The last time ASU football took the field in a game, the team was powered by two freshman running backs: Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage.
After graduating Kyle Middlebrooks and Deantre Lewis and moving senior D.J. Foster to wide receiver, the two now-sophomores are expected to lead the running game into 2015.
Richard (634 all-purpose yards, eight touchdowns in 2014) and Ballage (377 all-purpose yards, four touchdowns in 2014) have split first-team carries, spearheading a running back group that has impressed during spring practice.
Richard emerged as a potential star during last season's Sun Bowl performance against Duke, where he was aptly named "Baby Beast Mode" after Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch for his four-touchdown performance.
Ballage, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound running back out of Peyton, Colorado, was particularly impressive Tuesday in bowling over a pair of oncoming tacklers and being more physical given his added weight during the brief winter break.
"Kalen Ballage, his physicality," head coach Todd Graham said. "I told him, 'You've got to improve your hands and your physicality' and man, I'm really encouraged by that."
Ballage attributed the new physicality to adjusting to his own body, as well as his development in the weight room.
"I'm young, growing into my body," Ballage said. "Weight lifting with (head coach of sports performance Shawn Griswold) has helped out a lot."
The move of Foster to the wide receiver has only given the ASU offense even more opportunities to have Richard, Ballage and Foster on the field at the same time, Ballage said.
"We're going to miss D.J. (Foster) in the backfield," he said. "He's a great running back, he's a great player and he's a great teammate...having me, Demario (Richard) and D.J. (Foster) all on the field at the same time has been something that has really given our defense a lot of problems this spring."
A key improvement for Ballage entering spring football has been establishing his pad level in order to run over defenders.
"It's really just keeping your pad level down and keeping your feet moving," Ballage said. "There's going to be times that the blocking doesn't always work, and you can't always blame that on the offensive linemen...if you're getting hit, at the end of the day you've got to counter that and still get some yards out of it."
Running backs coach Bo Graham has been impressed with the development of the running backs thus far.
"Given our youth, I think we've come out here and we've done our job pretty good to this point," he said.
Bo Graham said it's up to Richard and Ballage to lead the young, inexperienced group.
"Once we came into spring ball I talked to them about being the leaders of this group, and how they didn't have time to be sophomores," he said. "Coach (Todd Graham) talks about the idea that everyone's got to have a senior year. You have to have that kind of maturity."
He also said Ballage's physical development has mirrored his development on the field.
"He looks like a grown man," Bo Graham said. "You see the physicality, well last year that was a part of his game that wasn't there sometimes. He was going through some things with his body and things that held him back...he has definitely responded."
"He's by far the most improved guy," he added.
One of several backs to impress in the early parts of spring camp has been redshirt junior De'Chavon "Gump" Hayes, who has worked all around the field on offense.
"We're asking him basically to take over some of the responsibilities D.J. (Foster) has done in the past, which means he moves around," Bo Graham said. "By moving around, he's got a lot to learn. Mentally, he's got a lot on his plate. Once he figures it out, we're going to be able to put him in positions of success."
One of the biggest surprises of Saturday's scrimmage was the emergence of sophomore back Jacom Brimhall, who took second- and third-team reps along with special teams on Tuesday.
"We've got four or five guys that we're really working so if you're in the top four or five, then you're definitely going to get reps," Bo Graham said. "60 percent of the time, we've got two backs on the field so you've got to be at least four or five deep to run our offense and he's definitely a guy that's going to step up and have a role.
Early enrollee Nick Ralston started off the spring strong, providing an added physical element to the run game, Bo Graham said.
"He's an extremely smart kid, tough, extremely disciplined," he said. "He's a guy that if he has a role in our offense, it's going to be a physical role. He's not a speed guy, but he possesses his own set of skills which is physicality."
Ballage said that the bar has been set high for this running back group.
"I honestly want to say our expectations as a group are higher than the coaches' expectations for us," Ballage said. "We get together and talk all the time...we want to be the best running back group not in the Pac-12, but in the country."
Additional Notes
- In addition to starring in the backfield Tuesday, Ballage also participated with the defense in pass-rushing drills. Ballage said the role was similar to a Devil linebacker role, but that his future there is unknown.
"To be determined," Ballage said.
This is the first time that Ballage has worked with the defense this spring. He previously worked there at points last season, as Todd Graham was trying to get him on the field.
Todd Graham was coy about how much action Ballage might see on defense.
"That's news to me," he said. "He might rush the passer a little bit. Maybe. We were just messing around."
- Redshirt sophomore defensive back Ronald Lewis performed especially well during Tuesday's practice. While playing with the second-team defense, he had an interception, almost another and also a tackle for loss.
On the interception, managed to track down a pass from freshman quarterback Brady White by reaching back and diving backwards, stealing the ball from redshirt freshman wide receiver Jalen Harvey.
- Junior punter Matt Haack was impressive Tuesday in practice, working well on his directional kicking.
"(Special teams coach Shawn) Slocum says he's got an NFL-caliber leg," Todd Graham said.
- Redshirt sophomore linebacker Marcus Ball was back in a white full-contact jersey Tuesday after donning a green no-contact jersey the last two practices due to back spasms.
- Redshirt senior guard Christian Westermann was limited for the second practice in a row due to a calf injury.
Reach the assistant sports editor at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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