All agree: ASU Sun Devils need to improve their running game

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State needs your help; its running game has disappeared.

It was last spotted on Sept. 24 at Sun Devil Stadium. On that day, ASU gained 164 rushing yards in a 51-41 win over Cal to move to 4-0.

Since then, the ground attack has failed to reach the 80-yard mark in any game, and the Sun Devils have suffered for it, losing two of three.

Head coach Todd Graham pointed to the offensive line.

“Obviously, we haven’t blocked very well,” he said.

That’s a good place to start.

“We’ve looked at a lot of different things that we’re going to work on and the key is to get better,” Graham continued. “The biggest thing I see is we got to be fundamentally better. There’s two things we got to do there: we got learn how to take what they give us on the outside but then we just got to block better, that was our big deal (against Colorado). We got to get better as far as our fundamental technique.”

Change may be coming to the line. The shifting of personnel, though, appears more to be out of necessity due to an injury to starting left guard Sam Jones. He’s been spotted in practice wearing a walking boot on his right foot.

“We got to continue to find out the best combination with those guys. We’re still hopeful Sam will get back, but at the same time, we got to be prepared in case he doesn’t,” offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. “That offensive line is so important that they jell and play together. People have no idea the communication that goes along up front with the o-line.

“The right combinations are called to each other and those different things and those are things that come with experience and take a little time, and then when you throw a good defense on the other side of it in the Pac-12, which all of them are, then it can cause you some issues. At the same time, we got to continue to try to we make sure we simplify things, make it easy for our guys to go out and execute.”

Further slowing down the running game has been the health of quarterback Manny Wilkins. He’s not yet 100-percent healed from an ankle injury suffered against USC.

Wilkins’ threat to run and mobility in the pocket helps keep opposing defenses honest. With that gone, ASU is seeing more seven and eight-man fronts. That extra defender, or two, in the box is why the running game totaled 75, 79 and 50 yards in the past three weeks; the latter effort was a season-low.

“We just got to give our running backs a chance,” Graham said. “We didn’t execute very well (vs. Colorado). We got backs that are going to run the ball hard. We got three backs that I think that have shown great heart and determination.

“We got to do a better job of blocking and executing and we’re making too many mental errors in fundamental technique.”

Heading into the season, the Sun Devils’ running game was seen as a strength, even with an inexperienced offensive line.

Junior running backs Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage were expected to lead the attack. Many predicted 1,000-yard seasons, though both are well off that pace now.

“I just do what I’m coached to do,” said Richard, who in the last three games has rushed 32 times for 147 yards. “What they calling, that’s just what I’m coached to do. I don’t know. We trying to run the ball, we trying to get it started, but I don’t know. We just out there playing football, doing what our coaches are asking us to do.”

Overall, ASU ranks eighth in the conference and 78^th in the nation averaging 164.3 rushing yards per game.

Running the ball this week will be a challenge. Washington State leads the conference and is 12^th nationally at defending the ground game, allowing 104.5 yards per game.

“When you can’t run the ball, it’s tough,” Lindsey said. “We were successful early on because we were able to run the ball. I think that’s what makes the offense go.”

EXTRA POINTS

— Richard had the Sun Devils’ longest run from scrimmage and second-best play overall when he gained 37 yards out of the “Sparky” formation in the second quarter against Colorado. He had never lined up in that set prior. It had always been Ballage who took the direct snap from center.

“I ran it lot in high school. It’s pretty easy,” Richard said. “With a person like me and the patience that I have, that’s a one-of-a-kind package you run with a guy like me. I’m willing to do anything for the team. If they need me to line up at left guard or tackle or center or long-snap on punts, that’s what I’m willing to do. I’m willing to sell myself out for my teammates and do whatever it takes to get the win.”

“If they need me to line up at left guard or tackle or center or long-snap on punts, that’s what I’m willing to do. I’m willing to sell myself out for my teammates and do whatever it takes to get the win.”

— Though Wilkins was less than 100-percent against Colorado, Lindsey echoed Graham’s comments from earlier in the week that Wilkins gave ASU the best chance to win the game, rather than true freshman Dillon Sterling-Cole.

“That’s really what it came down to,” he said. “I think Dillon is progressing, for sure. But, you’re asking a guy that really was the No. 3 guy, and really the No. 4 guy in camp, to all of a sudden be able to catch on in the Pac-12 and lead. I think he’s making progress, and obviously, if he plays, we got to make sure we put him in a great position to be successful. I’m pleased with his progress.”

— Colorado had no such struggles running the ball against ASU, which entered the game with the nation’s fifth-ranked defense against the rush. It now ranks 21^st after allowing a season-worst 315 yards, which begged the question of “why?” to defensive coordinator Keith Patterson.

“That’s a great question,” he said, laughing. “I think, honestly, a culmination of a lot of things that I probably don’t have time to get into. I don’t know if anybody can watch that and go, ‘Here was the problem.’ Obviously, I didn’t like the way we tackled. A lot of missed tackles. Multiple missed tackles. Opportunities. There’s a plethora of things that I could point out, but we don’t have time.”

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