On an 80 degree night in Lexington Kentucky, the Wildcats were on the verge of snapping a three decade long losing streak. Most will remember the Wildcats blowing two coverages that resulted in a long Tyrie Cleveland touchdown and the game-clinching touchdown pass to Freddie Swain but there was a freshman that Florida leaned on that night to grind out the clock.
Malik Davis was in just his third game at Florida and had only carried the ball five times before Florida's flight to Lexington. Davis had been a prolific rusher at Tempa Jesuit with 2,469 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns as a senior. Now, a freshman playing in his first road game he was leaned on. Davis carried the ball 21 times — still a career-high — and converted a crucial fourth down for the Gators. Davis would carry the ball 17 times the following week for 124 yards and two scores and three more weeks before a season-ending injury knee injury.
2018 brought a new head coach in Dan Mullen and a new opportunity for Davis, who before the injury had shown glimpses of the back he was in high school. Unfortunately, Davis took a back seat to LaMical Perine and Dameon Pierce before a broken foot ended his second season prematurely.
Davis has had a hard time finding a big role since then. He has yet to carry the ball more than nine times in a game in the last two seasons while returning from those injuries but heading into his final season, Greg Knox is seeing the old Malik Davis.
"I think his confidence, he's back to being explosive when he runs the ball and I'm seeing that as he hits holes," Knox said of Davis. "He is really dynamic through the hole and he's hitting it with speed and you can see the confidence factor that he has right now when he's hitting holes. Not only just his versatility but his ability to run powerful, break tackles, or make you miss."
Davis is a slasher. He plants his foot in the ground, cuts with impunity, and gets upfield. When you're playing on a surgically repaired foot and knee you start to question, every step, every plant, and cut. It's a natural reaction for a young man whose body has failed him in consecutive seasons but you can't play football that way. Davis has admitted that much but, three years removed from his last major injury he's not keen on rehashing that past. Brushing off a question with an annoyed look and, "I feel fine."
It's a genuine question but Davis' response is understandable. The injuries are part of his past. He's played in 23 of the last 24 games without an injury and, other than a late fumble against Texas A&M in 2020, has been productive.
“I think the main thing is just getting reps and knowing and being able to watch yourself and coach yourself. You know, when you’re sitting out, you're injured, you're not able to critique yourself and say what you would have done here, what you would have done there because you don't have any reps to look at," Davis said. "So I think being able to just look at myself and coach myself is the biggest thing.”
In a running back room with five capable backs, each one will need to find an edge to get on the field. Davis is one of the more dynamic players in a loaded running back room as well. His pass-catching ability is tops in the room and should give him an edge.
“I think, just coming in as a freshman and then learning and seeing that the game of football is changing, even at the next level, that’s what’s required from running backs," Davis said of his pass catching ability. "So I just took it upon myself to just work on that. That’s something that I take pride in just working on, because it’s needed and it definitely helps.”