USM linebacker Rod Davis led major

Conerly Trophy recipient Rod Davis is surrounded by media following the award ceremony.

college football with 116 solo tackles and led Mississippi media voting in the race for the 2002 Conerly Trophy Presented by Cellular South, which is awarded annually to Mississippi's best college football player.

USM's Rod Davis, the 2002 Conerly Trophy winner.

"I felt like I was at Tennesssee playing in front of 108,000," an excited Davis told reporters after the presentation."It just shows you that dedication and hard work can lead to a lot of great things."

The panel of 60 media voters representing radio,

Rod Davis

television and print outlets from across the state, chose Davis, a junior from Gulfport, MS, over a pair of repeat semi-finalist quarterbacks from last year: Jackson State's Robert Kent and Eli Manning of Ole Miss, who claimed the 2001 Conerly Trophy.

"It was a great honor to even be up here (with Kent and Manning)," said Davis. "Defensive guys never get the glory."

Davis was the first defensive player to win the Conerly Trophy in the award's seven-year history. Four defensive players had been voted into the Conerly Trophy finals in prior years, three of them from USM: Marchant Kenney (1996); Patrick Surtain (1997) and Adalius Thomas (1999) joined Mississippi State's Ashley Cooper (1999).

Davis posted 157 total tackles during the 2002 regular season, the 5th best total in NCAA Division 1-A. He averaged more than 13 tackles per game for the 7-5 Golden Eagles and his 23.5 tackles for loss set a new school record.

Kent and Manning,like Davis, are juniors and also had terrific seasons. Kent, from Indianola, MS, finished fourth nationally in NCAA Division 1-AA in total offense and sixth in passing efficiency.Manning, a native of New Orleans, LA, led the SEC in passing efficiency and total offense while re-setting several school records that he established last year.

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White , the head coach and general manager of the Arizona Rattlers in the Arena Football League, was the keynote speaker.

© Copyright 2001-2002 by Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Museum

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