(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
One more win. That is all Arizona State needs to clinch bowl-eligibility this year, drawing a step closer to the postseason after a 41-30 comeback win over Colorado on Saturday.
A week ago, ASU coach Todd Graham declared November a championship month, but it took his team a half of football to look like a group fighting for its postseason lives. The Sun Devils were down at halftime against the Buffaloes and entered the final quarter in a 27-17 hole.
But ASU outscored Colorado 24-3 in the final 15 minutes, coming just in the nick of time to ensure the Sun Devils will finish this season with a winning record at home and need only one more victory from their final three games. During his Monday press conference, Graham passed out plenty of praise for his teams preserving win.
Season-Best Running Game
A good running game has correlated to success for ASU this season, and against Colorado, the Sun Devils had their most productive day on the ground all year.
In the first three quarters on Saturday, the Devils racked up a respectable 190 yards rushing. But in the fourth quarter alone, ASU rushed for 191 yards, finishing the game with a season high 311 yards on the ground.
“It was a physical thing,” Graham said of the late-game rushing domination. “We wore them down.”
Senior Demario Richard led the charge, pilling up a career-best 181 yards, 63 of which came on a single carry late in the game to help solidify the win.
“You look at the numbers he has put up over his career, it’s been pretty impressive,” Graham said. “I think pretty certain he will be a top 10 guy in history of the program. He’s just really, really matured mentally, and just the way he’s played. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do, and I just think he has stepped to a different level in his leadership and his walk.”
Richard now has 2,743 career rushing yards, the fourth-most in school history, according to sports-reference.com.
A productive outburst wasn’t exclusive to Richard though. Quarterback Manny Wilkins recorded a season-high 95 yards on 14 carries; Kalen Ballage—ASU’s other upperclassmen tail back—chipped in with a 43-yard night.
But true freshman Eno Benjamin was the real breakout star, collecting his first career touchdown and rumbling for 52 yards on just 5 carries.
The first-year Sun Devil from Wylie, Texas was the first player Graham was asked about during his Monday presser, giving the sixth-year head coach a chance to rave about his running back of the future.
“He’s a guy that we have been high on for quite some time. He is still learning, still developing and he went in there and had a great touchdown run,” Graham said.
In his senior year of high school football at Wylie East last season, Benjamin was unstoppable during a 2500-plus yard campaign that saw him reach the end zone 28 times.
Prior to last week’s win over Colorado, Benjamin had only touched the ball nine times. On Saturday however, the 5-foot-10, 200-pound ball carrier showed why Graham has been willing to burn his true freshman’s redshirt.
“He’s a guy that I think has great promise,” Graham said.
Second Half Defense
ASU’s defense was again slow out of the blocks last week against Colorado. Better execution from the Buffaloes offense, and the Sun Devils could have easily found themselves in a two-touchdown hole early in the game.
But, Colorado missed on a couple would-be touchdowns in the first half, giving the Sun Devils a chance to recover after halftime.
They did just that, surrendering just three points in the fourth quarter to help enable the ASU’s 10-point comeback. When asked Monday what changed mid-game within his defense, Graham was quick to point to a specific area:
Getting off the field on third down.
Colorado was 6-for-10 on third down conversions in the first half, but failed to move the sticks once in those situations during the second half of Saturday’s game.
“They didn’t convert a third down. I think that was big, getting off the field defensively, and the snaps, getting the snap count back in our favor,” Graham said.
ASU’s often-inconsistent run defense also played perhaps its best 30 minutes of football in the second half against Colorado. Despite facing one of the nation’s top-5 running backs in yards in Phillip Lindsay, the Sun Devils allowed just 13 yards on the ground on Colorado’s 15 attempts after halftime. In the fourth quarter alone, the Buffaloes recorded negative yards rushing.
Lindsay was kept to less than four yards per carry per game.
Five second half sacks helped drag down those numbers, and gave ASU’s offense more time – and snaps – to complete the comeback.
“It’s a combination of things. We got to get off the field. It’s not just the offense that determines how many snaps you play on defense,” Graham said. “We got the snap number up where we wanted it to be and we kept pounding it and were patient with it.”
Injury Update
ASU continues to battle through injuries on the defensive side of the ball as it enters its final quarter of the schedule at UCLA next Saturday.
Safety Dasmond Tautalatasi saw only limited action during the Colorado win after suffering an in-game injury. Graham had no update on the redshirt junior’s status for this week.
Elsewhere, defensive tackles Renell Wren and George Lea are less than 100 percent. Wren returned to action against Colorado following an injury-shortened outing two weeks ago against USC, but was limited to around 30 snaps with a knee issue.
He was needed though after Lea suffered an injury of his own against Colorado. Graham designated Lea as “questionable” for next week.
Graham also mentioned that he expects injured UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen to recover in time to face ASU on Saturday. Rosen did not play in the Bruins’ 48-17 loss to Utah last week as he reportedly battles with a banged up finger and concussion.
Despite that, Graham said he is readying his defense to face the projected first-round NFL talent.
“I fully expect him to play. You have got to plan for him to play,” Graham said. “If he doesn’t play, you still have very capable guys.”
