This former Gamecock had a 100-yard performance in his second game with new NFL team

Breaking ankles and Eagles fans hearts.

That’s what one person wrote on Twitter about former South Carolina Gamecock running back Mike Davis on Sunday night.

In just his second game of the season for the Seattle Seahawks, Davis gained 101 yards of total offense as the team’s top running back. His performance was highlighted by a 22-yard run through the Eagles defense where he made a number of Philadelphia defenders look bad by running through and around them.

Davis had 16 carries for 64 yards and four receptions for 37 yards, for a total of 101 all-purpose yards. That’s the highest single-game mark for any Seahawks running back this year.

Not bad for a guy who was signed off the practice squad to the 53-man roster last month. Davis is making the most of his opportunity after C.J. Prosise was placed on injured reserve.

“I was on the practice squad for 10 weeks. I’ve been cut twice. There’s always a chip on my shoulder. I’m always angry,” Davis said.

Davis had an impressive 17-yard run on an option pitch from Russell Wilson.

The Seattle quarterback was scrambling, and well beyond the line of scrimmage when he was looking to move the ball as Philadelphia defenders converged on him. He found Davis, who showed patience and poise in reading the extremely-delayed option play, and not giving up on his responsibility to attempt to deliver a block, or just watching the elusive Wilson in action.

Davis fielded the pitch along the right sideline, crossed midfield and built up a head of speed and put the Seahawks in scoring position. Four plays later Seattle scored a touchdown.

While Davis was capable of the spectacular, what he primarily delivered was the steady. He was a workhorse running back and viable receiving option out of the backfield for Wilson and the Seahawks.

After the 24-10 win over the team that entered the game with the best record in the NFL, Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Davis “had some beautiful runs in the open field.”

Davis was a fourth-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2015 NFL Draft. He spent two seasons with the 49ers, playing in 14 games and rushing for 109 yards on 54 carries.

Davis was released by the 49ers in the spring and picked up by Seattle. In the preseason, he led the Seahawks with 106 yards rushing and caught five passes for 41 yards.

At South Carolina, Davis ran for 2,440 yards and 22 touchdowns on 454 carries in three seasons, playing as a true freshman before foregoing his senior season for the NFL. He also had 70 receptions for 755 yards and two touchdowns.

As a sophomore in 2013, Davis rushed for 1,183 yards with 11 touchdowns and was a second-team All-SEC selection. As a junior in 2014, he rushed for 982 yards and nine touchdowns.

Davis was famous before playing a down for the Gamecocks. That’s because his older brother James Davis was a star at Clemson, where he was the thunder component in the Tigers’ “Thunder and Lightning” backfield along with C.J. Spiller.

This story was originally published December 4, 2017 at 12:49 AM with the headline "This former Gamecock had a 100-yard performance in his second game with new NFL team."