Pace Knows How To Keep It Up Asu Runner Began Career As Vandal, But That Seems A Lifetime Ago

This week the fasten-your-seatbelt odyssey of Tom Pace will pass within eight miles of where it all started.

Now he is a junior running back with Arizona State. Four years ago, he was a freshman running back with Idaho.

How he got from here to there and back again could stretch the imagination of Jules Verne. Three schools. Five moves. One foreign country. A mission. A marriage. So on and so forth. All in three years.

No doubt about it, Pace is one of the movers and shakers in college football.

This year, things have been shaking out pretty well for Pace, the Sun Devils’ No. 2 back coming into Saturday’s game with Washington State.

“I didn’t join the team until after the first week (of the season) and thought for sure that I would redshirt,” he said.

Think again. The Sun Devils had already lost starting running back Delvon Flowers (ACL) and backup Davaren Hightower was out with pneumonia. That left true freshman Michael Williams and Pace, a walk-on who hadn’t played at the Division I level since 1996. Williams went down with an ankle injury, so in the fifth week of the season, Pace was the Sun Devils’ No. 1 rusher with 93 yards against California. Pace is averaging 48.5 yards per game in four games.

“I never imagined playing against UCLA, Washington State, any of these teams or even for the Sun Devils,” Pace said.

Especially since Pace didn’t even get a recruiting phone call from his nearby university back in 1995 when he was a senior at Mesa High, School.

“I got a couple of letters. That was it,” Pace said of ASU’s efforts to recruit him.

Idaho, on the other hand, was sending out the welcome wagon for 5-foot-10, 195-pound former Junior Olympic weightlifting champ.“When I went up there everything was right and seemed to fit,” Pace said.

And he fit right into Idaho’s plans. As a freshman, he rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, he averaged 26.2 yards per kickoff return with a long of 79 yards.

Following that year, Pace went on his Mormon mission to Brazil. After two years of watching football played with a round ball, Pace returned to the American version. But not at Idaho.

“I went to Ricks Junior College” he said. “We thought (his wife Kenyon and himself) that we didn’t want to live where our parents lived, so I went up there.”

After a semester, he was back in the Phoenix area. Kenyon then got a job in Los Angeles.

“We moved, but it was late (in the year), and I couldn’t get into any of the colleges, so we came back,” Pace said.

Pace had been in contact with the coaching staff prior to moving to L.A. in the spring of 2000. When he got back to Phoenix, Pace decided it was time to give college football a try again. Turns out the Sun Devils needed him right away.

“I think that maybe I’ve been able to pick it up and come in and contribute so quickly because I’ve played football in so many places,” he said. “The coaches have had to go over some of the basic things with me that they don’t with the other players. But I’m not putting in that much more time.”

He can’t. No time. Remember, Pace is a walk-on.

“I have to work three days a week,” he said. “Valley of the Sun Pool Cleaners.”

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Pace hits the books early and picks up his pool sweep in the midafternoon before going to practice.

“The coaches know I have a job,’ said Pace. “And it’s OK if I’m late to practice sometimes.”

After all, at least he is finally there.

Quarterback questions

Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder has selected Jeff Krohn instead of Griffin Goodman as the starting quarterback for this week’s game with the Cougars.

Krohn, a redshirt freshman, was out of the lineup for several weeks with mononucleosis. He did play against Washington last week, but like the rest of the Sun Devils offense, appeared lethargic.

Goodman is 26 of 65 for 120 yards per game with one interception and four touchdowns. Krohn is 47 of 109 for 164 yards per game with three interceptions and six touchdowns this year. The Sun Devils have the top pass offense in the Pac-10 with 266 yards per game.

“After reviewing everything and having a staff meeting, my decision is that Jeff will get a lot of the work this week,” said Snyder. “Maybe he’ll start to pick up where he left off three or four games ago.

“There has been a bit of turmoil at that position. It is so difficult to have much continuity. I thought Jeff went in there and tried his very best. He was not as sharp as I think he could be. We’re going to go with Jeff. Griff has been tremendously supportive. He’s going to be ready to play. That’s just the way we are going to go.”

ASU injuries

It appears the Sun Devils will be without their top pass rusher, Terrell Suggs, for the WSU game. Suggs, a freshman, bruised his ribs in the first half against Washington last week. Snyder said Suggs is not expected to play against the Cougars.

Suggs is fourth in the Pac-10 in sacks with five. He has also forced three fumbles. Either Chad Howell or Ben Fox, both redshirt freshmen will take Suggs’ place.

The Sun Devils will also be missing junior defensive tackle Danny Masaniai. He is suffering from a sprained ankle.

Running back Mike Williams, the projected starter against WSU, has been held out of practice because of a bruised ankle. Pace or Davaren Hightower would get the starting nod if Williams can’t go.