INDIANAPOLIS — Everyone inside Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., knew what was going to happen when Kalen Ballage lined up in the shotgun formation back on Sept. 11, 2016.
The Texas Tech defense knew. The fans new. The television broadcasters knew. And so did Ballage, Arizona State’s bruising running back by way of Falcon High School.
Six times, as the Sun Devils prowled the goal line, Ballage took the snap in the wildcat formation — or the “Sparky” formation as they call it at ASU — and six times he burst across the goal line. Oh, and he added a 39-yard touchdown catch and a 75-yard scoring run to total eight touchdowns, tying an NCAA single-game record.