ASU WRs ‘need to step up’

They were the one group singled out as having made the most improvement at Camp Tontozona.

Now, with the season underway, they are the one group singled out for lagging behind.

They are the Sun Devils wide receivers.

“Our rhythm passing game is the least to catch hold right now,” head coach Todd Graham said Tuesday. “It’s been all run, play action pass.”

Graham said the problem with their vertical game is timing.

“This is not something that happened last week (at Missouri). This is from Week 1,” Graham said.

“We’re under throwing deep balls because all of a sudden on game day we’re running at a different speed. You have to practice a timing offense full speed everyday; and that’s something that we have just not mastered yet.”

Yes, the system is new. Yes, many of the players are new.

Those excuses, however, are just that: excuses.

“We need to step up,” junior receiver Kevin Ozier said. “Teams have been pressuring us. They say our receiving group is the weakest link on the team so we just got to step up. When teams try to play us man and one-one-one, we just have to win our one-on-one battle.”

Through the first three games, Ozier has caught nearly almost as many passes as he did in 13 games last season. However, his eight catches rank him third-best on the team, behind a tight end and running back.

“It’s up to us to step up to the challenge,” he said. “We’re not going to back down. We’re just going to keep working hard.”

Both Graham and Ozier said the timing is getting better based on a good day of work Tuesday.

“We need to get that going,” Graham said, “because it is the thing that really makes our offense go.”