USC game provided ‘a glimpse’ of what ASU WR N’Keal Harry can do

While Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry called the acrobatic one-handed catch he made against the Trojans the best of his career, there is still much to be seen from the Sun Devil.

“I feel like it was a glimpse of it,” Harry told Bickley & Marotta on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station on what he brings to the football field on Tuesday. “I feel like I’m the type of player that plays with a tremendous amount of heart, a tremendous amount of passion.

“It doesn’t matter what the score is, how many balls I’ve caught, how many yards I have. I’m going to go out there and give it my all until the clock ticks down to triple zeroes.”

Through eight games, Harry has caught 46 receptions, including his highlight-reel catch, for 667 yards (14.5 yards per catch) to go with six touchdowns through the air.

But that’s not all.

In addition to his receiving totals, Harry has also scored a rushing touchdown this season and really turned on the speed when he took a punt return 92 yards for the score against USC.

#ASU retakes the lead with this 92-yard punt return for a TD by N’Keal Harry. 31-28 Sun Devils. pic.twitter.com/rY9phLsapj

— Maxwel Madden (@maxwelmadden) October 27, 2018

The return earned him Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors and was the third longest return in program history.

And while he was certainly happy with the way he played, beating the Trojans — and the way the Sun Devils did it — was more important.

“It was definitely special for me, going into that game I was 0-2 against USC so that’s something I really took to heart,” Harry said. “And winning the game like that in the coliseum, it’s really big, especially with a lot of our guys being from California. It was really a great moment for our team.”

Behind Harry and his two scores, the Sun Devils (4-4, 2-3) took home a 38-35 win over the hosting Trojans (4-4, 3-3) on Saturday.

Now that the rest of the world has caught a “glimpse” of Harry, the real question is when, not if, the wide receiver will be suiting up for an NFL team in the near future; something Harry isn’t quite thinking about just yet.

“I just think about my teammates and how much work we put in,” Harry said regarding the NFL talk and seeing other college players ending their seasons early with the NFL Draft in mind. “I’ve sacrificed so much with these guys over the past couple of years and I feel like it would be kind of disrespectful if I were to tap out, to give up on them.

“It’s really a team thing. I know they depend on me, I depend on them and we have each other’s back always.”

And while the USC win was a big moment in Harry’s ASU career, the junior isn’t relishing in the moment.

“Before the season, our goal was Pac-12 Championship, Pac-12 Championship and at this point of the season each game is crucial to achieve that goal,” Harry said of the team’s goals. “We need to win every game and every game is extremely important so it’s like that Game 7 kind of mindset.

“We go into every game with an extreme amount of focus and we know how much is at stake when we go out there.”

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