Senior running back Marion Grice knows who’s going to be on the opposite sideline come Saturday. He’s not paying much attention, though.
Grice, the nation’s leading scorer, is keeping his focus on Washington's defense and said he is not thinking about the Huskies’ junior running back and the nation’s leader in rushing yards, Bishop Sankey.
“Going into a game, I don’t think about the other team’s offensive players,” Grice said. “I just focus on what’s going on our side and let the defense take care of that.”
Grice and the ASU rushing attack had their best statistical game last week against Colorado, racking up 298 yards.
Most of that came after the game was out of reach, but Grice rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns and said it provided a good boost before facing Sankey and the potent Huskies rushing attack this Saturday.
“I feel like this is just another week for us to come out and prove to ourselves we can establish the run game,” Grice said. “It’ll be great for us if we can come out and do that.”
The Huskies aren’t the Buffaloes, though, and have allowed only 4.0 yards per rush this season.
Grice said he’s wary of the speed of the Huskies' linebackers, including sophomore Shaq Thompson.
“They can get sideline to sideline really fast,” Grice said. “They’re athletic, really fast guys, so we need to come out and be physical with them.”
Grice said he’s watched tape from when the Huskies faced Oregon and Arizona and that he has the solution to beating the Huskies' defense.
“We just have to keep running downhill at them and something will happen,” Grice said.
Although he said he doesn’t rank the running backs the ASU football team faces, Grice thinks the ASU defense will do its part and shut down Sankey, whose nine touchdown runs is only one less than Grice.
“It gives me the opportunity to watch a guy who has made a great name for himself, but I think our defense will pull through and shut him down,” Grice said.
Additional Notes
- Freshman safety Marcus Ball remained the only active player in the green no-contact jersey, but was in pads for the second straight day.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @DsShapi
