ASU Football: Richard and Ballage will be key on offense AND defense against Washington State

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

In a week filled with signal-stealing debates, pass-run options and evaluating why Arizona State is fighting for bowl eligibility, the Sun Devils concluded their on-field prep for Washington State in relatively mellow manner.

Thursday’s questions and comments were business as usual, and ASU head coach Todd Graham was quick to agree to one of the critiques about his team this week.

“Nobody has performed,” Graham said. “I haven’t performed up to our expectations. We’re 4-4.”

The Sun Devils enter its matchup with Pullman with hopes of getting one win closer to bowl qualification, and hopes are reasonably high surrounding the offense’s ability to hang with the Cougars Air Raid attack.

“Our unit is very confident,” redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici said. “Obviously, I think it starts with our front five guys. They’re getting better and better every single week.”

Naturally, the biggest beneficiaries of an improving offensive line are sophomore running backs Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard. The two combined for 262 rushing yards on 31 carries as both players eclipsed season-highs.

“If you can see the kind of intensity that guys like Demario and Kalen bring to the running game here at practice, it’s special,” Bercovici said. “You see it show up on Saturdays.”

The sophomore duo was able to run around and through Oregon’s defense while averaging 8.45 yards per carry, allowing ASU to move the chains consistently.

“I give it all up to our offensive line,” Ballage said. “They really had a great game (against Oregon), and we saw the holes, and we hit them as hard as we possibly could.”

A similar output is expected in Pullman as Washington State ranks 11th in the Pac-12 in rushing defense. With Ballage and Richard in the form they’ve showed, it’s clear the two could expect a decent workload come Saturday.

“We want to be the most physical backfield in the country, and that’s just what we work for every day,” Ballage said. “When you work as hard as we do, it’s going to show up in the game.”

Defense continues to search for turnovers

While the Sun Devils have maintained their ability to get into the opponents’ backfield and blow up plays, the turnovers haven’t correlated as one would assume. ASU remains at the basement of the conference in turnover margin.

“That’s a head-scratcher,” Graham said. “You can’t be any more aggressive than we are (on defense).”

Against Washington State’s passing attack, which ranks third in the country, ASU’s defense will be tasked with limiting big plays through the air. Although the run defense has been stalwart this season, the Sun Devils have seen teams successfully stretch the field against them in the secondary.

“(When) somebody throws the ball every down, it’s tough,” Graham said. “They’re (Washington State) really good at it.”

And as the saying goes, sometimes, the best defense can be a good offense, and given ASU’s success running the ball against Oregon, Graham looks to his backfield to help the defense in slowing down the Cougars.

“We got to keep the ball away from them and score points,” he said.

Winning the last four games of the season would land ASU at a respectable – albeit still disappointing – 8-4 record with a bowl game to play for, and that is now the goal for the Sun Devils moving forward.

“These guys got a lot of pride and care a whole lot about each other, care a whole lot about our program,” Graham said. “I like how we’ve worked.”

Practice notes

– Graham said placing a medical redshirt on sophomore safety Armand Perry is a “big possibility.” Perry hasn’t played since suffering an ankle injury against Cal Poly that included some “ligament damage,” according to Graham.

You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post