The day before Arizona State opened the season against Texas A&M, Arizona State sophomore running back Kalen Ballage thought he had a sore throat. Nothing more, nothing less.
"They wanted to make sure I didn't have strep throat, and they ended up taking my blood and doing all kinds of other stuff," Ballage said of ASU's medical staff. "And they were like, 'You got mono.' I wasn't expecting that at all."
Ballage on Tuesday talked to media for the first time since his diagnosis, which kept him out of ASU's first three games. He returned for last Saturday's loss to USC, rushing nine times for 30 yards and contributing on special teams.