USU vs BYU

DEEP DIVE: Jalen Davis’ three interceptions

Jalen Davis will forever go down in Aggie lore.

 

 

The senior cornerback led the charge after Utah State found themselves down 21-7 to BYU early in the second quarter, tallying three interceptions and returning two for touchdowns in a defensive performance that was downright dominant. Davis seemingly took the game over, willing USU to reclaim the Old Wagon Wheel for the second time in four years.

Davis’ impeccable performance is impressive even to the most nonchalant fan, but a closer look at each interception reveals some of the finer details that showcase Davis’ incredible skill and ability while also revealing the performances of the rest of the defense that allowed Davis to have his career-defining day.

 

 

The first of Davis’ interceptions was the turning point of the game. Down 21-7 with 11:12 remaining in the second quarter, the Aggies had just put together a quality drive to BYU’s 21-yard line before Dominik Eberle’s field goal attempt was blocked by Corbin Kaufusi. BYU had scored 14 points on their previous two drives and the game looked to possibly be getting away from the Aggies.

The Cougars knew this as well as anyone else on the field. The playcall here is looking to gash the Aggie defense for big yardage. A play-action fake to RB Ula Tolutau, who had already gained 38 yards to this point in the game, was designed to pull the defense to the left side of the offense while QB Beau Hoge rolled out to the right, hopefully giving the sophomore plenty of time to set his feet and launch an air raid downfield. Only four receivers were available for Hoge to throw to on this play, with the deep route being a post route to Talon Shumway.

The deep route was well-covered by freshman cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram, who quietly had an impressive performance on Friday night. To further remove the route, immediate pressure off the rollout prohibited Hoge from being able to plant his feet and get any power or accuracy on his throw. Both junior LB Suli Tamaivena and junior DE Adewale Adeoye were unfooled by the play-fake and were immediately in Hoge’s face. This pressure took away several options from Hoge and forced the sophomore into a grave mistake that altered the course of the game.

Even with Shumway’s post route eliminated, Hoge still had three options. The second “chunk” play was to the right sideline for Jonah Trinnaman. The window would have been miniscule, however, with sophomore CB Cameron Haney blanketing Trinnaman on the play. That left two realistic targets for Hoge. The safe and correct read would have been to the “safety valve” on the play: TE Matt Bushman in the flat. This apparently never even crossed Hoge’s mind on the play, who was staring down Micah Simon on a crossing route the entire play. Davis’ primary responsibility on this play would be to stick with Bushman toward the sideline, and hope for the backside pursuit to prevent Hoge from pulling the ball down and scrambling for any yardage. Davis makes a gamble instead, reading the eyes of Hoge and drifting closer toward his passing lane to Simon.

The gamble is obvious. If Hoge glances toward Bushman, the Cougars are looking at possible first down yardage. But Hoge never takes his eyes off of Simon, who indeed has several steps on junior LB Chase Christiansen. Hoge, again, is unable to set his feet correctly with both Tamaivena and Adeoye both closing in, and his pass is several feet behind Simon. The pass ricochets off of Christiansen, who is entirely unaware of the pass while faceguarding Simon, and luckily bounces straight to Davis.

On the return, perhaps the only BYU player who could stop Davis’ march to the endzone is Hoge. Hoge is slammed by Tamaivena immediately following the throw, however, and is slow to get up. Davis’ speed is too much for Bushman to catch, and the 30 yards is not enough for Simon to close the gap, allowing Davis a free ride into the endzone.

The interception and subsequent return for a touchdown were instrumental in the Aggies completing their biggest comeback since rallying from a 21-point deficit versus Hawaii in 2011. The play revived what was becoming a nervous and dispirited crowd, also catalyzing the team to 26 unanswered points.

 

 

The wheels are already coming off for the Cougars, who have surrendered 20 straight points to USU and are facing a 3rd and 8 from their own 40-yard line. The issues compound here, as Detmer seemingly throws directly to Davis, who makes the easy snag and short return. Prior to the throw, however, Davis employs flawless positioning that results in the interception.

BYU is running a simple timing route here. The play is for WR Micah Simon to sprint just beyond the first down markers and immediately cut back to the QB. Ideally, the ball should be in the air before Simon even makes his break. In theory, there shouldn’t be any time for the defense to react to the throw and the Cougars should pick up their second first down of the drive and move into Aggie territory. USU calls a delayed blitz on the play, but Detmer gets rid of the ball before any effect can be had from the pass rush. It should be the perfect playcall.

As the defender, Davis has a decision to make. For the first several steps of Simon’s route, there is no distinguishing characteristics between the route being a simple vertical route or being the curl route that Simon ends up running. This will only be Detmer’s sixth career passing attempt, however, and Davis seemingly bets that the Cougars will not trust Detmer to make a deep throw on third down and jumps on the curl route. Davis’ decision is also backed up by safety Dallin Leavitt’s decision to bail out before the snap, retreating to 20 yards off the line of scrimmage to safeguard against any deep routes.

The cut route relies somewhat on the defender backing up in preparation for a deep route, which Davis already mitigates by jumping forward. Simon meets Davis at the first down marker and begins to make his cut back toward Detmer. Davis doesn’t budge on the play, giving Simon a slight bump off of his route. Davis has a right to the space he already occupies, thus negating any possible infraction for the contact. The bump sends Simon’s cut further outside the hashmarks.

Detmer throws before any contact between Davis and Simon is made. He’s throwing to a spot just inside the left hashmarks and is trusting Simon to make it to that spot in time for the pass to reach him. Davis’ strength, though, allows him to maintain his position, right in Detmer’s throwing lane. With Simon now removed from the play, Davis has no trouble grabbing the interception and returning it for a modest gain.

This interception came at a point in the game where the outcome very much hung in the balance. The Aggies had forced a number of turnovers to this point, but the offense had yet to completely capitalize off of them, allowing BYU to remain in the game. USU was again not able to score off this interception, but the turnover disrupted any momentum the Cougars were able to build and further depleted any confidence the Cougar offense had in themselves or from the coaching staff.

 

 

The play that will forever be rewatched and rehashed, Davis’ final interception was an immaculate display of communication and coordination in the Aggie secondary. The Cougars are on their last gasp here, down by two possessions with little more than three minutes remaining in the game. On third down and 10 yards to go for a first down, BYU knows it has to push the ball down the field. Utah State knows that, as well, calling a six-man rush with the remaining five defenders all camping at the first down marker.

The rush is not a simple straight rush. A planned stunt by the defensive line creates some confusion on the offensive line. Senior DE Ian Togiai capitalizes on the O-line’s uncertainty and creates pressure right up the middle with a forcible bull rush straight into Detmer. Baron Gajkowski removes any escape by circling behind Detmer on an outside speed rush, pushing Detmer up into the pocket and directly into Togiai.

Given the short amount of time, Detmer has limited options and has to completely ignore the right side of the formation. Leavitt jumps all over the tight end Matt Bushman, who settles down in the middle of the field, but still five yards short of the first down. That leaves two options for Detmer on the left side of the field, Aleva Hifo in the flat and Neil Pau’u running a dig route near the line to gain. Both are covered by a trio of Aggies: Davis, Cameron Haney, and Gaje Ferguson.

Davis is reading Detmer’s eyes the entire play, allowing Hifo to run to the flat largely unguarded. Davis, keyed in on Detmer’s eyes, signals to Haney for a switch. The communication is perfect, and Haney closes out on Hifo quickly, while Davis moves onto Pau’u. In the midst of the switch, Detmer releases the ball, aiming to squeeze the ball into a tight window to Pau’u beyond the first down line. With Ferguson and Davis clamping down on Pau’u on both sides, however, the throw needs to be perfect. With Togiai bouldering down, that is nearly impossible. Detmer’s ball is again behind his target, this time by several yards and straight into the hands of Davis.

Hifo in the flat is the only defender following the interception standing between Davis and his second pick-six of the game. Davis crosses Hifo over several times before Baron Gajkowski circles back after his pass rush to completely clear Davis’ path. From there, it’s Davis versus the BYU offensive live in a foot race, and there’s a clear favorite in that situation. The play completely crushed any hopes of a Cougar comeback and set the crowd into a frenzied that hasn’t been seen in Maverik Stadium since the Aggies’ upset of Boise State in 2015.

Jalen Davis had a career game versus BYU on Friday night. His performance will be remembered as one of the greatest in Aggie history, especially considering the situation. They stand as sermons of not only Davis’ amazing skill and talent, but of the entire Aggie defense.

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