GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Shawn Davis is everything you want in a safety.

The Gators defensive back played with a physicality and an aggression that fits right into Todd Grantham's defense.

On the very first play on Saturday, Davis got the ball rolling, recording his first tackle of the game by tackling Jaylon Moore for a five-yard loss.

“It felt kind of good just to set the tone on the defense with the first play," said the South Florida native. "Get everybody hyped up after the play, and then we’re just getting after it.”

"I thought he's been pretty good," said Gators head coach Dan Mullen. . You know, for a position for us that's so thin in the secondary because of injuries, you've got a guy suspended, we've had guys transfer, we've had guys have career-ending injuries, we've had season-ending injuries. It puts a lot of pressure on the guys back there. But he's stepped up. I love rolling guys through; those guys have played a little extra plays. But I think he's handled it pretty well."

It was a long time coming for Davis.

As a freshman, Davis saw most of his time spent on special teams. Moving forward to last season, an injury sidelined him for a month, and he slowly became another role player - it looked like Brad Stewart was going to jump him on the depth chart.

It was certainly not an ideal way to start his Florida career.

However, something began to click for Davis.

“Towards the end of last year, I just want to say I got really comfortable with the game,” Davis said after Florida’s 45-0 win over UT-Martin. “I feel like the confidence boost that came from that was, they saw something in me that I didn’t really see in myself. It made me feel like ‘Oh, since they see it in me, I have to play to a higher level’.”

Davis finished the game with a team high six tackles. So what changed? According to the junior, Ron English has made the biggest impact on his game.

“He just bash in our head that he knows that we can be big-time players,” Davis said of English. “So we’ve got to act like it and play like it all the time.”

This is the mentality Mullen preached in his post game press conference on Saturday night. With depth concerns in the secondary, Davis has emerged from a role player to a leader, simply because of his determination and his new found confidence.

“It’s not that easy, but I feel you should be ready to play just by coming here. We’re DBU, so I feel you should be ready to come here and play in a big-time game,” Davis said. “I know that I’m getting older, so I just got to play at an older-guy level, knowing that young guys are looking at me.

“It feels good to me, knowing I’ve been working hard. Now it’s starting to pay off, staying healthy more and just trying to overcome some of the things I have overcome.”