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1999: The hard-hitting and experienced Gibson-who usually can be found wherever the ball is-was moved back to his natural position of strong safety (from linebacker) prior to 1999 spring practice and will start there as a 1999 senior. PAUL HACKETT SAYS: "David's position switch to linebacker last year turned out to be a positive move as he made a huge impact on and off the field for us. This year, he's back in a more natural position and we expect even bigger things from him as the leader of our secondary. He shows up all over the place. He's just a full-speed football player. From an efficiency standpoint, he's truly amazing. He's got tremendous instincts." 1998: Gibson started at weakside linebacker as a junior in 1998 and made a dramatic impact. Overall while appearing in all 13 games in 1998, he made 85 tackles (third on USC), including 7 for losses of 25 yards (with 3 sacks for minus 19 yards), forced 3 fumbles and recovered 3 other fumbles, broke up 5 passes and had an interception. He started 12 games (all but Notre Dame). He was a 1998 All-Pac-10 honorable mention pick. He was moved from strong safety in 1998 fall drills. In the Purdue opener, he had 7 tackles and recovered a fourth quarter fumble that led to a Trojan touchdown. He had a huge game against San Diego State, with 8 tackles (all solo), including 3 sacks, plus 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery, and was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week. Against Oregon State, he had 8 tackles and recovered his third fumble in as many games, then had 8 stops (1 for a loss) at Florida State. He returned a fourth-quarter interception 16 yards for a TD against Arizona State (he also had 7 tackles and 3 pass breakups). He had a game-high 12 stops against California, added 3 stops at Washington State, 9 at Oregon, 6 with a deflection against Washington and 8 at Stanford. He had 4 tackles at UCLA before being sidelined with a bruised thigh, which limited his action against Notre Dame to special teams (he notched 1 tackle). He made 5 tackles against TCU in the Sun Bowl before being sidelined with a concussion. 1997: Gibson was among USC's most pleasant surprises as just a sophomore in 1997 while starting 6 games at the rover linebacker spot (a combination linebacker and strong safety). He started the opener against Florida State (getting 2 tackles), then was benched and served as the backup to Antuan Simmons the next 5 contests (he played sparingly against Washington State and California, and didn't even record a tackle in those contests). But Gibson rejoined the starting lineup for the last 5 games based on his strong play off the bench and Simmons' move to strong safety. Overall while appearing in all 11 games in 1997, he made 66 tackles, including a team-best 20 for losses (tied for third in the Pac-10) of 75 yards (with 6 sacks for minus 36 yards), plus a Pac-10-leading 5 forced fumbles (2 each versus Oregon and Stanford, and 1 at Washington; 1 against Stanford set up a USC TD) along with 3 deflections. He led USC in tackles in 3 games (Notre Dame, Oregon and Oregon State). He was a 1997 All-Pac-10 honorable mention selection. He had 9 tackles at Arizona State (1 for a loss), then had game-highs of 13 (with 3 for losses) at Notre Dame (he played most of that Irish contest because of injuries in the secondary) and 9 against Oregon in his first game back as a starter (he added 3 sacks for minus 23 yards and forced 2 fumbles). He added 8 tackles (3 for losses, including 2 sacks), plus a forced fumble, at Washington, 7 stops (4 for losses, with a sack), 2 forced fumbles and 2 deflections against Stanford, a team-best 7 tackles (1 for a loss) and a deflection at Oregon State, and then 8 tackles (4 for losses) against UCLA. Gibson was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week for his outing against Oregon. 1996: As a first-year freshman, Gibson appeared in all 12 games in 1996 as a reserve safety and on special teams. Overall in 1996, he had 9 tackles (including 2 each against Penn State, Illinois and Washington). HIGH SCHOOL: He was named to the 1995 Bluechip Best of the West, Super Prep All-Farwest, Bluechip All-Western, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West honorable mention, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, All-CIF Division I, Los Angeles Times All-Orange County second team, and Orange County Register All-Orange County second team as a senior at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana (Calif.). He made 89 tackles with 1 interception in 1995 and had 72 tackles with 2 interceptions as a 1994 junior (Mater Dei was ranked the nation's No. 1 team). Current Trojan Lenny Vandermade also attended Mater Dei. He also was on Mater Dei's track and baseball teams. PERSONAL: He's a political science major at USC. He likes to play golf in his spare time. DAVID GIBSON ON: His knack for always being around the ball: "That's an instinct. I want to get to the ball and get as many tackles as I can, just go to the ball. I can't explain it." Hitting: "Hitting is just something that's in you. I just sacrifice my body. I don't have any fear of smacking a guy. It's some knack I have." His playing style: "I always liked the style of a (ex-NFL star) Chuck Cecil-type, just reckless. I don't have any player who I compare myself to, but I just loved the way he would fly around and make the tackles." His goal: "My goal is to become the best football player that I can, so that when it's all over I don't go away with any what ifs. I want to work hard at everything and improve my game the most that I can...I want to prove to the coaching staff that I'm a really good player and that I need to be out there every play." Moving to weakside linebacker in 1998: "It was fine with me. It was either split time with Grant Pearsall at safety or become a linebacker. To tell you the truth, it's a good position for me...I was used to covering receivers and covering a lot of space from my safety days, so it was an easy transition, playing a lot of pass coverage. I feel like that's my specialty...I was able to use my speed to get away from the linemen. But I'm not afraid to come up and smack someone in the mouth. When they were expecting me to run around them, I'd come up and smack 'em. That was an advantage for me...Being my size was an advantage and a disadvantage. I'm faster than the linemen, but they can get on me with their size...I worked hard to stay slim as a safety, so the move allowed me to eat more. I used to wake up and not eat breakfast, but after the move, it was three meals a day. Unfortunately, most of it was in the mid-section!" Being benched for 5 games after the 1997 opener: "It was weird. One game you're starting and everybody's talking about you. The next game you're not even playing. That's pretty tough...It was a shock. I didn't feel I had screwed up to lose the spot. It was a coaching decision that caught me off guard...It was real frustrating, something I didn't think would happen. So, any chance I got, I'd make the most of it because I wanted to earn the coaches' confidence. But it was tough to stay in the game mentally. I got resentful and asked myself, 'What aren't I playing?' But it was a good learning experience. Even though it's college, it's like work. There's competition. I've become a better player from it...It was kind of good in a way, because sometimes you take things for granted. You sit and think, 'Man, I need to be out there.' It puts a little fire into you. After that, I played with a lot more passion than I have in the past." His outstanding performance in 1997: "I don't really know how to explain it. I went out and played every play as hard as I could and things just happened...Things have never really been easy for me, but once I got my spot back, I held onto it. I felt I needed to make something happen to stop the coaches from doubting me. I had more confidence than I ever had. I hit a guy and the ball would pop out...There's nothing better than experience. The more you play, you can see things better, you just feel more comfortable out there." Golf: "I love golf. I'm really competitive at everything. You try not to be out there because it's supposed to be relaxing. It's not football. But if things don't go right, I get angry...During football season, I don't play much golf. I just don't have the time and my hands are usually so beat up that I can hardly hold a golf club." WHAT OTHERS SAY: Former USC Butkus Award-winning linebacker Chris Claiborne: "You expect him to make plays. He has a lot of speed and he's very tenacious. He needs to be on the field all the time." USC linebackers coach Shawn Slocum: "David Gibson makes plays, no matter what position he's at." DAVID GIBSON CAREER STATISTICS
DAVID GIBSON GAME-BY-GAME 1998 |
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