Thompkins’ break out highlights receiving depth at USU
Standing behind a podium, sophomore wide receiver Deven Thompkins addressed the media holding his young daughter. A wide smile split his young face for numerous reasons. Among those were the recent birth of another child (this time a son) but more recently, Utah State’s 62-7 obliteration of Stony Brook and also Thompkins’ major role in such a lopsided win.
Thompkins finally got to fully showcase his lightning 4.31 speed and quick feet on his way to a career night. The young pass-catcher reeled in five passes on the night for a game-high 77 yards. He also had two touchdowns which were the first and last of the game — a 45-yard punt return and a 10-yard catch from Henry Columbi.
Last week, Thompkins did not get as much volume, but he made the most of his two catches, taking one of them 56 yards for his first career collegiate touchdown. Being involved early like he has been is “amazing” to Thompkins.
“I feel like a little kid again, honestly,” Thompkins said. “I’m actually able to display my talent and just show everybody this is who I am and this is what I love to do.”
Thompkins’ emergence as is one of many threats for the Aggies. Multiple players are stepping up, answering the summer-long questions about Utah State’s inordinate losses at pass-catching positions.
The Aggies returned just 27 percent of pass-catching production from the record-breaking 3,567 yards quarterback Jordan Love threw in 2018. Replacing the likes of Ron’quavion Tarver, Jalen Greene, Dax Raymond, Aaren Vaughns and company was supposed to be a hard task, one that would take a chunk of the season to sort out.
Cut to now, where two weeks into the season, the Aggies have no questions at wide receiver or tight end. From Siaosi Mariner to Caleb Repp to Jordan Nathan, Savon Scarver or Thompkins, there is a bevy of options for Love to pick and choose from the pocket.
Through two games, five players have at least seven catches. Siaosi Mariner leads all of them with 13 followed by Caleb Repp (10), Jordan Nathan (nine), Deven Thompkins (seven) and Gerold Bright (seven). Four Aggies have already topped 100 yards: Mariner (191), Thompkins (136), Repp (117) and Nathan (116).
“We’ve caught the ball extremely well and made some plays and in this offense,” USU head coach Gary Andersen said.
Having a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist at quarterback certainly has not hindered the breaking in of new receivers and hastening the development of guys stepping into larger roles. Andersen has certainly been privy to just how much Love elevates the receiving corps.
“The biggest thing is we have Jordan Love to make those plays,” Andersen said. “He is a special quarterback, he stays so steady in the moment, takes what’s there.”
Through two games, Love has completed 58 of 82 passes, a 70.7 success rate at finding his intended target. The 58 completions is the second-most (only to Chuckie Keeton) through two games by an Aggies since at least 2000. That success through the air has been spread around to the numerous receivers.
“They’re unselfish as a crew,” Andersen said. “There’s nobody out there counting catches. They’re just excited when their opportunity comes to make a play.”
Simply catching the ball though is not the goal Andersen has in mind for his wideouts. He wants more from them and so far he has seen just that.
“I say it all the time, you can’t just be a guy that catches the ball and falls down,” he said. “You have to catch the ball and make something happen with it and we had numerous guys who were able to do that tonight.”