Pool man turned tailback ready for Ducks
■Walk-on tail back Tom Pace
continues to improve and
makes his starting debut
against the Ducks Saturday
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Nobody involved with Arizona
State athletics knew what to expect
when a 5-foot-10,195-pound pro
fessional swimming pool cleaner
walked on to the football team.
No scouting report. No starting
experience. No first-hand knowl
edge of Pacific-10 Conference inten
sity.
Tom Pace, born and raised in
Mesa, Ariz., figured he’d spend bis
first year in a Sun Devil uniform,
red-shirting it on the sideline.
No way.
Following a strong performance
in Arizona State’s 23-20 win against
Washington State last Saturday,
Pace cracked his team’s starting
lineup at tailback and makes his
starting debut against Oregon this
weekend.
“I didn’t expect to have any play
ing time at all, really,” Pace said.
“This makes me feel like the coach
es have confidence in me, and it
makes me feel like I’m comfortable
in what I’m doing.
“Starting is a little more nerve
wracking; all that weight is on your
shoulders.”
Pace meandered into the Sun
Devils’ depth chart as the team’s
tailback supply was suffering early
in the season. Starter Delvon Flow
ers went down with a season-end
ing knee injury, J.R. Peroulis quit the
team because of a lack of playing
time and Davaren Hightower came
down with Valley Fever.
With Hightower bound to recov
r
er, Arizona State head coach Bruce
Snyder figured Pace would reach
no higher than third on the depth
chart.
However, it didn’t take long for
Pace to catch his coach’s eye. He
made his Sun Devil debut against
Utah State Sept. 23, rushing 65
yards on 16 carries en route to a 44
20 win.
“We didn’t evaluate him, and
when he was coming out of high
school, we didn’t recruit him,” Sny
der said. “I had no idea what we’d
get.”
“It was fun, but I was pretty nerv
ous because I’d never been on a field
like that before,” Pace said, recall
ing the Utah State game. “I was also
out of shape because I walked on
three weeks late.”
Nevertheless, Pace’s efforts con
tinued to turn heads. The junior had
a career day against California Oct.
7, rushing for 93 yards and a touch
down in 17 carries.
Pace secured his starting role last
Saturday when he crossed the sin
gle-game century mark in yardage
for the first time as a Sun Devil. He
amassed 103 yards in 26 carries at
Washington State, including some
clutch plays in the Devils’ overtime
drive.
“That little sucker is pretty good,”
Snyder said. “He squirms around.”
Pace spent his freshman year
playing for Idaho as a full-time kick
returner and part-time tailback. He
took a two-year leave from school to
go on a mission for his faith, then re
turned to the state of Idaho and
earned an Associate Arts degree
from Ricks College.
Eager to resume his NCAA football
career, Pace followed his wife to Los
Angeles. He planned to become a
UCLA Bruin, and she planned to pur
jL
•MM*
3i
Courtesy of Arizona State media services
Tailback Tom Pace, who cleans swimming pools for extra money, rushes for some of his 93 yards against California on Oct. 7.
sue a career in modeling.
But Pace didn’t have enough
credits to enroll at UCLA, so he re
turned to Mesa and began studying
at Arizona State. Everything else
has fallen into place.
“I’m happy with the way it’s
worked out,” said Pace.
Perhaps the walk-on’s emergence
on the field couldn’t have come at a
better time. The Ducks have the
third-best rush defense in the Pac
10, allowing opponents just 109.4
yards per game.
Penetrating Oregon’s defensive
line should be more difficult than
cleaning swimming pools, which
Pace still does before football prac
tice to make some extra money.
But he’s up to the challenge of
swimming with the Ducks.
“I feel like all I can do is my best,”
Pace said. “Hopefully that’s good
enough.”
1
“Everything in The \Jn\verse At>uitV*
toys • condoms • novelties • calendars • books • greeting cards • magazines (straight/gay/lesbian/transgender) •
leathers • lingerie • bondage • oils & lotions • t-shirts • kama sutra • large variety gay pride • jewelry
videos and DVD’s for sale & rent (straight/gay/lesbian/transgender)
“ReMscover” America § favorite V&stime
open 365 days a year • Sunday-Thursday 8-2am, Friday-Saturday 8-3am
Springfield Medford