ASU Football notebok: Schedule paying dividends again for Sun Devils

A dream schedule for Arizona State could be paying dividends one more time, with any hangover from the Southern California loss expected to be remedied by two extra days of rest before playing archrival Arizona.

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The 44-24 loss to the Trojans on Thanksgiving was “hard for us,” defensive tackle Michael Marquardt said. It might have been difficult to play again seven days later, he added.

“The holiday gave us a little more time to mourn our loss and get over it,” Marquardt said on Tuesday. “I think it helped. There’s a lot of guys on our team banged up, and the couple of days to rest helped them.”

Among the walking wounded are starting left tackle Brandon Rodd and his backup, Richard Tuitu’u, who both have ankle injuries. Both remain questionable for Saturday’s game but are improving, coach Dennis Erickson said.

“Tuitu’u is not 100 percent, but he is close,” Erickson said. “And Rodd has been getting better, day by day.”

Safety Josh Barrett (knee) watched practice in street clothes with a crutch and remains doubtful.

THUMBS UP

It would not be a Tuesday practice at ASU without an update on the passing thumb of Rudy Carpenter. The thumb held up well in the USC game, and this week Carpenter should fully participate in practice.

In previous weeks since suffering the injury on Oct. 27 against California, Carpenter has been limited.

“You’ve got to practice,” Erickson said. “You can talk about sitting him out and resting him for the thumb to get well, and you’ve got to do that. But if you are a quarterback, and you are not practicing, it hurts you, no question.”

SAFETY HELP

If Barrett does not play against Arizona, junior Rodney Cox will start. Jeremy Payton, who started three games while Barrett was injured earlier this year, recently returned from an ankle injury. Against USC, Cox came in after Barrett’s injury and had nine tackles.

“Jeremy will get back into it and get into the game some,” Erickson said. “But Rodney has earned it and played well, especially last week.”

EXTRA POINTS

About 1,300 tickets remain for the Arizona game. A capacity crowd would give ASU three consecutive home sellouts for the first time since 1987.

Saturday’s game has been moved from ESPN to ESPN2 to make way for the West Virginia-Pittsburgh contest. A WVU victory figures to send the Mountaineers to the Bowl Championship Series title game.