Junior running back D.J. Foster celebrates with one of his fans after winning against USC on Oct. 4, 2014. ASU won against USC 38-34. (Photo by Alexis Macklin)Junior running back D.J. Foster had been working himself into the national conversation of the best running backs in the country after the first three games of the season.
Foster rushed for an average of 170 yards in those first three games, in addition to becoming a threat in the passing game. Against UCLA and USC, however, Foster rushed for a combined 43 yards on just 19 attempts.
Redshirt junior quarterback Mike Bercovici has picked up the load, though. He threw for 998 yards in the two games Foster and the rest of the running backs have struggled in.
Still, is there cause for concern? The Sun Devils say no.
"We felt like we underperformed from a run game standpoint," ASU coach Todd Graham said. "But it didn't have anything to do with our running backs or our offensive line. It had to do with scheme."
The Bruins and Trojans weren't going to let the Sun Devils' explosive run game beat them. They were going to make the backup quarterback do it. And Bercovici did against the Trojans.
Not only were they going to make Bercovici beat them, they didn't have to scheme as much for the quarterback to run the ball. Although Bercovici is mobile enough, he doesn't bring the running threat that redshirt senior Taylor Kelly does.
Foster is Bercovici's roommate, but he said he's excited to get his starting quarterback back — though he didn't discount the performances Bercovici had.
"(Getting Kelly back), it's huge," Foster said. "It's just tough. At the end of the day, Mike's been playing incredible. I love both of them. ... Taylor definitely has a little bit more of a run aspect, and it's harder for a defense to read that out."
Despite averaging just 2.9 yards per carry as a team the last two weeks, after averaging 7.13 the first three, ASU is confident its run game will return soon. Don't be surprised if it coincides with Kelly's return, which will likely come against Stanford.
"Taylor brings a different dimension and a different level of accountability in the run game for the defense," Graham said.
In Los Angeles, Kelly didn't use crutches, and that continued Tuesday at practice. Although he didn't suit up and still wore a walking boot, Kelly didn't seem to have any issues putting weight on the his right foot.
Graham didn't go so far to say that Kelly will play against Stanford, but he reaffirmed that Kelly is his starting quarterback and that he expects him to begin practicing again by the end of the week.
Mike Norvell talks Hail Mary
Hail Mary was the play call, but it wasn't the only option the Sun Devils considered with seven seconds left at USC. They did consider throwing another pass to the sidelines to attempt a field goal, but offensive coordinator Mike Norvell didn't want to take that chance.
If ASU had gone that route and the receiver hadn't gotten out of bounds or close enough for a field goal, the Sun Devils could have left Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with a loss without even a chance to win the game.
"You look at the situation," Norvell said. "We had seven seconds left, and we have a great deal of confidence in (senior kicker) Alex (Garoutte). But where his range was, just taking the chance of maybe not getting out of bounds — I did not want to leave that field without an opportunity to say that we had a chance to win that game, to end it without running the final play."
Additional notes
— Sophomore kicker Zane Gonzalez didn't make the trip to Los Angeles because of what the team called "personal reasons." Gonzalez told me today that it was because of grades, something he's been working on for a few weeks now. He had been doing up-downs after practice all last week, and that continued on Tuesday.
Zane Gonzalez told me the reason he didn't make the trip to LA because of grades. Been working on that for a few weeks #ASU
— Evan Webeck (@EvanWebeck) October 7, 2014
— ASU changed up its defensive look a little bit on Tuesday. With redshirt sophomore linebacker Laiu Moeakiola in a green non-contact jersey, redshirt freshman Marcus Ball went through walk-throughs with the first team. Ball later worked with Devilbacker coach Paul Randolph in positional drills. Redshirt junior Antonio Longino, who had played Devilbacker all season, took reps at Will linebacker. He later continued to work at Devilbacker.
— Graham said freshman DJ Calhoun had his best game as a Sun Devil against USC. He made nine tackles, including 2.5 for loss and a sack. On Tuesday, however, he didn't work at his usual Will linebacker position. Instead, for the media viewing portion of practice, Calhoun was working behind Ball at Spur.
— Sophomore defensive lineman Ami Latu was also in the green non-contact jersey Tuesday. Graham said it was just "knick-knack stuff" and nothing serious. He, Moeakiola and redshirt senior De'Marieya Nelson will all rest this week in hopes of getting healthy for Stanford.
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @statepresssport
