SAN ANTONIO – A Houston-area native who dominated at the highest level of Texas high school football is preparing to suit up for the Roadrunners in 2024.
Dematrius Davis, a former Auburn and Alabama State quarterback, announced his commitment to UTSA on Friday morning.
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— Dee 💰 (@Dematrius02) May 24, 2024
Davis’ return to Texas comes at a precarious time for the UTSA program. The Roadrunners are entering their second year in the American Athletic Conference, a league searching for a new No. 1 in football with 2023 champion SMU joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.
They are also without their steady presence at quarterback. Schertz native Frank Harris had held the reins since 2019, but he decided to end his football career earlier this year. Harris threw for 11,858 yards and 92 touchdown passes over five seasons in San Antonio.
Davis attended North Shore High School in Galena Park, Texas, which is a 15-minute drive east of downtown Houston. North Shore, one of the Greater Houston area’s top high school football programs, was led by the sophomore Davis under center in 2018.
Despite being under six feet tall, Davis guided the Mustangs to a perfect 16-0 season that year. He also completed 71 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,350 yards, 49 touchdowns, and just two interceptions.
His most memorable moment, during an already legendary season, came in the final seconds of the 2018 UIL Class 6A Division I state championship game against then-undefeated Duncanville, a Dallas-area powerhouse, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Down 36-35 with three seconds left to play and snapping the ball 45 yards away from the end zone, Davis stepped forward and hurled a prayer 45 yards downfield. Davis’ teammate, wide receiver A.J. Carter, was there in the corner of the end zone to answer it.
The last-second touchdown pass gave Davis five passing touchdowns in the state title game, which tied a state record at the time.
Current UTSA associate head coach, passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Joe Price III was also Davis’ passing game coordinator at North Shore in 2017 and 2018.
Davis graduated from North Shore in 2021 and earned a scholarship to play football at Auburn. During his first season in the Southeastern Conference, Davis shared a locker room with two other quarterbacks who eventually went on to bigger and better things.
In 2022, Bo Nix transferred to Oregon, where a stellar 2023 season made him a finalist for the Heisman Trophy (45 touchdown passes, three interceptions) and a 2024 first-round draft pick (12th overall) by the Denver Broncos.
The other quarterback, T.J. Finley, transferred to Texas State following the 2022 season. In his one season in San Marcos, Finley set a program record for passing yards (3,439) and led the Bobcats to an 8-5 season and their first-ever FBS bowl victory in 2023.
Davis first transferred from Auburn to Alabama State for the 2022 season. He was utilized more as a passer and runner in 2022 (1,201 passing yards, seven touchdowns, four interceptions; 77 carries) before losing the starting quarterback job during the 2023 season.
With Harris gone, Davis joins quarterbacks Owen McCown and Eddie Lee Marburger on the Roadrunner roster. Marburger has played more of a reserve role on the team over his first three seasons.
McCown may have an early edge to earn the UTSA starting quarterback job in 2024. He completed 22 of 31 passes for 251 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in UTSA’s 35-17 win over Marshall in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl.
The victory capped off a 9-win 2023 season for the Roadrunners.