In a midst of a three-game losing streak, Eno Benjamin’s record-setting year in 2018 in which he ran for a school-record 1,642 rushing yards seems like a distant memory for many ASU fans.

The dominating ground attack has since then been replaced by an offense that has struggled to run the ball consistently with two true freshmen along with the team’s starting line and a true freshman at quarterback.

It was just a year ago that ASU ran for a season-high 396 rushing yards on 48 carries against this week’s opponent Oregon State in a dominating 52-24 victory.

Benjamin led the way with 30 carries for a total a school-record 312 yards and three touchdowns, a game that still sits in the mind of offensive coordinator Rob Likens.

“I’ve watched that game back so many times and we watched it as a staff last night,” Likens said.

While Benjamin may have had his way with defenses like Oregon State a year ago, this season has been much less of a success.

The junior back has rushed for 731 yards this season through nine games as the team has struggled to run the ball as a whole.

In fact, during the team’s three-game losing skid, the Sun Devils have failed to post the same number of yards as Benjamin put up in the single-game against Oregon State.

Against USC (47), UCLA (116) and Utah (111), the Sun Devils amounted a total of 274 rushing yards compared to Benjamin’s 312 against the Beavers a year ago.

“I think we have good looks that we want, I just think sometimes you can’t win every play,” Benjamin candidly stated. “Sometimes they make the play, and sometimes we win, and so we’re just trusting the game plan. I think we have some good people in the right position to make plays, it’s just about getting it done.”

We’re just different right now,” Likens admitted. “We just are. With where we are upfront, we’re still developing and we’re just not quite as strong with veterans up there that have played a ton of football that are gone now and we’ve got a bunch of young bucks. Man, would I love to repeat that performance? Heck yeah. That would be great. But we’re such a different team. Oregon State is visibly a lot better this year on defense then they were last year I think.”

“As young people mature, they learn that dwelling on the past and what you can’t control isn’t going to do anything to help you,” offensive line coach Dave Christensen commented. “Just focus on what you control, you control the next rep and how you perform on it, and that’s all we can do (as a team).”

One of the main problems plaguing the ground attack of the Sun Devils has been the team’s inability to not fall behind early in matchups. Against UCLA it was a 42-10 deficit the team faced and against USC it was a 28-7 first-quarter deficit.

This inability has made it so the offense is forced to be one-dimensional in order to keep up with the scoring output of opposing teams.

“We didn’t play from behind a lot last year and you call plays off success on things as well,” Likens said. “We were handing the ball off last year and, in some games, we were getting five or six yards-per-carry and it’s just easier to keep pumping it in there. When you run the ball on first-and-10 and you end up with second-and-9, you don’t give up on the run game but you know after you do that a couple of times you start going, Man, I don’t want to start at second-and-9 anymore. I feel like I can throw a pass and at least get us to second-and-4.”

Another issue for ASU has been one that may come as a surprise to some but has mostly a positive. That comes in terms of the team’s quarterback play and the high-level Jayden Daniels and Joey Yellen in his single start have played as true freshmen.

Whether it’s been defenses keying on the running back or simply the quarterbacks playing at a high level, Likens has chosen to ride the hot hand of his quarterbacks instead of focusing on running the ball.

“I think our quarterbacks in certain games have gotten hot hands,” Likens admitted. “I’m just trying to ride them when you do that. Like in the Colorado game, the Washington State game, this past game Joey was on fire. I thought Joey was going to throw for 500 or 600 yards. I really did. I felt so good about him I was so comfortable calling passes. But yeah, sometimes the other team is stronger than us upfront at times.”

While all these factors can contribute to why the running attack may not be as potent as last year’s offense, Likens sees another roadblock in his way against Oregon State.

The Beavers are much improved in the eyes of the team’s offensive coordinator as an almost 400-yard performance on the ground may be difficult to replicate.

“They got some really, really big anchor guys in there, man,” Likens stated, “that you absolutely cannot move. They’re huge, and they weigh a lot. And we got some young guys that aren’t big ─ what, Dohnovan (West) is about 278 (pounds) or something crazy like that? So that’s going to be a problem, because you can’t move them, and you got to play with leverage and you got to run outside of them and make them run and then loosen them up so you can run the ball inside. They do present a challenge with those two anchor guys there.”

Not only is the defensive line a problem for Arizona State, it will be an also improved secondary that Daniels and Co. will have to contend with in the passing attack.

While Likens is not certain what coverage will be played against his offense, he knows the Beavers present a challenge in both the ground and air attacks.

A much different outlook on a defense that was near the bottom of the Pac-12 just one year ago.

“I think they’ve gotten a lot better in the secondary,” Likens stated. “They’re tough, they’ll hit you. Every game I’ve seen so far, they will come up and strike you, play with attitude. They’ll come up ─ I don’t know how they’re going to play us in the secondary. They play teams differently according to how they feel they best matchup, I don’t know. But they play press coverage, and they play press coverage with outside leverage and try to funnel everybody up inside, not let you get outside and throw the fades, funnel you into the single-high safety.”

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