BC's Davis is quietly focused

By Adam Kilgore, Globe Staff  |  November 28, 2008

Rena Davis called her son last Saturday night, after the excitement had quelled and reality set in. Dominique Davis was the quarterback at Boston College now, suddenly thrust from the bench to the epicenter of the Eagles' most important game of the season.

"So," she asked her son, "are you ready?"

"Yeah," Davis said.

Rena didn't wait for any more words from the other end of the line. She knew that would be all her son had to say, even about one of the most important days of his life.

"He's a one- or two-word person," Rena said.

Davis is universally described as quiet, which should not be confused as shy or timid. Teammates once had trouble understanding him in the huddle, unable to hear his soft voice or understand his muffled Southern accent. When BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski and offensive coordi nator Steve Logan made a recruiting visit to his home, Davis's brother, Paul Clark, told them, "You will never know what Dominique is thinking."

His demeanor is by choice, a means of controlling situations when it seems he is lost in them. "He's an observer," Rena said.

Ready and waiting

Davis attended Kathleen High in Lakeland, Fla., a city that has produced oodles of elite athletes, many of whom became professional - including his brother, Chicago Bears tight end Desmond Clark - and just as many of whom wasted their talent. Davis studied why each arrived where he did and acted accordingly.

His preparation brought him to BC and, with Chris Crane's injury forcing the senior out for the season, to the leading role as a redshirt freshman. Davis will quarterback the Eagles tomorrow against Maryland, a victory separating the Eagles from the ACC championship game. Last season, Matt Ryan, an MVP candidate in the NFL this season, led BC to a similar game. Now it is Davis, who last week rescued himself with a game-winning touchdown drive after a forgettable start.

"This time, I'm ready," Davis said. "I'm expected to play this time. I've got a lot of pressure put on me, but it's nothing I can't handle. I think about this every day. Every day."

Davis acknowledged he was "overwhelmed" when he entered his first meaningful college game, but only in a physical sense; the speed of the game dumbfounded him. He nearly fumbled the game away, twice losing the ball and watching Wake Forest defenders scoop it up and bolt for touchdowns.

On the sideline, wide receiver Rich Gunnell worried. He lives with Davis, but he has never seen Davis mad; the closest he came was when Gunnell pretended to shut off his Xbox 360 in the middle of an NCAA Football '09 game. He can't tell when Davis is upset or happy. Gunnell saw a difference then, though.

"You could tell he was a little nervous, a little shaky," Gunnell said. "It hadn't really hit him yet - he's the guy now."

That changed when Boston College took over with 4:57 remaining in the fourth quarter, the ball resting on the BC 30. Davis's heart whirred like the needle of a sewing machine, but he tried to display a calm urgency in the huddle. He thought to himself, "All we need to do is get a first down."

His expression remained blank and constant, as it always does during games. On third and 5, he rifled a 10-yard out to Brandon Robinson. "We're rolling now," he thought.

Familiar look

In Lakeland, Paul Clark watched Davis complete the play on television, then the camera zoomed in on his brother's face. He recognized that look. He had seen it during Davis's senior football season, when Kathleen faced Lakeland High, a team stocked with many players who later played for the University of Florida.

Davis led a go-ahead touchdown drive against a virtual Florida JV squad. The lead, and the game, was taken away when Chris Rainey - currently a freshman at Florida who is regarded as one of the fastest players in college football - ran for a long touchdown in the final seconds.

But Davis engineered the improbable drive, and he had only been playing quarterback for two seasons. Davis did not play his sophomore year at Kathleen, and he played wide receiver or tight end growing up.

His coach, fed up with inconsistent quarterbacks, asked the team if anyone could throw during spring practice. Davis sheepishly raised his hand. He beat out teammate Antwon Murray, now a cornerback at Boise State. Davis had a natural rocket arm to match his calm demeanor.

Now, with BC driving against the Demon Deacons, Paul Clark saw the same focus. He turned to his wife.

"It's over," he told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He has that look in his eye."

In Chicago, Desmond Clark leaped out of his chair and hopped up and down, rooting against his alma mater for the first time. Clark graduated from Wake Forest in 1999, and he felt torn, but chose his brother over his school. He stood and watched Davis march down the field, completing a 36-yard pass on third and 13 to Gunnell.

"It was one of the proudest moments of my life," Clark said.

Aside from the summer when Davis was 9 and lived with Clark at Wake Forest, Clark spent scant time with Davis, too occupied with college and the NFL. Of Rena's four boys, though, Desmond and Davis are most alike.

"If me and him are riding in the car for a 30-minute ride, there's probably not going to be a whole lot of talking going on," Desmond said. "And both of us are comfortable like that."

Actions speak louder

In coming to BC, far away geographically and culturally from Lakeland, Davis challenged his own reticence. Kathleen High produced a radio program about its football team. One night, they finally brought the star quarterback on as a guest. Afterward, the host turned to him. "My, Dominique," the host told him, "I didn't know you could talk."

Rena Davis once had to teach Davis how to speak to strangers - lock eyes, clear, confident voice. Now she notices him talking more, smiling more, and revealing the braces he has worn for two years. He chose communications as a major; his mother asked him, "So that means you've got to talk more, right?"

"I thought BC was one of the best places to go," said Drew Taylor, Davis's basketball coach at Kathleen. "It's a great culture change for him. He wants to grow up and mature out of his shell."

Davis chose BC over Boise State and Middle Tennessee State - and basketball. Taylor believes he could play basketball at BC. During one play at Kathleen, Davis soared to the rim, bumped chests with an opponent, then dunked over him. Fans rushed the court; officials took five minutes to clear the floor. Taylor almost saw him show some emotion after that play.

Still, though, the scholarship High Point - a Division 1 school in North Carolina - offered him owed mostly to his outside shooting ability.

"He's not as athletic as me and Desmond were," Paul Clark said. "When people see you've got a quarterback coming from Florida to Boston, they think you've got this Michael Vick-type of guy. He's so far from that. Dominique is a guy that can sit back and throw 30, 40 times. Just because he comes from Florida and his brother is in the NFL, they think this guy is an athlete. He's a drop-back passer who can take off if he has to."

He proved as much on the final drive against Wake Forest, the last pass he threw settling into Robinson's arms at the 1-yard line before he sneaked in for the winning score. In only two days of practice, teammates say, Davis is more vocal, more assured. They no longer lean in and strain to hear him in the huddle. "We're very confident in him," guard Clif Ramsey said.

Davis knows best how he will perform tomorrow on national TV, what will happen underneath his steady veneer, and how it will affect him. Maybe - even among those who understand him most - only Davis knows.

"Even now," Paul Clark said, "he's a mystery."

Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com