Jaelen Strong: Sun Devils are still underrated at sixth in the country
Nov 13, 2014, 9:17 PM | Updated: 9:17 pm
The Arizona State Sun Devils are flying up the College Football Playoff rankings.
With wins over ranked teams in four of their last five games, including a convincing 55-31 victory over 10th ranked Notre Dame on Saturday, the Sun Devils find themselves just on the outskirts of the top four spots for the College Football Playoff.
The win over the Fighting Irish bumped ASU from ninth to sixth in the rankings, completing an eight-spot jump in the last two weeks.
But sixth won’t suffice for a team that has its eyes on that top spot.
“We still feel like we’re the best team in the country,” said Sun Devils wide receiver Jaelen Strong.
Strong was a guest of Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Thursday, and he said the team is far from satisfied with their improved ranking. In fact, the Sun Devils are only using the placement to fuel their fire.
“We use it as more motivation,” said Strong. “Ranked sixth is still being a bit of the underdog for us. We’re working every day, harder and harder. Our best practices come by the week, so we’re practicing better and better each week, so I believe we’ll do a lot better three or four weeks from now.”
The Sun Devils gave one of their best performances of the season on Saturday, putting up 412 yards of total offense while forcing a season-high five turnovers on defense.
Strong added to his own impressive season total in the victory, catching five passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. The performance leaves him with 62 receptions for 879 yards and tied for ninth in the country with nine touchdown catches.
But despite putting up gaudy numbers across the board, Strong said the rankings aren’t the only outlet ignoring the great play in Tempe.
“We still have something to prove to the whole nation,” said Strong. “ESPN still doesn’t give us the credit that we deserve. The nation still doesn’t give us the credit that we deserve. We just work for it.”
The Sun Devils’ next game is Saturday at 8:45 p.m. when they visit the Oregon State Beavers, and will be broadcast on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
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