With Rachaad White running hot for ASU, Saturday sets up battle between Pac-12's top backs

Rachaad White knows Saturday will be a fun game.

The Arizona State running back, who's quickly ascended to the top of the rushing statistics in the Pac-12, won’t be competing simultaneously with Oregon State running back B.J. Baylor. But both will be going shot-for-shot in the race to burn out each other’s defenses.

ASU focus: Sun Devils defense heads to Oregon State looking to stop run

Baylor, who currently leads the Pac-12 with 105.0 yards per game, holds an inviting lead over White’s 96.6 average. White, however, edges out Baylor in rushing touchdowns, 14, tied for the most in Pac-12. White has amassed 869 yards on the ground, including huge games the past two weeks — 202 against USC and 184 against Washington.

“It’s always going to be fun. I try to have a lot of fun when I’m out there,” White said. “Definitely as a competitor, you want to come out of that game up, but I mean, defense is focused on him (Baylor), their defense is focused on me. At the end of the day, I just got to run hard and do my job so that’s where my focus is on.”

White’s become the workhorse for ASU’s offense, taking on a gamut of responsibilities to fill in the gaps. Passing game still not finding its stride? No problem. He’ll come up with 53 yards on five catches to lead all ASU receivers in limiting conditions at Washington.

It could be concerning for a team to have one player doing it all on offense, but for ASU, it embraces White’s multifaceted abilities. His absence was felt heavily in the 34-21 loss against Washington State when ASU’s offense rushed for a season-low of 131 yards.

Head coach Herm Edwards knows there are other capable playmakers, such as quarterback Jayden Daniels, running backs DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum and Daniyel Ngata and the receiving corps, but with White’s dominance the past two games it’s hard not to give him the ball.

“I take a lot of pride in all parts of my game, I want to be great. I know there’s a lot of labels they give all running backs and I want to be a running back that can do it all," White said. "I just make sure I got that in my game and it’s pretty cool that the coaches trust me in throwing the ball in situations like that.”

The driving force behind White’s success also lies with the offensive line, which has allowed ASU to rush for at least 100 yards as a team in 14 straight games. That stretch marks the longest streak of rushing for over 100 yards as a team since a 21-game stretch shared over the 1995 and 1996 seasons.

“We’ve been able to run the football and people know we’re trying to run the football, so when you can still do that, that says a lot about them,” Edwards said. “Now, (White) is pretty special, but when you have a special guy, he makes everybody look better. He’s playing well right now.”

White collected Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second straight week on Monday, but he wasn’t the only Sun Devils player collecting recognition. Center Dohnovan West received Pac-12 Offensive Lineman of the Week for the second time in his career. Both have developed a mutualistic relationship on the field.

“I love blocking for him. You don’t always have to be perfect. He can still try and make something happen out of it," West said. "It’s not like everything has to be fitted up for him to try and hit a hole. He’s the type of guy, you’re always trying to be perfect, but if you do make a mistake, it’s not the end of the day. That’s something special.”

Czaplicki in strong form

True freshman Eddie Czaplicki stepped into the punter role when Michael Turk departed for Oklahoma in late August. The North Carolina native has adapted nicely after a midseason hiccup.

Czpalicki is averaging 42.76 yards on 33 punts, with 14 downed inside the 20 and 11 of 50 yards or more.

But in 14 kicks over the past four games he’s averaging 50.3 yards. In the 35-30 win over Washington he averaged 52 yards on five kicks.

"I think I just feel more comfortable in game scenarios, the tempo, the speed of the game,” he said. “I’m just feeling more comfortable in my element.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State-Oregon State sets up matchup of top running backs