(Photo by Sam Rosenbaum)Dennis Rodman is arguably one of the greatest rebounders in basketball history.
ASU coach Todd Graham seems to be a fan of the American Hall of Fame basketball player, challenging his wide receivers to play like Rodman against Utah.
Save the funky hairstyles, face piercings and controversial off-the-court antics. That won’t fly under Graham. But his “bad boy” effort on the boards is how Graham wanted to see his receivers attack the ball.
Senior Rashad Ross and the receiving core played like bad boys Saturday in ASU’s 37-7 win over Utah.
Redshirt sophomore Taylor Kelly connected with nine different receivers, eight of which average double-digit yards per catch.
“Rashad did really good,” Graham said. “I thought he really attacked the football. Got some fade throws down the field. It’s what we’re going to have to do in this league to get people off of us. I was pleased with that.”
Ross led the group with five catches for 87 yards and a touchdown, putting his three-drop performance last week at Missouri.
He was rattled after he dropped the first ball thrown his way last week.
This time, he got off to a much better start.
Kelly found a wide-open Ross down field for a 38-yard touchdown on the team’s first drive. Ross made a nice move after he caught the ball, sticking a defender with a stiff arm before he reached the end zone.
“It was the same play last week where I caged off the guy and I raised my hand up,” Ross said. “(Kelly) threw it and I took my eye off the ball and I dropped it. This week I was like, ‘OK, don’t take your eye off the ball. Don’t take your eye off the ball.’ So I looked it in and once I looked it in and I turned around and I ran.”
Ross nearly dropped his second catch. He took his eye off a 29-yard back shoulder fade pass and bobbled the catch. It was originally ruled an incomplete pass but reversed after an official’s review.
“I was trying to score and then I realized I didn’t have it all the way,” he said. “So I looked back and tucked it in and make sure I was in bounds.”
Ross had as many catches and yards in the first quarter — two catches for 67 yards — than he had in the first three games. Ross had just two catches for 66 yards before Saturday’s game.
It placed ASU (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) at the three-yard line and helped the Sun Devils get off to a quick 14-0 lead.
Ross said the wide receivers were better prepared this week because they did the little things. He admits he wasn’t watching film when he was supposed to last week.
The group stayed after practice catching balls and running routes. Ross watched film with junior wide receiver Alonzo Agwuenu, who caught his first pass as a Sun Devil Saturday, for the first time since Camp Tontozona.
“If you go in by yourself, you have just one brain that’s telling you things that you can do differently,” Ross said. “If I have a lot of people around and they’re all commenting on what I did wrong or what I can do better, it really makes it so much easier to correct it.”
Along with Ross, junior tight end Chris Coyle collected five receptions for 62 yards and senior wide receiver had four catches for 59 yards.
With the consistency the offense received from the receiving group to compliment the running game, Ross doesn’t think there’s a team that can stop ASU.
“I thought they responded big time tonight,” Graham said. “I saw some guys attacking the football. I saw some guys getting after it and blocking down field. Seeing guys be physical putting it in there.”
Hall of Famer Rodman took every rebound as a personal challenge. At least on this night, the wide receivers answered Graham’s “bad boy” challenge.
Reach the reporter at mtesfats@asu.edu
