Derek Hagan has epitomized the ASU football team's offense this season: dropping balls and playing sluggishly early in the season and then racking up yards that would keep any defensive coordinator up at night.
In the last three games, the sophomore wide receiver has caught 26 passes for 463 yards, including career-highs of 11 grabs for 185 yards during a 33-31 come-from-behind victory over North Carolina last Saturday.
"Derek has been making quite a name for himself," junior quarterback Andrew Walter said after the game. "He is a good player, and he'll end up being a pretty damn good player.
"He made all kinds of plays today. We're expecting big things from him week in and week out because he's earned that."
The Sun Devils were high on Hagan heading into the season. Last year, Hagan set a school record for receptions by a true freshman with 32, breaking ASU legend John Jefferson's mark of 30 set in 1974.
But in the first few weeks of the season, Hagan failed to live up to expectations. After dropping a number of easy passes in a sloppy 34-14 season-opening win over NAU, head coach Dirk Koetter put Hagan in for just 24 plays the following week against Utah State.
Koetter then began to hint that Hagan wasn't working as hard as he could be in practice.
But lately, Koetter says Hagan is back up to speed.
"Some guys, when they get to a certain point in their career - they think practice is just an exercise instead of a place where you go out and still work on your game and get better," Koetter said. "Derek took that for granted a little bit early in the season. He definitely has not done that the last month."
Hagan said he heeded Koetter's words, and it has shown on the field.
"During the first couple games, I felt I didn't play as well as I'm capable of playing," he said. "I was working hard but not as hard as I normally am. I got back in the groove to come here every day to work.
"When [Koetter] says something," Hagan added, "he just wants us to work harder if he knows we're not working the best that we can."
When the Sun Devils' offense finally "found itself" three weeks ago, Koetter said one of the reasons was that Walter had a newfound trust in his receivers.
And if Hagan's numbers the last three weeks weren't enough to prove the trust between him and his quarterback, the fact that Walter repeatedly screamed "You're the man!" to Hagan's face after facing the Tar Heels should be enough proof.
"[Andrew] has got to have confidence in me, and it feels like he has a lot of confidence in me right now," Hagan said.
At the beginning of the season, the Sun Devils - Walter in particular - seemed to miss departed All-American wide-out Shaun McDonald more than anyone expected. But Hagan's stats the past three games have been on par with the numbers McDonald turned in last season.
And while the 6-foot-1 Hagan is not the burner style of receiver McDonald was, Walter said he is happy to see a big target out on the field.
"[Derek] has definitely earned the moniker [of go-to guy]," Walter said. "We miss Shaun on some deep balls, but Derek is a big receiver, big body that can go make plays."
Hagan said he thinks of himself as an aggressive wide-out, and Koetter seems to agree with that sentiment.
"D-Hag is a slasher," Koetter said. "He's able to pull out of tackles. I don't know how he does it."
Reach the reporter at christopher.drexel@asu.edu.
