Published by
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
By Jeremy Woo The steely sophomore has taken many in the sport by surprise—but not the staff at Wisconsin, who saw his potential when few did. Johnny Davis has something to show the officials. It’s a late January night in Evanston, Ill., Wisconsin leading Northwestern by five, emotions running high, and here’s his left thumb, drenched in blood after a foray into his upper nostril. Two plays ago, a wayward swipe struck a driving Davis across the face and drew no whistle. There’s your proof the National Player of the Year front-runner bleeds like everybody else. Davis waves his hand around for e…