Carlos Davis Ineligible For Six Games This Fall, Ineligibly Played Last Season

Defensive back and special teams gunner Carlos Davis will have to sit out six games this fall. Why? Because it turns out he played, as an ineligible player, for six games this past year. From Hugh Kellenberger, arguably the most dastardly Enemy of the Cup™ in human history, at the Clarion Ledger:

Ole Miss self-reported the NCAA violation after Davis (then a freshman) played while, without the school’s knowledge, the ACT was reviewing his test scores. The testing center ultimately canceled those scores, making Davis a nonqualifier and ineligible for competition.

Wanna know the funny part? The ACT scores were cancelled in April, nearly three months after Ole Miss' final game (The BBVA Compass Bowl in which Davis was masterful on special teams by the way - seriously, he made just about every tackle on kickoff returns as he, largely unblocked, flew downfield to the returner). So Davis was ineligible for the season, something which wasn't established until after the season had ended, but for Ole Miss to avoid any real NCAA punishment, the school's going to go ahead and yank his eligibility for half of the forthcoming season.

Is this a big deal from an "ethics" or "NCAA rules" standpoint (I hate to even appear to be conflating the two, so please know that I am not)? Not at all. I'm pretty sure that, with this situation, what you see is what you get, and that there will be nothing more to come of this.

As for what impact it has on the team, we're already thin at cornerback, so any loss there hurts, and with Davis' reliable tackling in kick coverage now gone, we'll need someone to step up into that role as well.