No Train, no problem.
Junior running back Keegan Herring stepped up and carried the load on the ground for the ASU football team against San Diego State Saturday in the absence of an injured senior running back Ryan Torain.
But he didn't just carry the load. He absolutely tore up the Aztec defense by amassing 161 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.
"That's a big game out of anybody, but I think it's expected of Keegan," junior quarterback Rudy Carpenter said. "I was happy for Keegan tonight. He got a chance and did real well."
It was the second-best game of Herring's career, topped only by his game against Northwestern in 2005 when he torched the Wildcats for 197 yards.
After a successful freshman campaign in 2005, many thought Herring would be the Sun Devils' featured back for the rest of his career.
But with the emergence of Torain last season, Herring has had to settle for the backup role and had only gained 95 yards on the ground this season prior to Saturday's game.
However, Herring made the most out of his opportunity to be the featured back Saturday and said it felt great to be back in the starting lineup.
"You kind of miss that feeling when you're not a starter," he said. "It felt great working hard again, getting hit, making touchdowns and celebrating with your offensive line."
Herring got rolling in the first quarter when the Sun Devils began their third drive of the game at their own 40-yard line.
He took the handoff on the first play of the drive and rushed for nine yards.
After Carpenter ran for a first down and an incomplete pass, Herring got the ball again, literally hugged his offensive line when he ran into senior left tackle Brandon Rodd, found daylight and scampered down the sideline for a 46-yard score.
In the process, he also dragged a San Diego State defender into the end zone with him.
"I think I was playing hide and seek for the defense," Herring said. "I was really just trying hide away from the defense and when I saw my opening I just took it. The guy that flipped me in the end zone looked like he was trying to make a decision if he wanted to tackle me or not so I just ran into him."
Herring continued to get his chances on the ground in the second quarter and was a key factor on an 11-play, 42-yard drive that led to a Thomas Weber field goal to push the Sun Devils' lead to 17-10.
Herring went into the locker room at halftime having already chalked up 85 yards on eight carries and was averaging 10.6 yards per carry.
Herring was the workhorse for the entire game as sophomore running back Dmitri Nance injured his hamstring in the game and freshman running back Jarrell Woods was also unavailable.
"That's a warrior right there, because we were down to no backs basically," ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. "He hung in there and played his rear end off and made a lot of great runs.
"Sometimes he comes out of stuff that it looks like he's tackled, and he just comes out."
Herring scored his second touchdown of the game near the end of the third quarter when he got the ball one yard from the goal line and took it in.
Herring had one final hoorah on his last drive in the fourth quarter when he had a 32-yard run followed by a rush four plays later that would have been a sure touchdown if SDSU junior safety T.J. McKay had not tripped him up after a nine-yard gain.
Reach the reporter at: gina.mizell@asu.edu.
