ASU's Sullivan waits patiently behind Carpenter

Recently, a television crew prepared to film the remodeled football locker room at Arizona State and requested a player to serve as a tour guide.

The guy that did the showing around was backup quarterback Danny Sullivan.

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"I thought I did OK," Sullivan said. "'SportsCenter,' here I come."

Sullivan was an astute selection, considering how much the junior has been around the block at ASU. He just has not been at the steering wheel.

The 6-foot-5, 238-pounder has had the poor timing of being a year in school behind Rudy Carpenter, who has made 31 consecutive starts and could finish his career as the most prolific passer in school history. That has kept Sullivan on the sidelines with headphones and a clipboard.

"It feels funny," said Sullivan, a junior. "I'm considered a veteran here, and I haven't played. I remember as a freshman, thinking how cool it was that I was second-string, but with Rudy just a sophomore, it would work out this way."

The unexpected promotion came in the wake of the messy camp QB competition involving Carpenter that led to Sam Keller's transfer to Nebraska. Sullivan - who arrived on campus as the third-stringer, thanks to Derek Shaw leaving ASU the previous spring - did not get the benefit of a redshirt year.

He took one for the team.

"As a freshman, I was in a whirlwind, trying to pick everything up so I would be ready," Sullivan said. "Last year, I had to slow down and work on my repetitions and getting everything (mastered) through that. Now, things are starting to feel like they should."

The problem for Sullivan, a Los Gatos, Calif., resident, is that he will likely have just one season to prove his worth for NFL scouts. It has been the topic of almost every interview during camp, meaning he has had to answer the same questions about loyalty and patience.

However, something else is happening. Sullivan commands the offense in a huddle, surveys the defense at the scrimmage line or fires a sharp, accurate pass and knows that he is capable of leading ASU. His coach senses it, also.

"Danny has had a great camp, and we're fortunate to have him," coach Dennis Erickson said. "I think that if something happened to Rudy, he can come in and win games for us, no question about it. Seeing him grow in the last year and a half that I've been here has really been fun to watch."

Sullivan throws perhaps the nicest looking ball of any quarterback on the roster, the result of his increased strength and improved footwork. His decision making has improved greatly in the last year, Erickson said.

Some of Sullivan's growth was on display late in the Sun Devils' loss to Texas in the Holiday Bowl in December. Given his most extensive playing time at ASU, he was 7-for-14 for 118 yards and led two touchdown drives.

Yes, it was against a reserve-filled Longhorns defense. But Sullivan enjoyed the thrill of finally playing on a major stage and - more important - erased any doubt that he could play at the DivisionI level.

"The bowl game built my confidence," said Sullivan, who is 25-for-44 for 258 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in two seasons.

"Now, I'll run a play in practice and think about where I might be if I had gone somewhere else. But I never thought about leaving (ASU). I couldn't do that to the program.

"Besides, how could I legitimately complain? Rudy deserves what he has."

Sullivan believes his persistence will pay off in 2009, when - barring a great improvement from the QBs behind him on the depth chart, or the signing of an athletic, fast-learning freshman - the Sun Devils will be his team.

"I'm not throwing away this season, because there is a lot for us to play for, and I need to be ready to play," Sullivan said. "But we're going to have a lot of great guys coming back next year.

"How could I not be excited about that?"