NOTEBOOK: NO MORE PUSHING FOR DAVIS.Byline: BRIAN DOHN Staff Writer PASADENA -- Bruce Davis This article is about the American football player. For the American businessman, see Bruce Davis (video game industry). Bruce Davis (born June 21, 1956, in Rutherfordton, North Carolina) is a former professional American football player. pulled on his chin with his hand, flashed a huge smile and then did something incredibly out of character. He was held speechless. That, more than anything, told of Davis' satisfaction with his role as UCLA's weak-side defensive end. At 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, he is longer a target for opposing offensive coordinators looking to push Davis around so the running game can excel. Instead, Davis lines up wide so he can get past tackles with his speed, or create a gap for a linebacker to fill in stuffing the running game, and his dazzling ability was on display Saturday in UCLA's 31-0 blanking of Stanford at the Rose Bowl. Davis, a junior, had a career-high 2 1/2 sacks, forced a fumble and finished second on the team with six tackles. ``I'm in the best-case scenario right now,'' Davis said. ``They're using what I've got. It hasn't been like that in the past, and now it is. It's like, `Wow, I'm finally in the spot I've always wanted to be in here.' I'm getting a chance to do my thing.'' Davis credits first-year defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a football team in the National Football League or college football who is in charge of the defense. This position aids the head coach a great deal in many ways by delegating play calling to other coaches and allowing the head De- Wayne Walker Wayne Harrison Walker (born September 30, 1936 in Boise, Idaho) is a former professional football player and sports broadcaster. He played outside linebacker for the Detroit Lions for fifteen seasons from 1958-72. Wearing #55, he played in 200 regular season games as a 6'2", 225 lb. for putting him in the proper position on the field, and said Walker has also made him understand the importance of watching film. It is in that area Davis said he made his biggest strides in detecting weaknesses on opposing tackles. ``With a tackle, it's really footwork,'' Davis said. ``If a tackle has good feet, that's the hardest thing to beat. He has the same thing that you basically have. It's just that he's moving backward with it. I try to watch the feet. If they have bad feet, slow feet, I try to take advantage of them, manipulate them.'' Jerzy and Jess: With Chase Moline (herniated disk Herniated Disk Definition Disk herniation is a rupture of fibrocartilagenous material (annulus fibrosis) that surrounds the intervertebral disk. ) out and Kenneth Lombard now playing defensive end, true freshman True freshman is a term used in NCAA sports, indicating that an athlete is playing the sport in his first year of college, rather than redshirting for one or more years to protect future college eligibility. Jerzy Siewierski and redshirt freshman Jess Ward both played in the first half. Also: UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX defensive tackle Kevin Brown's first-half sack was his first since 2004. He missed last season with an ankle injury. CAPTION(S): photo, 6 boxes Photo: no caption (Trent Edwards Trent Edwards (born October 30, 1983, in Los Gatos, California) is an American football quarterback who starts for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bills in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Stanford. ) Box: (1) BY THE NUMBERS (2) HERO (3) GOAT (4) STAT OF THE GAME (5) UCLA (3-1) LOG (6) THEY SAID IT |
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