Kalen Ballage, Arizona State run game make great strides in Week 2

TEMPE, Ariz. – Eight.

Even now, a couple of days removed from watching one player score eight touchdowns in a single game still elicits the “wow” factor.

Saturday night’s performance by Arizona State junior running back Kalen Ballage earned him several recognition, including Pac-12 Player of the Week, CBS National Player of the Week and the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll plus Monday appearances on ESPN’s SportsCenter and the Pac-12 Networks’ Pac-12 Sports Report.

Ballage broke the Pac-12 record and tied the NCAA single-game record with eight touchdowns — seven rushing and one receiving — in the Sun Devils’ 68-55 win over Texas Tech.

The seven rushing touchdowns were the most by a single player in conference history.

For perspective, Ballage outscored 93 FBS teams by himself with his effort.

Again. Impressive.

But far more impressive, according to his head coach, was how Ballage handled himself following the game, bringing the entire offensive line with him when he met with reporters.

“He talked about his faith, he talked about his teammates,” Todd Graham said during his weekly Monday press conference. “I think that’s what’s unique about this team is the synergy that they have. I was really proud of him, and it showed class and character…the grace in which he handled that success.”

Behind a revamped offensive line, Ballage took handoffs from the tailback position and direct snaps in what offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey calls the “Sparky” formation, accounting for 137 rushing yards on 13 carries, a 10.5 yard-per-carry average.

Ballage averaged a score for every two rushes.

Ballage also caught a 39-yard touchdown pass and returned a kickoff 22 yards, ending the night with 207 all-purpose yards.

The offensive line that took the field Saturday looked very different from the one that debuted the week prior against Northern Arizona.

Junior A.J. McCollum made his first start at center, moving redshirt senior Stephon McCray to right guard and redshirt sophomore Quinn Bailey to right tackle, replacing redshirt freshman Zach Robertson, who missed the game with an ankle injury.

The left side remained Sam Jones and Evan Goodman at guard and tackle, respectively.

“We were knocking them off the football,” Graham said, referring to the Texas Tech defensive front. “I was really proud of the offensive line. I mean, zero sacks and 300 yards rushing, that’s not bad, that’s pretty good. The potential of that group is extremely high.”

Graham also was quick to praise redshirt senior tight end Kody Kohl, who “probably had the best blocking game of any tight end we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

ASU finished with 301 rushing yards—junior running back Demario Richard had 109 yards—and now leads the Pac-12 and ranks 11th nationally by averaging 288.5 yards per game.

“The key to our success is our ability to be a team that is a dominant run team and a team that makes yards after contact and yards after catch,” Graham said.

EXTRA POINTS

– Three times now redshirt sophomore quarterback Manny Wilkins has hurdled a defender on his way to a long run. “I haven’t said anything to him about it,” Graham said. “I just tell him to take care of himself. I like the edge that he plays with. I think when he runs down there and does that, you know that this is a QB that gets right next to the edge and puts the throttle down. I like how he did that, I want him to take care of himself and be smart. He has done it three times pretty effectively.”

– Even though Texas Tech scored 55 points, Graham was pleased with his defensive unit’s performance. Twenty-eight points were allowed “where we blew coverages and things like that,” he said. “We didn’t pressure much, but we had a plan that we thought would help with things and really we had them put away and just blew the coverage.”

– Graham said redshirt senior linebacker Salamo Fiso (suspended) will not play this week against the University of Texas at San Antonio, but that the hope is he returns for the start of conference play. Sophomore tight end Jay Jay Wilson (suspended) will be available Saturday after missing the first two games of the season.

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