At the beginning of his popular song ‘Mr. Carter,’ legendary rapper Lil Wayne says “I feel big, like not big in the sense of weight, like gaining weight or nothing like that, like colossal,” obviously meaning to say that he feels big in a metaphorical sense.

Right now, there’s no better way to describe how redshirt freshman safety Cam Phillips feels two games into his first full season starting at safety for Arizona State. The native of Houston, Texas, has tallied 11 tackles, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble, broken up a pass and of course snagged the team’s only interception so far this season.

“It was good to close the game like that,” Phillips commented. “It felt like a dead atmosphere because the fans were booing and stuff- it was Sacramento State and we were up 19-7. So, I felt like that brought more energy to my teammates.”

After playing against UCLA and Oregon last season, recording his first collegiate interception in the latter contest, Phillips feels much more in his element in a larger role this season.

“Now I feel like a giant,” Phillips said with a chuckle. “I’m not literally a giant, but I just feel like if it’s me and (starting cornerback) Kobe (Williams), or me and (starting cornerback) Chase (Lucas) I’m just like this is not the side that you want to throw the ball to, or run over here.

“I feel like my high school self, like when I was in high school, I felt like I was the man, and I feel like that here now. And I’m not saying I am, I just try to play with that type of mentality, because if I don’t what am I doing?”

Something that can’t be overstated is the value of Phillips playing with 10 other starters who all not only played last season, but each played in at least eight contests in 2018. This kind of familiarity presents a stark contrast from his first season in Tempe, when numerous new faces found their way into starting spots from week one.

This has not only helped the group find better chemistry on and off the field, but has also led to their strong start, which has increased their sense of confidence in each other.

“Last year there was a lot of new faces, including myself,” Phillips said. “So, the older guys, they were trying to get to know the new faces, and we were trying to get to know them because they were new faces to us.

“But now, we’ve got a a year under our belt, we all know each other very well, we go out together, we go do stuff, we all got each other’s phone number, we play Xbox, all that. So, all that off the field stuff it really does help because I know when we’re on the field, that’s my brother and I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure we can win this game.”

The strength of this chemistry has undoubtedly been a key to the good start that Phillips and his teammates are having. But despite a good first two games and returning so many players from a much-improved 2018 unit, he still feels that the Sun Devils aren’t respected in the conference. This serves as just another reason that the group heavy in underclassmen plays with a chip on their shoulder.

“I feel like we can do anything, we just got to put our minds to it, and that’s what we’ve been trying to do at practice,” Phillips said. “We try to play every play like it’s the real game. All the DB’s and the linebackers, we’re all close in our unit. So, we’re just trying to be great, get recognized in the Pac-12 because we’re not respected.”

By all accounts, the Sun Devil defense has been taking that out on the practice fields this week, as defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales noted the physicality of Tuesday’s practice.

“Today was the most physical practice we’ve had in a long time,” Gonzales said, “and that was because of them. Not the design, but they were running on both sides of the ball, I mean the team run period we had was friggin awesome. I’m a firm believer you’re going to play the way you practice, so be violent in practice, that transpires and goes over into the game, so I wish it was Saturday already.”

Whether or not this unit has the respect of its peers, Phillips takes confidence and assurance in the work that he knows him and his teammates put in “in the shadows.” All of the long summer days bearing Arizona’s 110-degree heat while other students get to spend time at home, then the school-year grind that goes something like: wake-up, go to practice and take care of football responsibilities, go to classes, go to mentoring, go to tutoring, go home, do homework, sleep and repeat.

He adds that it makes the the recognition they did receive for big plays and strong performances through these first two weeks that much sweeter.

However, everyone knows that the toughest challenges lie ahead, and thankfully for Phillips, he has fellow starting safety in sophomore Aashari Crosswell to keep him on his toes.

Arguably his closest confidant on the team, Phillips says that the two are in constant competition to keep each other playing at their highest level. This not only manifests itself on the field but in the film room as well.

“It’s a constant competition, but it’s all love though,” Phillips stated. “A lot of people try to always say ‘oh, who’s the better safety,’ but we don’t care about that…he’s bringing the noise, and I’m trying to bring as much as him, and it’s vice versa. It’s not ‘I’m going to get more picks than you,’ it’s not like that, because when I got mine last week, he showed nothing but love, there’s no type of jealousy or anything like that.

“Anything that I see him doing good, I try to put in my game and vice versa for him, so that’s always how it’s been. When we look at film together, we’re like ‘ok, I can see this.’ I mean he’s got eyes- he sees stuff that I don’t see sometimes, so that’s what I really like about his game. Sometimes he catches stuff formation-wise that I don’t always catch because sometimes it looks black-and-white to me. He’s got- I don’t know what it is, him and Kobe both.”

There’s no doubt that Phillips feels like this year’s starting group can be special, both in the secondary and on the defense as a whole. But he also loves the depth that true freshmen safeties Kejuan Markham and Willie Harts add to the team as well.

“I felt like there was no leader or nobody to help me last year when I was here, so I felt alone a lot of times,” Phillips said. “Looking at them I was like ‘damn, I was in their shoes,’ and so it’s been nothing but love from me, trying to give them any pointers that I got, and they both can play.

“What’s crazy is they carry themselves like they’ve been there, that’s what I really like, especially about Willie…nothing fazes him, which really shocks me. The first game he’s like ‘hey, just let me know when you need to come out,’ I’m like ‘woah, that’s nuts.’ He’s a warrior, and I just feel like he’s going to grow over time, just like me.”

It’s no secret that the the defense is going to have to be the strength of this year’s Sun Devil team if they expect to stay competitive in each game throughout the season like they did in 2018. If the attitude of Phillips is representative of the unit as a whole, this could be one of the more exciting ASU defenses to watch in recent memory.

Of course, the next five games will be very telling, as the Sun Devils face three opponents currently in the top 20, and two others that beat ranked teams this past Saturday. It will all start with trying to contain No. 18 Michigan State, led by Phoenix native Brian Lewerke, this Saturday at 1 pm PT.

Join us on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, to discuss this article and other ASU football and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today here and join your fellow Sun Devil fans!