Arizona State football will have Pac-12’s best backfield in 2021

Arizona State football will have one of the best backfields in the country in 2021 but it should lead the entire Pac-12. Agree or disagree?

It only took four games, but the Pac-12 got a little taste of what’s coming from Arizona State over the next couple of years.

What do I mean by this?

The Sun Devils had one of the best one-two backfield punches in the country in Deamonte Trayanum and Rachaad White.

The two were some of the most dynamic rushers in the country and both were in their first seasons with the program. White was a JUCO transfer and led all rushers with 420 yards and five touchdowns and Trayanum was a true freshman who had 290 yards and four scores. It’s hard to believe that there was zero drop-off after losing Eno Benjamin, but Herm Edwards did a good job of replacing him with two studs.

Edwards gets both back next season and they should combine to form the best backfield in the Pac-12 after combining for 710 yards and nine touchdowns in just four games. And they didn’t even combine for 100 carries. That’s crazy impressive.

Also impressive is this stat:

Clearly White is electric with his speed and elusiveness so running him outside the tackles is just asking to pick up big gains. Out of his 42 carries, 28 of them were outside the tackles and he averaged 12.7 yards per carry.

As for Trayanum, he’s more of a big-bodied back that opposing defenders don’t really want to take their chances in tackling one-on-one. If you’re going to take down Trayanum, you’re going to need some help.

The Pac-12 is going to be in trouble next year and potentially once again in 2022 with Trayanum and White leading the way.