Eno Benjamin's Record Breaking Night Sparks Arizona State Win!

Jeff Demers

The Arizona State Sun Devils have taken a Jekyll and Hyde approach to the season so far as they started out playing extremely well against opponents at home, but then looked completely different on the road.  After a big victory against (then 15th ranked) Michigan State at home, the Sun Devils then took to the road, losing back-to-back games to San Diego State, and 10th ranked Washington Huskies.

Even though both losses were only by a touchdown a piece, the offense struggled and at most times seemed to not have any type of identity.  But now they were back home, where they were 2-0.

Enter Eno Benjamin.

Eno Benjamin gets 312 yards rushing, 3 TDs

With the Arizona State Sun Devils returning home on Saturday night, badly in need of a win, the 5'10" 210lb. Sophomore stepped up in a big way!  But at first, as the Arizona State offense took the field on their first possession, it looked like Herm Edwards wanted to come out with a
good mix of run and pass.  And that's what was shown with 6 passes and 9 rushes, including an 11-yard scramble by quarterback Manny Wilkins.  The Sun Devils would stall on the Oregon State 12-yard line after Eno Benjamin would be stopped on a 3rd and 2 run play.  Benjamin would finish with 23 yards rushing on the Sun Devils first drive as they opted for the field goal to go up 3-0.

Oregon State would be forced to punt on their first possession after only gaining a total of 7 yards on 6 plays.  Their leading rusher, Jermar Jefferson would have 10 yards rushing on his first drive as well.  But the Beavers offense was shut down by Arizona State after a sack and 8-yard loss by Malik Lawal.

The Sun Devils would get the ball back on their own 43, where Eno Benjamin would really start to heat up.  He would start the drive with rushes of 5 and 8 yards, but after an incomplete pass by Wilkins, Benjamin broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run, giving the Sun Devils an early 10-0 lead over the Beavers.

On Oregon State's next possession, the Sun Devils defense would once again get to Conor Blount with a combined sack by Jalen Bates and Merlin Robertson.  This would bring up a 2nd and 18.  Jermar Jefferson would get 9 of those yards on the ground for the Beavers, but they would be forced to punt once again.

ASU would receive the ball again after a punt on their own 38.  Eno Benjamin would again do his thing on this drive with runs of 2 (for a first down), 9, 20, and then capped it off by receiving a touchdown pass from Wilkins for an 8-yard score, giving the Sun Devils a 17-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter.

Jermar Jefferson ran for 254 yards, 2 TDs on 31 rushes

Oregon State, badly in need of some offense, any offense, would lean on their starting running back Jermar Jefferson once again.  Jefferson would get the ball seven times on the Beavers drive, with runs of 12, 21, 2, 3, 3, 5, and 3 yards.  This would push the ball down the field enough to allow Oregon State to get on the board with a Jordan Choukair 36-yard field goal, making the score 17-3.

Arizona State would respond with the Eno Benjamin show as the four play, 75-yard scoring drive was highlighted by runs of 21 yards (to start the drive), and 47-yards to score the touchdown.  This gave Arizona State a commanding 24-3 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter.

The Beavers would respond with a 75-yard drive of their own, capped off by Jefferson on the drive's last 3 plays with runs of 15, 6, and 11 yards.  This score cut down ASU's lead to 24-10.

After forcing an ASU punt, the Beavers would again drive down field, using Jefferson to complete two 3rd down plays, and he also would cap the drive off with another nice touchdown run of 27-yards.  This brought Oregon State to within one score of the Sun Devils.  It was also becoming apparent that this game was becoming a track meet between Jefferson and Benjamin.

With only 1:02 remaining in the half, Arizona State would get the ball on their own 25.  And then the Sun Devils took to the air.  Benjamin would have two receptions on the drive of 5 and 14 yards, but it was capped off by a nice pass from Wilkins to Williams for the 19-yard score with just :14 remaining on the clock.  This gave the Sun Devils a 31-17 lead heading into the half.

Coming out of the half, the Sun Devils defense would force a punt by the Beavers, and the ASU offense would drive down field for their first score of the 2nd half, with Wilkins finding N'Keal Harry for the 6-yard touchdown.  This gave ASU a 38-17 lead over the Beavers.

But the Oregon State Beavers would not simply lay down as they scored on their next possession, which included a big run by Jermar Jefferson of 47 yards.  OSU would score on a 6-yard pass by Blount to Noah Togiai, bringing the score to 38-24.

But that would be the last time the Beavers offense would reach the end zone on the night as ASU's defense would lock them down the remaining quarter and a half.

ASU's offense, on the other hand, would poor it on with two more scoring drives.  The first of the three drives would again be highlighted by Benjamin with rushes of 15, 22, 23, and a touchdown run of 10 yards, pushing the ASU lead to 45-24.

Devil's offense scores 52 points in Pac12 victory

And the second drive would be started off with Benjamin runs of 4, 5, and 19 yards.  This gave Eno Benjamin the overall Arizona State single-game rushing record of 312 yards to go along with his 3 rushing touchdowns.  He also added 27 yards receiving and a touchdown reception.  The final score came on a 47-yard pass from Manny Wilkins to N'Keal Harry, bringing the final to 52-24.

Jermar Jefferson would finish the game for the Oregon State Beavers with a nice 254 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 31 rushes.

Up next for the Arizona State Sun Devils another big road test against 21st ranked Colorado. That game is a day game, starting at 1:00 AZ time.