ASU run defense facing another test against Arizona’s Khalil Tate
Nov 24, 2017, 7:35 AM
Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate throws down field against Oregon during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Chris Pietsch)
(AP Photo/Chris Pietsch)
It only seems fitting that Arizona State will finish the regular season playing a school with yet another elite rushing talent.
The Sun Devils will close the year having played six of the country’s top-25 rushers in the country when they face off against Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate on Saturday.
Depending on the game, how the Sun Devils have been able to stop those top runners has been night and day.
San Diego State rusher Rashaad Penny rolled for 216 yards on 18 carries, including a 95-yard run. Stanford rusher Bryce Love piled up 301 yards and three scores on the Sun Devils, including a longest run of 61 yards. Penny and Love, who are nationally No. 1 and 2 in total rushing yards on the year, averaged 12 yards per carry.
Arizona State also faced running backs with the seventh- and eighth-most yards in the country, respectively, in Colorado’s Phillip Lindsay and Oregon’s Royce Freeman. In total, ASU gave up a combined 161 rushing yards between the two.
The Sun Devils now face the second-best rushing team in the country led by Tate, who has been a nightmare for opposing teams.
“Dynamic player. As dynamic as anyone in the country,” head coach Todd Graham said on his Pac-12 teleconference call this week. “Just fast, skilled. Just impressed with his ability to throw the ball as well.
“He’s a very, very dynamic player and a guy that you have to have a very specific game plan to try to keep controlled.”
In Tate’s first start against Colorado, he set an NCAA quarterback rushing record with 327 yards, averaging an incredible 23.4 yards a carry and scoring four rushing touchdowns. The emerging superstar accounted for 840 yards and eight rushing touchdowns for the month of October.
Tate has the 12th-most rushing yards in the country despite not playing significantly for the first month of the season.
In November, Tate has 399 yards and three rushing touchdowns through three games. He is coming off his lowest rushing production as a starter against Oregon with only 32 yards and no scores.
How can Arizona State avoid letting the Wildcats’ rushing attack wear on them?
The Sun Devils have discovered a running game of their own. In the first eight games, ASU was averaging 121.4 yards a game.
In the month of November, the Sun Devils are dominating the run game with 320.3 yards a game — a completely different running game comopared to the start of the season.
“I think our players have bought into what we are trying to get them to do,” ASU offensive coordinator Billy Napier said. “We have seen improvement so hopefully we can continue to improve. Rushing the ball for this football team in particular is a part of the winning recipe … something that we need to do on a consistent basis.”
The Sun Devils’ running backs have also not lost any fumbles all season.
Avoiding key mistakes and big breakdowns on both sides of the ball will be the recipe for success in the Territorial Cup.
“It’s the team that is the most disciplined will be the toughest team,” Graham said. “Everybody talks about that. You got to recruit to it, you got to train to it you got to develop to it. You got to be consistent.”
The Territorial Cup will be in Tempe on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. You can catch the action on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
