There weren’t many positives for the Arizona State Sun Devils following a 49-21 defeat in its Pac-10 opener at California last Saturday.
But among those certainly was the play of junior running back Ryan Torain, who rushed for 191 yards on 24 carries and had two scores while filling in for injured starter Keegan Herring.
Herring, a sophomore who rushed for a team-leading 870 yards and six touchdowns last season, was hampered with a hamstring injury and did not carry the ball against the Bears.
“We knew going in that Ryan Torain was going to get the majority of the carries, and he certainly responded – really ran the ball hard, broke tackles, second effort,” Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter said in a release.
Torain is a 6-foot, 216-pound junior transfer from Butler Community College (Kan.) where he scored 12 touchdowns and rushed for more than 800 yards in his sophomore season even after missing four games with an injury.
This season, he has gained 354 yards on 55 carries and scored three touchdowns on the ground and caught two through the air.
He’s helped the Sun Devils ground game average 180.5 yards per game, compared to their average of 145.7 last season.
“He’s a big back,” Oregon linebacker A.J. Tuitele said. “He’s a north and south runner. He’ll make one cut and go downhill.”
The Sun Devils’ success running the ball – they rank 30th in the nation – is a surprise if only because Arizona State appeared to be in quarterback heaven prior to the season, with senior Sam Keller and sophomore Rudy Carpenter both returning. The two comprised the only duo in the country to throw for more than 2,000 yards in the same season and looked to be the centerpiece of a potentially explosive Arizona State offense this season.
Keller threw for 2,165 yards and 20 touchdowns before his injury allowed Carpenter to take over as the starter in the eighth game last season. Carpenter proceeded to lead the nation in passing efficiency and threw for 2,273 yards and 17 touchdowns while guiding Arizona State to an Insight Bowl victory over Rutgers.
But prior to this season Koetter named Keller the initial starter, only to reverse the decision just days later and name Carpenter as the starter, prompting Keller, a senior-to-be, to transfer to Nebraska in search of more playing time.
That left Carpenter as the only quarterback on the roster with game experience, and he has struggled at times this season with eight interceptions, including four alone against the Bears on Saturday.
“He did seem out-of-sync in the Cal game,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. “Whether it was Cal’s pressure or when you get down, or you throw a couple passes that are intercepted and then returned for touchdowns, that can destroy a little bit of your comfort zone.”
With Carpenter struggling against California, much of the offensive burden fell on Torain who became Arizona State’s first 100-yard rusher this season. He is averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
“Last week, they were without Keegan Herring and Rudy Burgess, two of their best offensive players,” Bellotti said. “Obviously, Ryan Torain looked pretty awesome. When you’re unsettled, or when you are feeling like you are putting too much pressure on the quarterback, the easiest thing to do is to run the football, and they do it very well.
“I would anticipate a healthy dose of their running game.”
Oregon has seen its share of quality running backs already this season in Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson and Fresno State’s Dwayne Wright – the nation’s second and fifth-ranked rushers, respectively.
The Ducks allowed 154 yards and one touchdown to Wright and 211 yards and one touchdown to Peterson, and they’ve surrendered an average of 171 yards per game on the ground so far this season.
Oregon allowed 133.9 yards per game rushing last season.
“We’ve been blessed in the past with a guy like Haloti Ngata or Devan Long,” Bellotti said. “In addition to holding their gap, they made a lot of tackles.
“We’re not blessed at this point with a guy of the stature of Haloti that can do that.”
Instead, Bellotti will rely on a host of defensive linemen who will rotate often to stay fresh. Among the starting four up front consisting of Darius Sanders, Cole Linehan, Jeremy Gibbs and Matt Toeaina, others who may see action Saturday include Michael Speed, Dexter Manley II, David Faaeteete and Nick Reed, Bellotti said.
“Our main focus this week is to stop the run,” Linehan said. “The last few weeks we’ve given up too many rushing yards. That’s on the d-line, that’s on me.”
Oregon’s bye week last weekend came at an opportune time as multiple Oregon players suffered injuries, including Gibbs, a defensive tackle, who suffered an ankle injury against Oklahoma.
He did not practice Monday, but Bellotti is hopeful he can play Saturday.
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