Devonte Ross awes in breakout performance

Devonte Ross sprints into the endzone on his punt return touchdown. Brady Fitch photo

Devonte Ross streaked down the field and into the end zone to score a long touchdown. Again. 

The junior wideout kept the Trojans afloat with 142 receiving yards and two touchdowns on five catches in a 38-21 loss at Iowa. Ross also returned a punt 77 yards to give Troy a 14-10 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. 

“It was surreal to me,” Ross said in a press conference posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “It was a great feeling helping my team out.” 

Although Troy couldn’t pull off the upset, it was a breakout game for Ross. The performance answered a lot of questions for a receiving core missing top producers Chris Lewis and Jabre Barber from the 2023 season 

“He played exceptionally and prepared for the week well,” said head coach Gerad Parker in the postgame press conference posted on the Troy Athletics YouTube channel. “We had a huge game plan for him and found some things on tape to get him where he needs to be because he’s a great player.” 

Ross brought in the longest reception of his career in the second quarter, streaking past the defense to haul in a 63-yard touchdown. He easily bested his previous career high in receiving yards for a game, which was set at 103 in the season opener against Nevada. 

As the second half drew to a close, Ross fielded a punt and dashed 77 yards down the sideline to give the Trojans their first lead of the day. It was Troy’s first punt return touchdown since 2018 and the longest since 2007. 

Ross was named the Sun Belt Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his punt return touchdown. 

The historic plays didn’t stop there. Ross’ 142 yards were the most by a Trojan since 2019. 

After losing 2,303 receiving yards between Jabre Barber, Chris Lewis and Deshon Stoudemire, there was a big hole to be filled in the wide receivers’ room. Ross – after recording 428 yards and three touchdowns last season – has stepped up in a huge way.  

The 5-foot-11 receiver was a star at Cartersville High School, finishing his time as a Purple Hurricane with 2,532 yards and 29 touchdowns. He caught 43 passes for 876 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior. 

Now only 156 yards off his 2023 total, Ross looks to continue providing a spark for the Troy offense. 

The Trojans will try to get into the win column at home against Florida A&M at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Rattlers are 2-1 and have allowed nearly 200 passing yards per game in the 2024 season.