Hattis reflects on playing old teammates, Hodges evaluates strong season

Entering the 2021 season, for what felt like the first time in a long time, the Arizona State Sun Devils had a strong, confident, and poised offensive line with veterans who knew what to do and how to play with each other.

One of those returners is second-year Sun Devil, graduate student right guard Henry Hattis, who transferred from Stanford ahead of the shortened 2020 season. With an opportunity to face his former Cardinal teammates vanquished last year due to the team’s COVID-19 outbreak, the veteran offensive lineman relished in the opportunity to battle his old friends in the trenches.

“It was very satisfying for me,” Hattis recalled. “I was looking forward to (ASU v. Stanford) for two years. Last year we had them on the schedule, but everything got all mixed up, and I got the chance to come back again for another year and saw them on the schedule, so I’ve had that one circled for a little while, and it felt pretty sweet.”

“It was weird; it was almost like a practice in some sense because I’ve been going against those guys for so long. I knew what they had, and I’m sure they knew what I have. They were super physical, which was fun to go against, and we had a lot of fun.”

It’s safe to say that Hattis wasn’t the only member of the offensive line that had fun last Friday, however, as the Sun Devils rushed for 255 yards total on the evening. Three different rushers scored, including junior quarterback Jayden Daniels, redshirt junior running back Rachaad White, and redshirt freshman receiver Elijhah Badger.

Badger, a standout receiver who did not play in his freshman season in 2020 due to academic ineligibility, has touched the ball just four times in 2021 across the duration of his Sun Devil career. Against Colorado, the second-year Sun Devil made a forgettable six-yard reception, his first catch for ASU. His next touch was much more spectacular, a designed end-around play that saw him trot into the endzone from 17 yards out for his first career touchdown.

The fireworks continued for Badger two weeks later against Stanford, as the redshirt freshman logged another catch, a career-long for 19 yards, as well as another touchdown on the same designed end-around play, this time for 21 yards. The end-around was designed by offensive coordinator and touchdown technician Zak Hill, and Badger’s touchdown seemed to be the talk of the town this week, particularly amongst the offensive line.

“(Runs out in space) are great. Any time you can get out in space and bully those DBs around a little bit, that’s a lot of fun,” Hattis, who sealed a crucial block on Badger’s endzone dash, shared. “It’s also nice knowing we can trust our skill guys to make plays out in space. Any time Coach Hill dials those plays up, we get pretty excited on the offensive line for sure.”

“One of my favorite parts about blocking is pancake blocking someone and (my teammate) scores,” graduate student left tackle Kellen Diesch, who made important blocks on both of Badger’s scored, said. “I love setting up for the score, so one of Elijhah’s touchdowns would have to be my favorite.

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Staying on the line of scrimmage, one of ASU’s breakout stars also happens to be one of its most experienced. Graduate student tight end Curtis Hodges, who hails from Mesa, currently leads the team in receiving yards through six games in 2021.

After numerous years of inconsistent contributions, Hodges finally broke the seal of success against Arizona last November, scoring a 74-yard touchdown reception that put the veteran tight end into motion. In three of six games, Hodges has eclipsed 50 receiving yards, with his season and career-high coming last Friday against Stanford. He’s logged 257 receiving yards, one yard more than standout junior wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. On a team full of talent that can catch the ball, Hodges takes pride in his steps towards being one of the most consistent options.

“I think I’ve taken big steps,” Hodges said, evaluating his performance thus far. “Now it’s just about being consistent; that’s the biggest thing. Being consistent every week and showing up and getting better. (I’ve been able to) play faster, grow my connection with Jayden much stronger, and as well as growing with the linemen, so we are all on the same page.”

“I never really had any personal goals as far as yards or receptions or anything like that, but I wanted to grade out high every week and perform at my best, and I think I’ve done that, so I’m pretty happy with that performance.”

Arizona State moves its season forward this Saturday in Salt Lake City to face Pac-12 South opponent Utah ahead of a bye week. Coincidentally, Arizona State found itself in a very similar situation entering the Utah contest in 2019, as the team was 5-1 and poised for a strong second half of the season. The Sun Devils went on to lose to Utah, as well as their next three opponents on a four-game losing skid.

Hodges, one of the most veteran players on a team full of experienced returners, recalled the 2019 loss and expressed how ASU is determined not to let anything like it happen again in 2021.

“That was a little topic of conversation in our meeting on Tuesday,” Hodges explained. “We played Utah (in 2019), and things went south from there. We just talked about being focused every week and focused on the preparation for each game. It’s been working out for us well so far, so we’re just looking forward to going into the bye week 6-1 and getting this W.”

“A lot of the guys on the team right now went through (that loss and the skid afterwards) and understand that you can’t get complacent, and you have to fight through the hard weeks. You have to fight through a short week with Stanford; you have to fight through another big game. You have to know there will be a lot of opportunities, and you have to be coming for them; you can’t get complacent. That’s the message to the entire team.”

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