ASU's Herring hurt; freshmen RBs may play vs NAU

The depth at running back that is considered an asset for Arizona State is already getting tested.

Projected starter Keegan Herring on Wednesday left practice for the second consecutive day with a right hamstring injury. The same ailment will keep backup Shaun DeWitty out of Saturday’s season opener against Northern Arizona.

It's a snap for ASU walk-on Ohmart

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Suddenly, the Sun Devils are thinner at the position, meaning that two true freshmen — Ryan Bass and James Morrison — could see their roles change. Bass has increased his practice touches in recent days, and Morrison, who was expected to redshirt this year, could be the No. 4 back going into Saturday.

“That’s why we’re going to play Bass,” coach Dennis Erickson said. “He is going to have to play. You go through a season at that position, and you might end up going through four or five. It’s bad that Keegan and DeWitty are hurt, but we’ve got guys to step in.”

Dimitri Nance is the first-team running back, and Jarrell Woods is also in the mix.

Walking on the sidelines with an ice pack taped to his leg, Herring said, “I’ll be back (today). This ain’t going to keep me out.”

However, that could be an optimistic self-diagnosis, considering that DeWitty and receiver Brandon Smith have been limited for some time with sore hamstrings.

“I’d like to see Keegan play, obviously,” Erickson said. “I’m not going to put him in a situation where he could get hurt worse and miss five or six games. But guys getting hurt is the nature of the position. That’s why you recruit a lot of them.”

DRIVING 3-3-5

NAU employs an unorthodox base defensive formation with three down linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs. When the Lumberjacks visited ASU in 2006, Sun Devils quarterback Rudy Carpenter acknowledged that the defense threw a few curveballs at him.

“A flex defense is what we call it, and it can bring some confusion,” Erickson said. “They’ll blitz and bring different people, and you don’t know where they are coming from. You have to try to keep it as simple as you can, particularly in the running game and pass protections.”

Carpenter said that he expects to be more prepared for the 3-3-5 this time. He added that there was “a lot of other stuff” going on before the NAU game in ’06, as that was the first contest after the controversial QB switch involving Carpenter and Sam Keller.

EXTRA POINTS

Starting cornerback watch: For the second consecutive day, Pierre Singfield received most of the first-team snaps, over Terell Carr. Erickson has said that he will name a starter on Friday. … Receiver A.J. Pickens is not practicing due to issues with the NCAA freshman eligibility clearinghouse. He is expected to redshirt. … Backup center Garth Gerhart (ankle) could play on Saturday, Erickson said.