Nance, Herring keep ASU running

Most of the 64,000-plus in attendance must have flinched when it happened. Ryan Torain hobbled off the field early in the second quarter against Washington Saturday night with a foot injury and didn’t return, and one had to wonder if Arizona State’s hopes of a 7-0 start left with him.

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A 3-yard touchdown reception by Kyle Williams one play later gave the Sun Devils a 10-7 lead, but already without their best receiver — Michael Jones was knocked out of the game early with a concussion — and now their best runner, the prospects for the Sun Devils looked bleak.

“Those are two of our best players on offense,” quarterback Rudy Carpenter said.

But Dimitri Nance saw an opportunity to show the talent so many people had been raving about when he was breaking records as a high schooler in Texas two years ago, and Keegan Herring wasn’t about to be left behind again.

A touchdown catch by Rudy Burgess gave ASU a 20-17 lead early in the third quarter, and Nance stretched it by taking a handoff and streaking down the right sideline for 57 yards for the 10-point advantage.

While a crowded backfield has limited his carries this season, Nance did the most he could with some semi-regular work on this night. His line: a team-high 13 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown.

After an impressive freshmen campaign. Herring humbly took a back seat when Torain exploded onto the scene last season.

He wasn’t to be outdone by Nance on this night, though, one-upping him with a 76-yard touchdown run down the left sideline for a 34-17 Arizona State advantage.

Herring would end up with 10 carries for 119 yards and the score.

The runs were career longs for both running backs, and were both sprung by huge holes made by the offensive line.

“I think I might marry one of them,” Herring said of his linemen.

Herring’s scamper was the longest by a Sun Devil since J.R. Redmond had an 80-yarder against UCLA on Oct. 2, 1999.

The pair then helped ice the win in the fourth quarter by running the ball eight times for 23 yards on a drive that took up nearly five minutes and led to a chip-shot field goal by Thomas Weber for a three-possession lead with 4:29 remaining.

Torain needed crutches to get off the field after his injury and has a pretty serious sprain, coach Dennis Erickson said. The Sun Devils have a bye but play California in two weeks.

“I just don’t know where he’ll be,” Erickson said. “I don’t know if he’ll be back for Cal or not.”

There will be plenty of time to worry about ASU if Torain is out for a prolonged period, and it might be a different story if more extensive game plans are written to stop Nance and Herring.

But for this game, the backups were all right.