St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher announced that former Southern Miss standout Austin Davis will be his starting quarterback moving forward.

Davis broke nearly all of Brett Favre’s passing records in his five-year stay at USM. Despite joining the team as a walk-on, Davis is still the school leader in passing yards and touchdown passes. He also shares the school record for the most touchdowns in a single game with six, a record sophomore quarterback Nick Mullens tied last year against UAB.

Incumbent starter Sam Bradford tore his ACL late in the preseason and is out for the year. With Bradford on the shelf, the Rams turned to veteran journeyman Shaun Hill as their new starting quarterback. However, Hill suffered a quad injury in their season opener, allowing Davis to get all the snaps.

Fisher had been adamant that Hill would be the team’s starter when he returned from injury, but Davis’ play forced Fisher’s hand into changing his tune. Davis has completed over 72 percent of his passes, an incredible feat in the NFL, while throwing for 754 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Davis’ best performance came in a 34-31 loss to the Dallas Cowboys when he completed 30-42 pass attempts for 327 yards with three touchdowns. For the first three quarters, he played nearly flawless, but two late fourth quarter interceptions cost the Rams the game.

Still, Davis has clearly shown Fisher enough to bench Hill, who is now healthy, and roll with Davis as the guy.

“We’re going to go ahead and start Austin for the remainder of the season,” Fisher said. “It’s not that Shaun lost the job. It’s that Austin earned an opportunity to keep it. Shaun understands. He’s a team player. In my parting comments with Austin, I told him not to look over his shoulder. So he’s going to take this team and run with it.”

Davis will make his third NFL start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles (3-1) on the road at noon.