Todd Graham: ASU running back Marion Grice is day-to-day
Nov 25, 2013, 10:19 PM
TEMPE, Ariz. – At this point in the season with 11 games in the books, no player is 100 percent healthy. Everyone has their share of bumps and bruises.
However, running back Marion Grice may be more banged up than most.
The Sun Devils’ leading rusher — he’s four yards shy of 1,000 — limped off the field late in the fourth quarter of ASU’s 38-33 win at UCLA Saturday and did not return.
He suffered what was described as a lower leg injury and was spotted leaving the locker room with the assistance of crutches.
“Not right now,” head coach Todd Graham answered when asked for an update on Grice during his weekly press conference Monday. “We’re just going to evaluate it. It’s a day-to-day thing and see how he progresses.”
ASU hosts rival UA Saturday.
A Sun Devils’ victory would not only secure the Territorial Cup for a second straight year, but would also place the Pac-12 Championship Game in Tempe on Saturday, December 7. Lose, and ASU must travel to Palo Alto for the rematch against Pac-12 North champ Stanford, which handed the Sun Devils their lone conference defeat, 42-28 back in September.
Grice has run for over 100 yards three times this season, all in the past five games. His 996 yards are more than double that of the team’s second-leading rusher, quarterback Taylor Kelly (411).
ASU averages 186.4 yards on the ground, sixth-best in the Pac-12.
“(Our running game) won’t change any,” Graham said. “If that happened (not having Grice available), then we just fill right in with the guys. We’re not going to lose what we do with D.J. (Foster). Obviously, D.J. is such an integral part of our passing game. Hopefully we don’t have to do that, but if that happens then we’ve got guys that I have a lot of confidence with D.J. and with Deantre (Lewis).”
