Carpenter throws, will be ready for Oregon game

Exhale, Sun Devil fans. Quarterback Rudy Carpenter participated in most throwing drills at practice on Wednesday and will be good to go when Arizona State faces off with No. 4 Oregon on Saturday.

“He threw it real well,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “It’s not anything I didn’t expect.”

Carpenter wore a glove for better grip on his throwing hand for most of the drills, but Erickson doesn’t expect him to need it for the game.

Carpenter sprained his right thumb running into running back Keegan Herring against California.

“I never doubted that (he would be back),” Erickson said. “There was never a doubt in my mind, we just wanted to let the swelling go down. I knew he would do something today. He actually did more than I thought. He’ll be ready to go.”

STAYING LOOSE

The Sun Devils are in the midst of their best season since 1996 and continue to ascend the national rankings, but the success hasn’t changed the way they go about practice — which is usually quite entertaining.

On Wednesday, Herring danced as the marching band played the fight song and then directed them through a chain-link fence while his teammates participated in special-teams drills.

“That’s just a reflection of our coaches,” safety Josh Barrett said. “They’re loose. They’re not coaching uptight.”

Erickson said different situations won’t change how the team practices.

“That’s how we’ve practiced from the first day of spring football and (will) until we get done with the end of the year,” he said.

BARRETT OK

A scout team player landed on Barrett’s ankle early in practice, but after a quick once-over from trainers, he finished out the session.

“Ten years ago you just come back, now you’ve got to see the trainer,” Erickson said.

It’s more important Barrett stay healthy with fellow safety Jeremy Payton out with a sprained ankle.

Payton was on the sidelines in street clothes.