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Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Recruit Davis hopes to impact Horns’ secondary

Davis_Lawrence
Lawrence Peart

Junior cornerback Antwuan Davis became the 14th member of the Longhorns’ 2013 recruiting class. The Bastrop Bears product hasn’t given up a pass through four games, establishing himself as a serious threat to opposing quarterbacks.

Every time the Bastrop Bears defense takes the field, University of Texas commit Antwuan Davis lines up at cornerback. Every time the offense snaps the ball, Antwuan Davis instinctively glues himself to an opposing receiver’s back hip. And every time Antwuan Davis looks for his opponent’s eyes to get wide at the sight of the ball coming their way, they don’t.

The ball doesn’t come toward Davis too much.

“He hasn’t given up a pass all year,” Bastrop head coach Gerald Perry said after Bastrop’s fourth game of the season, a 21-12 loss against Manor.


Davis is the definition of a shutdown corner. Opposing offenses rarely allow themselves to be frustrated by his sticky coverage — they simply disregard his side of the field altogether.

“They know better,” Anthony Davis, Antwuan’s father, added. “[Manor] said they were going to throw at him. They said they had something for him.”

That “something” amounted to Manor quarterback Christopher Johnson testing Antwuan Davis only two times during Friday’s game. Antwuan Davis deflected the first pass, slapping the ball away on a 5-yard curl, and chased down the second for an interception after Johnson overthrew his receiver.

Antwuan Davis’ prowess in the secondary hasn’t gone unnoticed. An Army All-American Bowl honoree, Antwuan Davis rates as the 10th best cornerback in the nation according to rivals.com. On May 4, Antwuan Davis became the 14th player of the 2013 class to verbally commit to Texas.

Despite the fact that Texas’ entire complement of cornerbacks will return for the 2013 season, Antwuan Davis is optimistic about his role with the Longhorns.

“I don’t know if I’ll start right away or anything, but I know that I’ll be ready to start if they ask me to,” Davis said. “I’m really excited about [next year].”

“I think he’ll fit in perfectly,” Anthony Davis chimed in about his  6-foot, 180-pound son’s place in the Longhorns’ secondary. “Physically, he’s already there. He just needs to work a little on his technique, and coach Duane Akina said he’ll fix that no problem.”

Akina, Texas’ defensive backs coach, personally recruited Antwuan Davis. Antwuan Davis says that his relationship with Akina played a large part in his decision to commit to Texas.

“I love Coach Akina,” Davis raves. “He and I talk a lot, still. He knows how to coach cornerbacks.”

For now, however, Antwuan Davis’ focus is on Bastrop’s six remaining regular season games. According to Davis, the 1-3 Bears have nowhere to go but up.

“This is the best we’ve played all season, offense and defense, both,” Antwuan Davis revealed after the Manor game. “We just let it slip.”

Clearly, Antwuan Davis’ principal concern is how his contributions can make the team better, even in the midst of a season filled with individually dominant performances.

“There’s things out there I can improve on, I’ve just got to find them,” Antwuan Davis said with a
knowing nod.

Perhaps he could start with getting thrown at more often.

Printed on Monday, September 24, 2012 as: Defensive recruit lights up receivers

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Recruit Davis hopes to impact Horns’ secondary