Daviyon Nixon showing star potential on the field, and as a leader
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Right before our eyes it’s happening, one impactful play at a time.
Iowa defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon is seizing the moment and showing signs that he might reach his vast potential.
The junior from Kenosha, Wis., is showing why Alabama coach Nick Saban offered him a scholarship, and why Iowa stuck with him during his one semester of junior college.
Nixon is showing that he can be a disruptive and relentless force in the trenches.
He’s showing that teams might have to double-team him in order to contain him.
And he’s showing leadership, and a burning desire to win.
That was apparent in the fourth quarter of this past Saturday’s 21-20 loss to Northwestern at Kinnick Stadium when Nixon marched up and down the Iowa bench screaming at his teammates in what appeared to be a desperate and passionate plea for them to rise to the occasion.
It was impossible to hear what Nixon was saying from the press box, but it seemed pretty obvious.
He wasn’t just content from having played a spectacular game up to that point, Nixon wanted to win so much that his emotions caused him to speak out in the heat of the moment.
It was a powerful moment, even from a distance.
“I’m telling them we’ve just got to finish, it’s a family thing,” Nixon said after the game when asked what he said to his teammates. “Even on the sideline, we’ve got to stay together as a unit and stay together as a team, and we’ve just got to to finish.
“I need everybody participating and I need everybody hype up and I need all the juice from the sideline. We came out here for a reason and that’s to get the job done. When you’re out there, you’ve got to be out there in the moment, and you’ve got to love it.”
The 6-foot-3, 305-pound Nixon is taking his game to the next level, as they say, and his role as a leader.
It’s only been two games, but Nixon has been spectacular in so many ways; against the run, rushing the quarterback and pursuing from sideline to sideline.
Nixon is in a three-way tie for the team lead in tackles with 18, along with defensive back Jack Koerner and linebacker Nick Niemann.
It isn’t unusual for a defensive back or a linebacker to lead a team in tackles, but for a defensive tackle to do it is very unusual.
Nixon also leads Iowa with 5.5 tackles for losses and two sacks, and has forced a fumble. He also leads the nation in average tackles for loss with 2.75 per game.
Nixon was asked after the Northwestern game about having a breakout performance against the Wildcats, but he didn’t seem interested in talking about his individual success.
It was too soon after losing.
“It wasn’t enough,” Nixon said. “It just wasn’t enough. If we don’t get the win, I never feel like I did enough from a a defensive standpoint.”
That’s a great answer, even if Nixon is being too critical of himself.
Football is often described as the ultimate team sport, and the team always should come first.
If Nixon keeps performing at this level, he will undoubtedly draw the attention of NFL scouts, if he hasn’t already.
He flashed at times last season while appearing in all 13 games with one start.
Nixon seems to have everything that it takes from a physical standpoint to play in the NFL, but what has really stood out with Nixon this season is his motor, and his endurance.
He just keeps coming, and just keeps competing and grinding and scrapping and doing whatever it takes to win in the trenches.
“He certainly has grown,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday on a zoom conference with the media. “He’s practiced well and I think he’s played really well in two games.
“He clearly has worked his way into a starting role, a starting role where he’s impacting our defense in a positive way. And it’s the same thing off the field, so it’s just good to see. If we’re going to be a good team, we need those kinds of stories on both sides of the ball.”
Iowa had to replace both of its starting defensive tackles from last season, and to have one of those positions solidified with a star on the rise is an encouraging sign for a team, and for a program, that needs something positive to embrace.
The Iowa defense struggled in the second half against Purdue, but for the most part, has performed well enough for the Hawkeyes to have been in position to win their first two games.
And Nixon is a big reason why the defense is holding its own.
He’s flirting with stardom, but still has a ways to go heading into Saturday’s game against Michigan State at Kinnick Stadium, and he knows it.
Two games doesn’t make a star player, but it’s enough to know that Nixon has a chance to be special, as a player, and as a team leader.