Bordow: ASU’s Carpenter mulls this Saturday, future Sundays

Arizona State junior quarterback Rudy Carpenter walked into his weekly press conference Monday with a black brace around his sprained right thumb.

ASU’s Carpenter wearing brace on throwing hand

“You’re not supposed to be wearing that in here,” coach Dennis Erickson said with a smile. “I told everybody you were OK.”

Carpenter smiled at his coach, sat down, and in response to the first question about the thumb said, “It’s fine.”

The answer sounded evasive, though, and Carpenter kept his right hand underneath a table so it wouldn’t be seen.

Sure enough, after the television cameras were turned off and Carpenter had a private audience, he admitted to feeling somewhat uncertain about the extent of the injury and whether it will hamper him as the Sun Devils prepare to play Oregon Saturday in their biggest game in 11 years.

“I think it’s fine, but I really don’t know,” said Carpenter, who injured the thumb on a botched hand-off with tailback Keegan Herring in Saturday’s win over California. “We’re going to find out (today) in practice.”

Even if the injury proves to be a minor nuisance, it speaks to the temporary nature of success.

The Sun Devils are 8-0. Along with Boston College, they’re one of the two biggest surprises of this college football season. A BCS bowl game — the first in the program’s history — is within ASU’s grasp.

But because Carpenter and Herring ran into each other on a simple exchange, delirium has given way to a bit of trepidation.

“It swelled up a bit,” Erickson said. “We’ll be careful with him, obviously.”

The injury also has to make Carpenter think about his future.

He is having a terrific season, completing 65.4 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’s a more complete quarterback now than he was in 2005 when he started the final five games and put up ridiculous numbers against inferior competition.

It’s fair to say only a handful of quarterbacks have had better seasons, one of them notably being Oregon’s Dennis Dixon.

But Carpenter also has been sacked 28 times and taken vicious hits on numerous other plays. It’s a minor miracle, given the beating he’s taken and the way he plays — he has the mind set of a middle linebacker — that he’s started every game.

It hasn’t escaped Carpenter’s attention that he’s fortunate to be in one piece. He knows that Sam Keller’s season at Nebraska has ended prematurely because of a shoulder injury, and college quarterbacks across the country are an endangered species.

Carpenter also understands that the Sun Devils are having a magical season. There’s no guarantee ASU will be as successful next year, particularly with a schedule that includes games at California and USC and a home date with Georgia.

With that in mind, I asked Carpenter whether he would consider turning pro at the end of the season.

He laughed, laughed some more, shook his head and laughed again. Finally, he said, “I’m not going to answer that question. I do know what you’re saying. But I can’t answer that.”

Now, that doesn’t mean Carpenter is going to make a beeline for the NFL. He’s a smart guy. He knows that several quarterbacks would be drafted ahead of him, including Dixon, Boston College’s Matt Ryan, Louisville’s Brian Brohm, Kentucky’s Andre Woodson and Hawaii’s Colt Brennan.

As a likely second-day draft pick, he wouldn’t make the kind of money that would secure his future financially.

He knows, too, that another year of seasoning at ASU would only make him more attractive to the NFL. Carpenter needs to grow both physically — at 6-foot-2 and 199 pounds he could stand to gain another 10-15 pounds of muscle — and in his understanding of the game. Scouts also will want him to work on his release, which is too low for their liking.

“I think playing at the next level is a goal for everybody,” Carpenter said. “It’s always a goal for me. But I’m an ASU man. I’m having fun and I think I need as much time here as I can to keep on progressing and get better.”

I don’t think Carpenter will leave ASU early. But sure he’s thought about it. How many of us wouldn’t in his position?

Especially when the next hit might result in something more serious than a sprained thumb.