First and 10, ball at the 30-yard line.
Arizona State senior wide receiver Rashad Ross received the play call from the sidelines during 11-on-11 and ran to the boundary side.
Lined up across from him, Arizona State junior cornerback Robert Nelson crept closer to the line of scrimmage to defend Ross.
Expect nothing short of a physical battle when these two guys go at it at Camp Tontonzona.
Nelson jammed Ross at the line of scrimmage, but Ross kept fighting down field. The two pulled each other out of bounds 10 yards away from the line of scrimmage.
“We’re friends off the field, but when we’re against each other, we’re enemies,” Ross said.
Nelson and Ross have provided some of the most aggressive action among the wide receivers and cornerbacks this fall in attempt to make each other better.
The mutual agreement began at the start of fall camp. Nelson wanted to go against the fastest receiver on the team and Ross wanted to work against someone know for jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage.
“Robert’s been getting the best of him out there,” coach Todd Graham said. “He’s getting him out of his game. They’re out there chicken fighting. Ross can’t let him get out of his game. But they’ve been going at it really well and that’s what we want to make each other better.”
Nelson transferred last year after two seasons at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. When the Warhawks played the Sun Devils in 2009, Nelson told one of his teammates at the time he was going to transfer to Tempe.
“The fans were incredible,” Nelson said. “I felt like it was home. I don’t know why but I felt like I was supposed to be on the other side of the field the whole game.”
He received a scholarship at the last minute under Dennis Erickson and played on the scout team last year. Nelson said facing wide receivers like Gerell Robinson and Mike Willie everyday built his craft as a corner.
“He’s real physical,” senior linebacker Brandon Magee said. “That surprised a lot of people because of his size and he’s fast. When you get the fast, undersized corners, they like to stick and move. But him, he’s real aggressive.
Magee nicknamed the 5-foot-10, 167-pound cornerback “Little Revis”, in reference to New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. Nelson is the nickel corner in the team’s 3-3-5 defensive scheme, but lately he’s received first team reps with the absence of junior cornerback Osahon Irabor.
“He’s been really locked in during our meetings and really paying attention to technique,” Cornerbacks coach Joe Lorig said. “He’s really bringing competition to that corner position because the more competition you have at a position, it brings those other guys to rise up and compete as well and perform.”
Just like Little Revis, Ross has recently started with the first team this week. He was limited at the start of camp with a shoulder injury. Wide receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander said Ross has shown toughness this week bouncing back from the injury.
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation 200-meter indoor track champion had a good week of practice, which included two 80-yard touchdown catches Friday.
“I think he’s on pace to have a big time season,” Alexander said. “I think we’re putting the work in. We still got about 13 days before we play. We got a lot of work to put in and I think through repetition, he’s going to continue to get better and give us exactly what we want.”
During the skeleton portion of practice, Nelson once again showed press coverage against Ross. He fought threw it to make a bobbling 10-yard catch on an out route.
“I know he wants to be a starter, he’s batting for that spot right now,” Nelson said. “I told him I’m going to push him everyday and I want him to push me everyday – going at it, hitting and everything. I told him I’m going to make him the best as long as he makes me the best everyday.”
In two positions where Arizona State needed players to step up, Nelson and Ross have answered the call so far in fall camp.
Even a better sign for the Sun Devils -- both know they’re not done improving.
