ILLINOIS DEFENSIVE END EATS LIKE A NOSE TACKLE

As yours truly incorporates the periodic surfing for college football stories into the usual task of making stuff up developing cutting edge NFL rumors and opinion, I’ll be looking for stories that would be of broad interest to the casual college football fan.And since I’ve been to more than a few tailgate parties up the road in Morgantown, items regarding the ability to consume foodstuffs without restraint or moderation definitely strike a chord.According to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com, Illinois defensive end Will Davis spent the offseason ingesting 6,000 calories per day in an effort to gain 15 pounds."They checked my body and found out that I lose about 2,000 calories in a day not doing anything,” Davis said.And so the answer to his weasel-style metabolism was to continuously cram meat and dairy products into his gullet."Because I lose weight so fast, I could eat really anything,” Davis said. “I just went to the supermarket and just filled my refrigerator up with a bunch of steaks, just eating those every day."(Hmmm. “Amateur” athletes can afford “a bunch of steaks”?)"And also protein shakes,” Davis said. “I was throwing ice cream in it and things like that, and that was hitting about 1,200 calories just in one shake. I was drinking those about three times a day, too, just straight out the blender."Somewhere, Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton is cursing. And slobbering.But now that Davis has made it to his goal of 264 pounds, he has cut back. To a meager 4,000 calories per day.Keep an eye on Davis. He had 9.5 sacks in 2007, and he’s on the watch list for the Ted Hendricks Award.