Catching touchdown passes is nothing new for Jay Jay Wilson. In fact, on three occasions last season, the ball found its way into the hands of the then tight end en route to six points.

For the first time in 2017 this past Saturday, Wilson — in his first start at the Devilbacker position — found himself in the end zone, having intercepted Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley and ran 20 yards the other direction to put a 30-10 victory on ice.

“In the moment, it seemed crazy,” he said. “The coaches gave a good play call, we did a good job communicating, and we just did what we do in practice. I picked that ball off in practice, same exact ball. I just saw it, recognized it, got the ball, took it to the end zone and celebrated with my teammates.”

While it may have been his first defensive touchdown in three seasons at ASU, playing both ways is something Wilson is relatively accustomed to.

“I did it all my life,” he said. “I don’t really look at it as like, ‘Oh, I’m at the collegiate level now, I can’t do that, everyone’s good.’ I did it all my life, played both sides of the ball all my life and I’ve been saying it since I got here, I don’t really have a position, I never really had a position, I’m just a football player.”

Wilson’s pick came as the last of four interceptions forced by the ASU defense, which entered Saturday as the Pac-12’s worst in terms of turnovers created.

“Going into this game, what we needed, what we emphasized all week was turnovers, turnovers, turnovers,” he said. “So going into this game I just knew we needed takeaways, and everybody else was getting takeaways, and I was just like, ‘I want one, too.’”

Saturday’s interception was the culmination of a remarkably fluid transition to Devilbacker, one that Wilson referred to as a “challenge.”

Embodying the kind of next-man-up mentality that has made ASU’s defense so efficient in recent weeks despite the loss of key players, Wilson worked his way into the starting rotation for the Sun Devils’ game in Salt Lake City, following the losses of both Koron Crump and A.J. Latu.

Crump finished in the top five in the Pac-12 in sacks last season with nine. Through the first six weeks of 2017, Latu led the Sun Devils this season with 4.5 of his own.

The absences of such important keys to the Sun Devils’ defensive effort only challenged Wilson further, knowing full well his position change would be most beneficial under such circumstances.

“But we lost the best pass rusher probably in our league and that’s Koron Crump, the dude is ridiculous. And then A.J. is probably the best pass rusher after Crump and we lose him. So it was just like, ‘Why not do that when you know you can do it?’ I have the mindset that I can go play 'devil,' why be selfish, stay on offense, catch passes, score touchdowns when I could be helping the defense and make the defense better?”

Despite his right foot injury, Latu, in particular, was more than willing to teach Wilson and help him grow even more comfortable in his new role, a gesture for which Wilson couldn’t have been more thankful.

“Say you have your job, and that’s your job,” he said. “And there’s a guy underneath you who’s trying to take your job. So, I’m battling, I’m trying to take A.J.’s job, and then he gets knocked down, so basically A.J. gives me his job. He can be like, ‘Alright, I’m not going to teach you anything because if I teach you and you get better then you’re going to take my job.’

“But instead of being selfish, he’s been very selfless and teaching me and showing me all the things that he knows...He’s very selfless, and that’s what we teach all of our guys. That’s what coach Graham has instilled in all of us, that’s what made me move over here in the first place because it’s what’s best for the team.”

While Latu’s absence may have accounted for Wilson’s opportunity to enter the starting rotation, he’d still love to see the senior return to action this week against USC.

“It’ll be tremendous if he can get back this week,” Wilson said. “He’s been practicing this week, so I’m confident in him, that’ll be crazy even if that means me and him rotating or me and him on both ends. Regardless of what it is, him being on the field in general, he’s a playmaker… it’ll be a crazy night if we get A.J. on the field, I’m excited for that, I hope he does.”

Admittedly, Wilson misses some aspects of his former position. He made it clear, though, that whatever decisions can best benefit his team is ultimately his highest priority.

“Even the O-Line, I miss those guys, playing next to those guys,” he said. “But they just know that it’s best for the team. We have more than enough weapons on offense, and the defense needed me, and I was more than happy to make that transition.”

To Wilson’s point, the ASU offense is full of weapons who can fill the same type of role he did while at tight end.

Most notably, he mentioned the likes of sophomore wide receiver N’Keal Harry, redshirt sophomore tight end Tommy Hudson and junior tight end Ceejhay French-Love as guys who can keep up the offensive load with him on the other side of the ball.

“By me leaving the offense, it didn’t hurt it whatsoever, because we have big threats,” Wilson said. “We have N’Keal who can go be that big receiver. We have Tommy Hudson who can catch, who can run, who can block. We have Ceejhay who’s done a great job. We have guys on offense that can fill those jobs.”

As far as the position change itself was concerned, defensive coordinator Phil Bennett credited head coach Todd Graham and special teams coach Shawn Slocum for first seeing the potential in Wilson as a defensive player.

With this in mind, he put the decision in Wilson’s hands.

“You have to understand, these kids come here with hopes and aspirations, and Jay Jay is an emotional guy,” Bennett said. “I told him, I said, ‘Before we do this, I want to talk to him, I want to sit down, and I’m going to lay a little guidelines down.’ I told him this, ‘I don’t have time for the B.S., if you want to do it, we’re all in, but it’s going to be work.’ And he said, ‘Coach, I’ll do it, give me a chance.’

While he knew he’d be giving up the progress he’d made at the tight end position, Wilson didn’t shy away from Bennett’s challenge.

“I never took it as, like, ‘Oh poor me, I’ve got to start over,’ or, ‘Oh, poor me, I was starting over here, why can’t they let me keep the ball rolling, and let me get some passes?’” Wilson said. “They moved me because they know what I can do and they believe in me. So I took it as a compliment, more than anything. And that’s what kept my head right.”

And going forward, Wilson knows where he can continue to improve in order to fully maximize his already worthwhile position switch.

“There have been moments like there’s always going to be, and the best thing about it is he knows he’s not where he needs to be yet,” Bennett said. “We’ll work through it, we’ll coach him, and he’ll get better.“