Hearing his alarm clock blare every morning two summers ago at 6 a.m., a Muncie Central High School senior football player constantly faced a decision most would rather not contemplate at the crack of dawn.
On one hand, he could take the easy road and remain locked underneath his covers in his air-conditioned room. But the Bearcat, determined to fulfill his dream, continually forfeited his summer sleep to lift weights and run wind sprints when most of his peers were still asleep.
In Ball State University's season opener against Northeastern University on Thursday at Scheumann Stadium, Davyd Jones will collect the benefits of his hard work. The sophomore middle linebacker will start his first college football game in his own back yard, five minutes from the field he used to play at on Friday nights.
"It's a great opportunity to play in my hometown and in front of my home crowd," Jones said. "It's a great honor to play for Ball State, and there's a lot of emotion. It makes me appreciate all that extra work during the summer before my senior year and after my senior year to just prepare myself for this next level."
The wind sprints he ran under the watchful eye of his high school speed coach have aided much of Jones' early success.
Measuring 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Jones doesn't have the stereotypical girth for his position. He's more than 20 pounds lighter than the Cardinals' other three starting linebackers, but it's his speed in the middle of the field that caught the eye of coach Brady Hoke.
"He's a guy who can run," Hoke said. "He's not the biggest guy in the world, but when he brings it, he brings it."
Jones said the biggest difference between the college and high school games is the speed that events occur on the field. The game is more complex, Jones said, and it's more of a challenge to be aware of the entire field at all times, especially at the middle linebacker position.
Even at a young age, Hoke said, Jones' best attribute is his willingness to be a student of the game.
"The big thing with Davyd is his work ethic," Hoke said. "I think how he approaches the game and how he goes into a meeting and how he wants to learn and absorb as much as he can are all positives. He works and studies the game."
Jones' emergence has come at the expense of fifth-year senior Wendell Brown, who redshirted last season with a torn pectoral muscle after serving as the team's starter at middle linebacker in 2006. Brown would have been the Cardinals' lead returning tackler last season after recording 83 in 2006, but Hoke said the linebacker hasn't regained the form he had as a junior.
Brown, who is slotted as third-string for Thursday's season opener, said it's a blessing for him to be back in the pads playing with his teammates. However, he's found it difficult to acclimate him with football after taking more than a year break from the game.
"I'm still knocking rust off, honestly," Brown said. "It's been a very hard process. Coming back and having to get back into the swing of things and the flow of things, I'm still just taking it one day at a time. I'm trying to just get myself back into the flow of things."
Hoke said Brown will begin the year playing on special teams but added it's too early to know how much of a factor the former starter will be at linebacker.
In the meantime, Jones will be expected to serve as a major cog in Ball State's attempt to solidify its run defense. It's a responsibility Jones said he embraces with open arms and has focused on since first becoming aware he was the starter following spring practices.
Though he has reached his goal of starting for Ball State, Jones said, he'll have plenty of time the next couple days to continue dreaming as he anticipates Thursday's season opener.
"It's going to be high [Thursday night]," Jones said, predicting his emotions as he takes the field. "It's going to be crazy through the sky."
Jones bioPosition: Middle LinebackerYear: SophomoreGames played: 13Tackles: 23Best game: Had a career-high five tackles against Rutgers in the International BowlHigh School: Muncie Central
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