Dual-threat QB awaits Tar Heels

The numbers East Carolina quarterback Dominique Davis has posted this year have been impressive.

Through his first three starts, Davis has averaged 297 yards passing and three touchdowns per game while limiting his interceptions to just one per game.

But Davis’ path to ECU was not as smooth as the 2010 season thus far.

Once upon a time, Davis was being groomed as the heir apparent to Matt Ryan at Boston College and thought he would go down as the next great Eagle quarterback.

Though he lost the first post-Ryan quarterback competition to senior Chris Crane, Davis still saw snaps under center and became the starter when Crane was injured against Wake Forest. The young quarterback brought the Eagles to the ACC Championship Game.

And then disaster struck. Coach Jeff Jagodzinski was fired after the season and Davis was suspended for the next year due to academic reasons. Davis decided to transfer — and just like that, his career in Chesnut Hill was over.

Instead of pouting, Davis continued to work on his game at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas. Davis led Fort Scott to an 11-1 record, and East Carolina offered him a second chance at being a major college quarterback.

Under new coach Ruffin McNeill’s spread offense, Davis has blossomed into an accurate and dangerous passer capable of putting big numbers on the scoreboard.

“He’s a great quarterback, he’s very accurate,” UNC linebacker Bruce Carter said. “He puts the ball right where it needs to be for the receivers to catch it.”

The Tar Heel defense has not experienced a passer of Davis’ ability so far this season. But, cornerback Tre Boston says that they have noticed a weakness in game film.

“He likes to throw to his first check-down man,” Boston said. “If we can eliminate that first check, he likes to scramble and we have great defensive linemen and linebackers who are going to get there.”

Stopping Davis will be easier said than done. Thus far, the redshirt junior has completed more than 65 percent of his passes to a talented wide receiver corps.

ECU senior wide receiver Dwayne Harris is a speedy play maker who has burned defenses this season to the tune of 294 yards and four touchdowns.

“Every team we have played has had a good receiver,” Boston said. “I practice against Greg Little and you can’t get any better than that.”

What is worrisome to the UNC defense is not just what Davis can do with his arm, but what he can do with his legs.

Though he is typically a pocket passer, Davis has shown the ability to avoid defenders and extend plays with his running ability.

Still, defensive coordinator Everett Withers has schemed for mobile quarterbacks before and said Davis isn’t any different.

“It’s obviously a challenge anytime you have a quarterback who can tuck it and run,” Withers said. “We have to do smart things in our rush game, not just lose it up the middle, we want to make him go sideways.”

Even though the Tar Heels are still without six defensive starters, Withers has confidence in his young secondary against the East Carolina signal caller.

“We know he’s a good player and hopefully we’ll be up to the task of corralling him this week.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.