fourth best all-time.

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Davis Sets 2 NCAA Records as ECU Beats Navy 38-35

Davis connected on all 26 of his first-half throws to extend his streak of pass completions to 36 straight over two games, and the Pirates rode his record-setting performance to a 38-35 victory over skidding Navy on Saturday night.

Davis broke the single-game record of 23 straight completions, set in 1998 by Tee Martin of Tennessee against South Carolina and tied in 2004 by Aaron Rodgers of California versus Southern California.

Davis completed his final 10 passes against Memphis last week, so his stunning first half against Navy gave him 36 completions in a row — breaking the NCAA mark of 26 set in 2004 by Rodgers, now a star with the Green Bay Packers.

"I hope he calls me and tells me congratulations," Davis said. "Aaron Rodgers is one of my favorite quarterbacks because he's a guy just like me, coming from a junior college and going to D-1. Now he's in the NFL doing great things. It's an honor."

After going 26 for 26 for 251 yards before halftime, Davis' streak ended when he misfired on his first attempt in the third quarter. He finished 40 for 45 for 372 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Funny thing is, it wasn't until he reached the locker room that Davis learned just how special his numbers were.

"I had no idea until after the game," the 6-foot-3 quarterback said. "When they told me, I was like, 'Wow, really?' It's amazing, but when you do your job and put the ball in your receiver's hands, that's what happens."

Coming into the game, the Pirates led the nation with 23 turnovers. In this one, East Carolina (3-4) didn't give the ball away.

But the game wasn't decided until Navy's Jon Teague hit the right upright on a 42-yard field goal try as time expired. Seconds earlier, a leaping Matt Aiken had his hands on a potential touchdown pass, but lost his grip on the ball as he came down in the end zone.

"I thought he broke the plane and went down with the ball," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "But that doesn't matter; they called what they called. We have to make that field goal."

Navy (2-5) has lost five straight, its longest skid since 2002.

"This is a tough loss for this team and this program," Niumatalolo said.

The Midshipmen trailed 31-21 with 14:53 left before backup quarterback Trey Miller threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Turner and a 37-yard strike to Matt Aiken for a 35-31 lead with 7:51 to go.

Davis then moved East Carolina 77 yards in 15 plays, a drive that ended with Reggie Bullock's third TD of the game, a 1-yard run with 2:14 remaining.

Bullock ran for 104 yards; Lance Lewis had nine catches for 80 yards and a touchdown; and Danny Webster had six receptions for 81 yards for East Carolina.

Davis entered with a 68.5 percent completion percentage this season, and he has completed at least 30 passes in six of his last nine games. A junior college transfer, Davis threw for 3,967 yards and 37 TDs last season and completed 64.5 percent of his passes.

Many of his 26 first-half completions were short flares, but nine of the those passes resulted in double-digit gains, including a 33-yarder to Webster and a 23-yarder to Andrew Bodenheimer.

"That's our offense. We take big shots, we take little shot, whatever," Lewis said.

Navy starting quarterback Kris Proctor was knocked out of the game with a left elbow injury with 7:01 remaining in the second quarter. Proctor was hit in the pocket by Matt Milner, who was penalized for roughing the passer.

Miller came in and lost a fumble three plays later. Davis then orchestrated an eight-play drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Michael Bowman for a 14-7 lead.

After a Navy punt, Davis completed six straight passes around a 3-yard run by Bullock and Michael Barbour kicked a 35-yard field goal as the half ended. Barbour earlier missed field-goal tries of 43 and 32 yards.

Navy's Marcus Thomas took the second-half kickoff 90 yards to cut the gap to 17-14, but a 1-yard touchdown run by Bullock restored the 10-point cushion.

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Al Davis Memorial Game a sell out

According to Insidebayarea.com, this Sundays match-up between the Oakland Raiders and the Cleveland Browns has sold out.  This marks the first home game since the passing of team owner Al Davis last Saturday.  This also marks the third straight sell out for the Raiders this season, and the first time since 2008 that the Raiders have sold out 3 consecutive games. 

“We encourage our fans to enter the stadium earlier than they might otherwise to join with us in a moment of silence preceding the national anthem,” Raiders CEO Amy Trask said Thursday.  There will be a halftime ceremony for Davis as well as video tributes throughout the game. Trask said many former players plan to attend.

Raider head coach Hue Jackson commented (that) “Obviously it’s going to be a huge deal for our team and a huge deal for Coach (Davis),”  Jackson said. “The thing is about winning. We have a game to win this weekend.”

The Raiders are 3-2 and scored a dramatic and emotional victory over the Houston Texans last Sunday in Houston, the day after Mr. Davis passed away at age 82.

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Thomas, Davis Don’t Travel With Team

After going through most of the week fine, rookie running back Daniel Thomas has appeared to hit a snag in his rehabilitation from his hamstring injury suffered during training camp. Cornerback Vontae Davis is also still suffering also from a hamstring injury suffered during the Week 2 game against the Houston Texans.

Both players did not make the trip to San Diego with the team today, and were left behind in Miami. Both Davis and Thomas were ruled questionable for Sunday’s game.

Davis failed to get on the practice field all week, but Thomas has just recently reaggravated his injury, only practicing on a limited basis Thursday, and not practicing at all on Friday.

Now it looks like second yet corner Nolan Carroll will get his second career start this weekend, as well as Reggie Bush and Lex Hilliard getting increased reps as well with the absence of Thomas.

Thomas not being able to suit up seriously limits the Fina ability to pound the ball between the tackles, something everyone but Thomas has struggled with this season. Look for Hilliard to get some of the carries as a running back, with Charles Clay as fullback, if Bush and newly signed Steve Slaton cannot get things going on the ground.

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Davis: Fitzpatrick’s guts, not smarts, leads Bills

Published: September 21st, 2011 | Tags: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buffalo Bills, Charles Davis, NFL Total Access

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Kudos to the Bills for their 2-0 start. But we know two weeks doesn’t make a season. So the question heading into Week 3 is whether this version of the Bills is any different than any of the teams who haven’t come out on the winning end against the Patriots since 2003.

For some perspective, consider George W. Bush was in his first term as President, Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez was 14 years old and Creed was winning music awards.

These Bills are led by Ryan Fitzpatrick. He’s a Harvard grad. He reportedly scored a 48 on his wonderlic exam. We’re convinced he’s pretty smart. And, as Fitzpatrick goes, so generally go the Bills.

But beyond his smarts, NFL Network analyst Charles Davis says it’s Fitzpatrick’s gritty-gutty style not only epitomizes his offense, but the tough, nothing-to-lose approach is part of what has led to the Bills’ recent success.

“His guts are what defines this offense. This is a guy who (the team) wants to follow because of how tough he is in the pocket and the plays that he makes,” Davis said after checking in with Bills offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins. “This team feels pretty good about itself because the guys who we’re talking about scoring touchdowns, these are guys are who were late draft picks and undrafted free agents who have a lot to prove. They’re not going to walk into New England with any fear. They think they can go out and make plays.”

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Panthers’ Davis tears ACL for third time

Published: September 19th, 2011 | Tags: Thomas Davis, Carolina Panthers, Jon Beason

Thomas Davis certainly is willing, but it appears his right knee is determined to undermine his NFL career.

The Panthers linebacker confirmed Monday via Twitter that he has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee for a third time in less than three years.

“I would like 2 take the time and thank every1 that has supported me over my career,” Davis tweeted. “Unfortunately, I have re torn my acl. Thx 4 da prayers!!”

The Panthers’ linebacker unit already was reeling after the loss of star MLB Jon Beason, who tore his Achilles’ tendon in the season opener. Their depth issue at the position only grows more dire with Davis’ exit from the picture.

Despite ACL tears in November 2009 and June 2010, the Panthers were confident enough in Davis’ health to give him a five-year contract extension this summer.

The Panthers made Davis the 14th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. His best season came in 2008, when he finished with 113 tackles, 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

– Dan Hanzus

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49ers’ Davis suffers ankle injury

Published: November 21st, 2010 | | Tags: Delanie Walker, San Francisco 49ers, Vernon Davis, Week 11 injuries 2010

The 49ers, trailing 21-0 at home to the Bucs, are running out of time to stage a comeback. And any rally will likely come without Pro Bowl TE Vernon Davis.

The team announced midway through the fourth quarter that Davis is questionable to return with an ankle injury. If Davis isn’t able to go with the 49ers in desperation mode, it must be a serious injury.

Davis’ impact on the stat sheet has been minimal; he has one reception for 3 yards.

Delanie Walker is currently in the game for the 49ers.

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