Holiday Bowl notebook: Herring done talking, returns to practice

SAN DIEGO - Last week, as Arizona State running back Keegan Herring missed practices with an ankle injury, he still performed his customary role of poking fun at defensive players who get beat during practice.

That caused ASU defensive coordinator Craig Bray to respond, “At least he’s in a uniform.”

On Sunday, so was Herring, who practiced and proclaimed that he will play when the Sun Devils face Texas in the Holiday Bowl on Thursday.

“I said that I’d be out here when we came here for this business trip,” said Herring, who has rushed for a team-high 816 yards this season. “You could say that last week was my vacation, even though I was still getting treatment, but it’s time for business again.”

While Herring returned, senior safety Josh Barrett (knee) remained out and will not play on Thursday. Coach Dennis Erickson said that Rodney Cox will start and Jeremy Payton will be the nickel back.

“Keegan has been wanting to get out there. It’s been bothering him that he hasn’t,” Erickson said. “To see him out there running, I’m not sure if he is at 100 percent, but he looked better than I anticipated, so we’ll see.”

Erickson said that Dimitri Nance, who has rushed for 452 yards this season, will still get the bulk of carries on Thursday. He also reiterated that Jarrell Woods, who has not appeared in a game in 2007, will play.

Running back Ryan Torain, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in October, is part of ASU’s traveling party at the Holiday Bowl. He is walking without aid of crutches or a supportive boot.

GOOD WORK

The Sun Devils went longer than scheduled in their first of three practices at UC San Diego, and Erickson called the workout a productive one.

“I thought we came out pretty good, as I said to (the players) afterward,” Erickson said. “For just getting here and our first practice at the bowl site, I thought we did well.”

Erickson added with a smile, “Even if we didn’t practice well, I wouldn’t tell you that.”

Linebacker Morris Wooten, who was suspended from the Holiday Bowl due to an unspecified rules violation, did not accompany the team to San Diego.

BOOT CAMP

Texas coach Mack Brown had his team up before the sun in the days after a regular season-ending loss against Texas A&M, with 6 a.m. practices. Defensive tackle Derek Lokey said that the early work built cohesiveness and character.

“I feel like we’ve come together a lot in the past two weeks as a team,” Lokey said. “We’ve gained so much chemistry with these early-morning workouts we’ve been doing.

“We’ve been getting up early together and going to practice, and it’s been tough, but I think we’ve grown from it. I’m anxious to see how it will play out in a game situation.”

Brown gave the players two days off to spend with their families before the Longhorns left for San Diego, where they are practicing later in the morning.