Arizona State's Eno Benjamin humble and focused on winning as records pile up

TEMPE — Arizona State sophomore Eno Benjamin sat at a podium in an interview room at Sun Devil Stadium moments after ASU polished off UCLA. He seemed puzzled when reporters asked him about a record he had just broken. That mark was the 1,229 yards of Ryan Torain, who had the best ASU single-season rushing total in the Pac-12 era.

“I did?” he said.

“He did,” echoed junior offensive lineman Cohl Cabral, who was sitting next to Benjamin and offered a congratulatory pat on the head.

Benjamin has said all season that individual accolades don’t matter. The fact that he was completely oblivious to that accomplishment is evidence he truly believes it.

Those closest to him are not surprised.

“He’s humble,” running backs coach John Simon said. “He really is only thinking about the team. He knows if the team does well all the other stuff takes care of itself.”

More records are likely to come for the Wylie, Texas, native. He has 12 rushing touchdowns and 1,444 yards rushing, which puts him just 121 yards away from the school’s all-time single-season total of 1,565 by Woody Green in 1972. Barring injury, that record seems like a given.

First he’ll have Saturday afternoon’s Territorial Cup game against Arizona (5-6, 4-4 in Pac-12 play) in Tucson, then comes a yet-to-be-determined bowl game.

Benjamin has rushed for more than 100 yards in eight of 11 games and stands third in the nation in total yards, trailing only Darrell Henderson of Memphis and Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin.

His best showing was another game that put him in the school record books with 312 yards against Oregon State in September, breaking a Sun Devils single-game record that had stood for 45 years.

As a true freshman, he saw minimal time on the field and had just 23 carries for 142 yards behind Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage who tallied 1,028 and 669 yards each, respectively.

Given that small sample size last year, could anyone have imagined this kind of breakout season from Benjamin? Well, yes.

“I’m not surprised at all,” said the since-graduated Richard, who is still in close contact with his successor. “He might not have been the guy carrying the ball a lot in games, but he was working and doing all the things he needed to do to get ready for this season.

“He was right there asking questions, taking everything in so he would be ready when it was his turn.”

Benjamin might not be fixated on individual accolades, but he does have a quiet confidence about him.

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“I thought I could do this if I put in the work,” he said. “I trust in the coaches to put me in the right position and get me to this point.”

All have applauded Benjamin’s work ethic both on and off the field. He regularly spends time with his offensive linemen watching film and going over blocking schemes. He spends extra time with Simon as well.

Sun Devils defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales works on the other side of the ball, but he compares Benjamin favorably to a player from his days at San Diego State — Rashaad Penny, who is now with the Seattle Seahawks.

“They’re both very competitive,” Gonzales said.

“Penny is probably the hardest working player I’ve ever been around, and Eno is right there up with him. That’s what sets those guy apart from others. It’s what they do when people aren’t watching.”

The biggest question halfway through the season might have been durability. Benjamin, just 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, has never had to shoulder this kind of workload at the college level.

He had a season-high 34 carries against UCLA and is at 256 for the season.

He has factored into the passing game as well with 31 reception for 214 yards and two touchdowns.

The questions about durability have ceased now with Benjamin’s production higher than it has been at any point.

He’s racked up 669 yards in the last four games.

Most marvel at his balance and what has become a familiar spin move which comes when a defender makes first contact. He worked on those with former NFL back LaDainian Tomlinson last summer.

Going into the Oregon game, Benjamin had forced 67 missed tackles, second among all FBS players.

He also has yet to fumble the ball and has more carries without one than any other running back from an FBS school.

His intangibles make his season all the more impressive.

“I know I’m not the biggest or the fastest or the strongest, but I can get the job done,” Benjamin said. “I take a lot of pride in that and being able to put my team in the position to win.”