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Auburn Cornerback Davis Thinks He 'Could Have Did More' Against Clemson
Josh Vitale jvitale@oanow.com
Sep 13, 2017 Updated 11 hrs ago
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AUBURN --- It would be easy to look back at Saturday’s performance and say Carlton Davis struggled at times in Auburn’s loss to Clemson.
The home team scored only twice on the visitors’ defense at Memorial Stadium, but both those touchdown drives featured a pair of completions with Auburn’s No. 1 cornerback in coverage.
On the first, Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant hit Deon Cain for a leaping, 20-yard grab over the head of Davis down the right sideline on third-and-2. Later in the same drive, he hit Hunter Renfrow in front of Davis for 5 yards on third-and-5.
On the second, the junior quarterback found Ray-Ray McCloud open in front of Davis for a 7-yard gain and a first down on second-and-4. Two plays later, Bryant placed a ball perfectly over the shoulder of the same receiver for a 33-yard gain down the left sideline.
“I know there are some things I have to get better at,†Davis said after the game. “I fought, but at the end of the day, we didn’t get the win, so there’s some things I could have did more.â€
Kevin Steele, though, did not take any umbrage with the way his top corner played on Saturday.
“Everybody wants to say, 'Well, he had three catches on him.' Did anybody see the top knocked off the coverage? No,†Auburn’s defensive coordinator said Sunday. “They were contested throws. He was there and he was contesting and he was fighting.â€
Bryant finished the 14-6 victory over Auburn 19 of 29 through the air for 181 yards. He targeted 11 of those 29 throws at Davis and completed six. The junior corner also committed a pass interference penalty.
“There were some 50-50 balls. He was in great position a lot of those plays,†senior safety Tray Matthews said. “I just kept getting in his ear like, ‘Hey, you’re one of the best corners in the league. You got it. Just move on.’ With corners, you always have to have that mentality to just move on to the next play.â€
And Davis did make a number of plays. He broke up two of the passes thrown his way and also played a big role in holding the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Cain — a 724-yard receiver last season — to just two catches for 27 yards.
The 6-foot-1, 203-pound Davis was also stout in run support, as three of his team-high 11 tackles came on Bryant scrambles.
“They’re the No. 3 team in the nation. They’re going to have some plays,†Davis said. “We can only get better from here, and just know that down the road, plays like that won’t happen.â€
They haven’t happened much to Davis in the past. The corner played through some nagging injuries in 2016 and still produced at an elite level for the Tigers, allowing just 37 receptions on 64 targets for 517 yards and two touchdowns, per Pro Football Focus. He also broke up 10 passes.
And though he allowed those six catches on Saturday, Auburn’s pass defense still ranks eighth nationally allowing 96.5 yards per game through two weeks.
Even if Davis does think he could have done more.
“That's a hard position to play, a very hard position to play. And when you've got an accurate quarterback and good receivers, they're going to catch some,†Steele said. “The key to it is, I don't think anybody can say they saw his man wide open. I don't think anybody can say that they saw his guy running down the field uncovered. There wasn't no question who had the coverage, because he was right there.â€
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