Michigan’s Davis Warren may not have the same experience as Texas quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning.
However, Warren’s journey is quite remarkable as he gets ready to start against the third-ranked Longhorns on Saturday.
“In a blink of an eye, you’re going through the 6 a.m. workout, where you can’t even lift the warmup weight,” Davis remembered. “And then before you know it, you’re in a hospital and someone tells you that you got cancer.”
In 2019, while he was at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, he was diagnosed with leukemia. He lost about 40 pounds and his hair, and went through chemotherapy, which left marks on his left biceps as reminders of his battle with cancer, which is now in remission.
He moved to Suffield Academy in Connecticut but lost his chance to play due to the pandemic, missing the opportunity to showcase his skills to colleges. Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh gave Davis a preferred walk-on position.
After spending three years backing up J.J. McCarthy and Cade McNamara, he won the starting role from Alex Orji this summer. He threw a touchdown and an interception in his first start for the defending national champions in a win over Fresno State.
Davis will start again for the 10th-ranked Wolverines (1-0) against the Longhorns (1-0) at Michigan Stadium in their first regular-season game between these two famous teams.
“I just count myself super lucky and blessed and and I’d say it just redefined a ton of things for me,” Davis said. “It’s hard to wake up and have a bad day.”
On the other hand, Ewers is in his third season as Texas’ starter. The former five-star recruit skipped his last high school season during the pandemic and started early at Ohio State, where he was on the sidelines and far down the depth chart behind C.J. Stroud.
