ASU RB Kalen Ballage could return to practice, game action this week

by Paola Boivin

By BILL SLANE
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Arizona State head coach Todd Graham said Monday that he expects sophomore running back Kalen Ballage to return to practice this week after missing the first three games of the season with mononucleosis. Graham is hopeful one of the team’s best players out of the backfield will be able to suit up on Saturday.

The Sun Devils offense has struggled at times early this season and much of that has been attributed to several key players missing time to injury, with Ballage leading the list. The mixing and matching has made it hard for the group to get its rhythm.

ONE STEP FORWARD: Graham said Monday while the team is hoping to have Ballage on the field Saturday night, nothing is set in stone just yet.

“I don’t know that for sure but that’s what we think,” he said. “We’ll know more about that today but I fully expect him to play.”

As to what Graham thinks Ballage will be able to do at practice this week, he simply responded, “practice.” Ballage scored four touchdowns as a true freshman last season (three rushing, one receiving). He also averaged 31.2 yards on kickoff returns.

Ballage showed his versatility in the spring by working both on offense and on defense. If he were to make a return to the field this week, don’t expect to see him making his two-way debut. Graham said he won’t be playing any snaps on defense if he does play.

“That’s mostly because of conditioning and stuff like that,” he said. “It’s pretty hard to do that. It’ll take him a little bit to get back to where he needs to be there.”

ANOTHER STEP BACK: Bad news on the injury front for the Sun Devils is wide receiver Devin Lucien, who suffered a hamstring injury against New Mexico. Graham said on Monday that he would call the redshirt senior transfer doubtful for Saturday’s game but they would know more later this week.

Lucien is second on the team in both catches and yards with 13 receptions for 147 yards through three games this season.

LOVE TO HATE: ASU has beaten USC in back-to-back seasons, each time in different but equally dramatic fashion. A year ago the Sun Devils won in the LA Coliseum at the last second on Mike Bercovici’s Hail Mary throw to Jaelen Strong. The year before ASU gave Lane Kiffin a not-so-pleasant farewell as they hung 62 points on the Trojans. Kiffin was unceremoniously fired as USC’s head coach immediately following the game.

The USC rivalry is special to Bercovici, and not just because of his great game against them last year. A native of Calabasas, California, just over 30 miles east of the LA Coliseum, he grew up watching USC football.

“I think for anybody, especially Southern California kids that commit to ASU, you know that game is automatically circled on your schedule,” he said. “But it’s exciting. I think we’ve done well against the Trojans in the past, but that doesn’t matter because this is a completely different year.”

The real season begins: The next two games are against the two best teams in the Pac-12 South, not the easiest way to begin Pac-12 play. It’s also going to be a major shift in game plan after playing two triple-option teams in their nonconference schedule.

“It’s a completely different brand, so we’ve got to really do a good job in our practice preparation, kind of getting out of that mode and back into our regular mode,” Graham said. “I don’t like doing that for two weeks because I think it’s – I’d rather be doing what we do.

Biggest challenge yet: USC is coming off of a tough loss at home to the Stanford Cardinal which dropped them 13 spots in the AP poll, down to No. 19. USC still has the 11th best offense in the nation and the third best defense.

Graham said the team works all year preparing for Pac-12 play.

“And it doesn’t get any bigger than this game,” Graham said. “Obviously our guys know the implications of this game. It’s not hard to get motivated.”

ASU and USC play each other every year so the veteran players of both teams know each other well. However, the fifth-year senior Bercovici has seen the Trojans more than any other Sun Devil.

“Obviously you’re playing such a great opponent that we’ve played – this is going to be my fifth year playing them,” he said. “You know what you’re up against when you’re playing USC, so we’ll be ready.”