It’s no secret that ASU running backs coach Shaun Aguano has weapons. The Sun Devil running back room containing redshirt senior Rachaad White, sophomore DeaMonte Trayanum, and shirt freshman Daniyel Ngata make up one of the stoutest running back trios in the Pac-12. On any given day, any one of the three can shine, but it’s Aguano’s job, along with offensive coordinator Zak Hill, to divvy up who gets the rock and how often it’s given to them.
Anyone can have the hot hand, but on Saturday night against USC in his first game back since the Utah contest in mid-October, White’s hand was played, and it was scorching.
The redshirt senior had his most productive performance in maroon and gold since he arrived ahead of the 2020 season, rushing 28 times for 202 yards and three touchdowns, also eclipsing the 1000-yard mark during his tenure in Tempe.
“It came to a point where he had the hot hand,” Aguano said of White on Saturday night. “You could see it in his eyes that he wanted to stay in and lead the team, so I stayed with him and took him out a couple of times because he was winded. I thought he was the most dangerous guy on the field, and from where I come from, you give the guy with the hot hand the ball.”
White was the most complete version of himself on Saturday night. The eagerness to perform and succeed showed, as two weeks away from competition will do to any true athlete. White scampered for two of the longest runs of his career, nothing compared to his 93-yard dash against Arizona last year, but nonetheless still highly impressive. White ran for a 47 yarder in the second quarter, displaying his vision, speed, and shiftiness, to name a few attributes. Better yet, in the fourth quarter, eager to best his early mark, added three yards to cover half the field for his second touchdown of the night. He added a third in the final moments to put the Trojans away.
“I like his feel; if you watch it from the endzone, you can see him get skinny though holes and gets the feel of following his blockers,” Aguano mentioned. “I’m really impressed with his physical ability to finish plays and keep his legs going, and it’s the ‘want to’ that I was most impressed by.”
“His ‘want to’ lead the team, even on the sidelines. Him getting those runs and finishing those runs pushes our linemen to make sure they’re downfield finishing blocks. He’s a great running back – good hands, good feel, but it’s the ‘want to’ part that I was most impressed by.”
White’s explosive night was the perfect display to get the ASU running backs on the right track again, after two consecutive losses to Utah and Washington State. Trayanum, White’s running mate, has struggled as of late in his ball security abilities, as he’s fumbled three times this season. The most recent of those cough-ups came in the second quarter of Saturday night’s game. He also fumbled on the second play from scrimmage against Washington State.
Due to the missteps, Aguano limited Trayanum’s carries across the remainder of the game against USC and explained his reasoning for the decision on Wednesday.
“I didn’t want him to be running scared and thinking about the football,” Aguano stated. “It didn’t have much to do with him fumbling the ball too; it was more so because Rachaad was on a roll, and he needed the ball and had a great feel for what was going on. I could see that Chip was disappointed, but because he felt he had let the team down, not really about not going back in.”
Trayanum responded the very next day by carrying a football around wherever he went.
“That’s just Chip,” Aguano smiled. “He knows what to do. It’s just about practicing habits and good habits and doing that every day. They don’t fumble on purpose… It goes back to practice and habits. I’ll take the blame on that. We have to concentrate on ball security every day.”
With Trayanum’s confidence restored and White on a hot streak, Arizona State’s split-back set, which was seen numerous times on Saturday, could once again come into play as the Sun Devils head to Seattle this weekend to face the Washington Huskies. Ngata is another option that can contribute from the set. No matter who is in, though, the threat of two running backs and the running ability of junior quarterback Jayden Daniels creates problems for opposing defenses.
No matter who ASU brings out, Washington, the second-worst run defense in the Pac-12, will have to do its homework. The Husky secondary is one of the best in the country at limiting strikes through the air, so the outcome of Saturday’s matchup, like most, will be determined by the efforts on the ground.
“From a personal standpoint on the defensive side, do they see us as heavy personnel because there are two backs on the field, or is it light personnel because of two backs? That’s the question defenses have to make a decision on,” Aguano laid out. “It creates matchup problems for the linebackers in routes with our backs because they are so good out of the backfield – they’re athletic, they’re fast.”
“I think it will be a mismatch for the linebackers inside with us having route-running (running backs) outside. I think it will give us another dimension to our offense, and Zak (Hill) has done a good job utilizing that, and we will use it more in the next couple of games.”
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