PASADENA, Calif. - On 1st and 10 from the ASU 35-yard line, ASU junior quarterback Jayden Daniels received the snap. He took a quick drop before opening his body to the left and throwing a quick bubble screen pass to junior wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. The Tempe native chopped his feet and juked to his right, ducking behind a crucial block from redshirt freshman tight end Jalin Conyers. He shook off a trailing defender and turned on the jets to nothing but green grass in front of him.

Pearsall’s 65-yard touchdown reception in the Rose Bowl on Saturday night was an imperative and highly encouraging step in the right direction as ASU’s air attack, guiding the team to a decisive victory over the No. 20 UCLA Bruins, 42-23.

“It felt great (to connect with Pearsall),” Daniels mentioned postgame. “(Offensive coordinator Zak) Hill was up (in the booth) dialing it up. We knew we had mismatches in our empty checks and balanced checks. We took advantage of what they were giving us.”

Three offensive plays later, on the ensuing drive, Daniels and Pearsall took advantage of UCLA’s defensive ineptitude for a second time. Pearsall called the “most consistent” receiver by ASU head coach Herm Edwards struck again.

1st and 10 from the ASU 46-yard line. Daniels took the snap and a seven-step drop before launching the pigskin in rhythm. The ball soared through the crisp Pasadena air like a knife through butter. On its descent, it found the waiting hands of Pearsall in stride. 20, 15, 10, 5, touchdown. Pearsall’s 54-yard score was his second and final endzone trot of the night and eerily resembled his long touchdown in last season’s 70-7 win over Arizona.

“It was man coverage, and he had me inside shade, so I knew if I gave away my slant a little bit more, he would bite on it,” Pearsall said. “After that, I just went out and made the play and caught the ball. We went over that a lot in practice, and we talked about a lot in the game plan. We got the look we wanted and just went out there and executed.”

With the definitive strengths of the ASU rushing attack, thanks to the likes of lead running backs sophomore DeaMonte Trayanum, and redshirt senior Rachaad White, the passing game has been the big question mark when the Sun Devils have the football. With the absence of towering 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman receiver Johnny Wilson due to injury, the wide receivers had to change some things around. It seemed like the answer was spelled Pearsall.

“We had to re-personnel some things late in the week,” Hill remarked. “That whole group of wide receivers is hungry; they’re excited, so that gives guys opportunities. When one guy goes down, the group stepped up and made some big plays. It allowed Ricky to be in a little bit more of our 12 personnel stuff, so they took advantage of it.”

“Ricky did great! He’s one of those guys that comes out every day and is consistent. He works his butt off. He’s a great leader; he’s an energetic guy, a great sport for our team. To see him come out here and do what he does best, it was fun to watch.”

Pearsall finished the night with four catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns, easily the best performance of his career in maroon and gold. The receiving yards tallied more than his season totals in 2019 and 2020. Pearsall was the only receiver to eclipse triple-digit yardage, but that doesn’t mean he was the only one benefitting from the aggressive, offensive game plan.

Redshirt junior receiver Geordon Porter, one of several streak/go-route receivers on the roster, broke the seal on the passing performance. The first play of ASU’s first drive in the second quarter was a 47-yard strike from Daniels to Porter. The redshirt junior flew up the seam, riding the hash mark as he darted up the field before cutting inside to the middle of the pitch. All the UCLA safety could do was watch as Porter caught the deep ball from Daniels. He was tackled near the red zone, setting the Sun Devils up for its first touchdown of the contest.

“We some big, explosive plays in the pass game,” Edwards said. “When we talked about the game plan this week, I told the coaches about Porter and that he can run and we need to get him the ball. It’s nice to see him getting the ball down the field. Zak knows how to use him, as any good coach would. The first series was good, and I thought that got us going.”

On the first play of ASU’s first drive in the fourth quarter, fresh off a massive defensive stop by freshman linebacker Eric Gentry for a turnover on downs, Daniels hit another near-50-yard bomb. Graduate student tight end Curtis Hodges, good for at least one massive gain every few games or so, struck again at the Rose Bowl. Hodges received the ball from Daniels on a 25-yard strike before dashing for another 23 yards to the UCLA 48-yard line. The drive would result in another ASU touchdown.

Arizona State’s passing attack isn’t known as one of the best nationally, but UCLA is one of the worst at negating offense through the air. After throwing out his back attempting to help the team pack for the trip to Pasadena, Hill threw out his back, requiring him to sit high above the Rose Bowl in the booth instead of the sideline. From his view above, Hill wanted to take advantage of this discrepancy by taking deep shots down the field. He certainly got his wish.

“I think our guys executed the game plan very well,” Hill said. “I’ve seen some games where you have a great game plan, or you feel like you have a great game plan, but you don’t hit a couple of big shots, or you just miss. Jayden was able to connect with a lot of those big ones that you want to hit as a coach, and we were able to do that.”

“I made the decision to go up in the box. We’ll see; I might stay up there. It was nice to be able to see the field.”

Daniels’ final mark from the pocket was 13-for-19 for 286 yards and the pair of Pearsall touchdowns. On throws of 20-plus air yards, the junior was 3-for-3 for 149 yards.

“We tried to take advantage of all of their miscues on defense,” Daniels said. “They’re trying to press you, get you into long-down (situations). The game plan was to get the ball in my hand, max protect and take shots, and we did that.”

If you ask Edwards, the veteran head coach chalks up ASU’s success through the air to the increasing development between Daniels and his receivers, as well as the quarterback-offensive coordinator relationship with Hill.

“I think every week he’s getting more familiar with the offense,” he said. “Remember he only played four games last year, and now he’s played five, so that’s nine games. He’s getting comfortable with Zak; Zak is getting comfortable with Jayden; Jayden is getting comfortable with the receivers. It’s a process, but he did a great job.”

With such improved prowess and success in the passing game, ASU’s performance begs the question: Is this what this offense was supposed to look like all along? What’s this group’s ceiling look like after all?

Going forward, the future looks bright, but only time will tell for the Sun Devils.

“We are never satisfied as an offense,” Pearsall explained. “This is a glimpse of what we can do. We can do a whole lot more, but that was just a little sneak peek.”

“I think we are on the right track,” Daniels added. “I don’t want to say we are completely there yet, but I believe we are headed in the right direction.”

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