ASU football notebook: Burgess wistful following final practice on ASU field

Rudy Burgess has walked away from the Kajikawa Practice Facility hundreds of times without as much as a second thought.

Read Blogging with the Devils

Not on Friday, however, when the Arizona State senior receiver walked off the fields at Rural Road and Sixth Street for the last time. The final workouts in the collegiate careers of Burgess and 26 other seniors will be in San Diego, where the Sun Devils head today to prepare for next week’s Holiday Bowl.

“It’s kind of sad,” Burgess said. “I was back at home recently, watching old highlight tapes. One of them was the (2004) Sun Bowl. It brought back memories. It felt like I was just in that game, scoring a touchdown and celebrating a win. It all came to an end quickly.”

Burgess said that he hopes that ASU can stage a “senior walk” — a tradition under former coach Dirk Koetter in which departing players’ final trip off the practice field is honored — in San Diego.

It has been quite a ride for Burgess, who showed a willingness to line up anywhere the team needed him. He arrived in Tempe in 2003 as a receiver, became a running back in 2004-05 and played wideout and cornerback last season. This year, exclusively as a receiver, he has 33 receptions for 455 yards and three scores.

“I have a lot of good memories,” Burgess said.

Many of those memories are in bowl games. In the ’04 Sun and ’05 Insight bowls, Burgess had a combined 359 yards from scrimmage — rushing for more than 100 yards in both games — and four touchdowns. (He was very limited in the ’06 Hawaii Bowl due to an ankle sprain.)

It can be argued that Burgess should have at least one bowl most valuable player award to his credit, but quarterbacks — Sam Keller in the Sun Bowl and Rudy Carpenter in the Insight — won those trophies for ASU.

“That never bothered me,” Burgess said. “I’m just happy to do my role and go with the flow. … I just love the excitement of playing in a bowl game.”

TOUGH JOB

Junior running back Shaun DeWitty, who is redshirting this season, has the role of speedy Texas tailback Jamaal Charles for ASU’s scout team. Considering that Charles has rushed for 1,458 yards this year and is an All-American track sprinter, that is a flattering — and demanding — role.

“He’s a fast guy,” DeWitty said. “Hopefully, I can give the defense a good look and what he’s like.”

EXTRA POINTS

Running back Keegan Herring has been named one of four finalists for the Rudy Award. Named after former Notre Dame player Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the award honors “character, courage, contribution and commitment.”

Herring has pressed on after the deaths of his father, sister, aunt and best friend during the offseason. …

Star running back Ryan Torain, who had a season-ending foot injury in October, and cornerback Chad Green, who did not play this season after suffering head injuries suffered in an April car accident, will be part of ASU’s traveling party in San Diego. …

Since the Holiday Bowl started matching the Pac-10 and Big 12 in 1998, the Pac-10 squad has been the designated visiting team in odd-numbered years. As a result, the Sun Devils will wear their white jerseys.