Plenty ready: Eno Benjamin leads new-look ASU backfield into 2018

TEMPE, Ariz. — Running back Eno Benjamin committed to Arizona State as the highest-rated member of former coach Todd Graham’s final recruiting class.

Making it official during the 2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl, he already knew he’d be fighting with two seniors, Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard, for playing time as a true freshman. Suffering an ankle injury in that high school All-Star game minutes after his verbal commitment changed little for Benjamin.

Neither did a head coaching change with Herm Edwards taking over for Graham.

This is where you learn that Benjamin is different.

He knew then that coaching turnover in college football makes picking the right school is as much of a priority as picking the right football program. He knew that not winning a position battle — let alone suffering an injury before he could challenge for it — wasn’t more than a speed-bump toward an ultimate goal.

All of it included, it feels as if he’s followed the original plan to a T.

“In high school, I used my body quite a bit. And so being able just to come back just to get here, sit and see things — I’m a learner, I like learning,” Benjamin said Wednesday. “Being able to have that opportunity to do that paid dividends.”

Running backs coach John Simon, a holdover from the Graham era, noticed Benjamin’s headiness while on the recruiting trail.

He saw more than the explosiveness and the cuts and the 50-yard runs. Simon heard Benjamin chop up his own tape, explaining why he made those cuts and how he carved up defenses to make those plays.

“A lot of times, you have a kid that’s a classroom kid that’s educated but doesn’t pick up football as well,” Simon said. “He has the ability to pick up both. He understands the blocking, he understands the keys, he understands defensive structure — things they can do out of certain formations — so he’s really, really intelligent as it relates to speaking and talking the game. So he sees things quickly and it allows him to make quick decisions, and he plays downhill.”

Now, with 23 carries to his name, Benjamin is the face of ASU’s running back room.

Benjamin rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown in his limited action last year, averaging 6.2 yards per carry despite admittedly not molding himself back into shape until about midway through the season. His patient approach leads him to believe the few snaps he received as a freshman had significantly more value than a redshirt season would have.

His coming out party was a five-carry game on Nov. 4 against Colorado, when he rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown during a 41-30 ASU win.

“If you go back and look at those carries Eno had, it’s wasn’t garbage points. It wasn’t when we were ahead, it wasn’t in the fourth quarter,” Simon said Wednesday, three days before Benjamin debuts as the Sun Devils’ premier back against UTSA.

Behind Benjamin, fellow sophomore Trelon Smith will be held out of the season debut due to what Edwards called a coach’s decision. Simon said redshirt sophomore Isaiah Floyd and freshman A.J. Carter will be the next two backs on the field, while Brock Sturges and Paul Lucas could also earn carries.

“After this game, every running back that plays for us, it’ll be the most carries or most plays they’ve had in their career,” Simon said.

Just a sophomore, Benjamin is suddenly the leader of the most untested position group for an offense with Graham-era holdovers in Simon, offensive coordinator Rob Likens, who was the wide receivers coach, plus at quarterback (Manny Wilkins) and receiver (N’Keal Harry).

This, it seems, was Benjamin’s plan all along.

Upon his commitment to ASU, Benjamin said the program fit him beyond football.

Edwards mentioned that rare perspective from his young running back — that he committed to the university, not the coach — during Edwards’ first official signing day for his 2018 recruiting class in December. In a way, Benjamin is a testament to just why the Sun Devils might be more competitive than most critics give them credit for heading into 2018.

“Really, I would say (I’ve learned) toughness, being able to see who you really are through trials and tribulations,” he said. “Being able to be patient, seeing that, think it kind of brought something out of me that I didn’t know I had.”

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