ASU’s late dip vs. NAU doesn’t worry Erickson

On the scoreboard, Northern Arizona owned the later stages against Arizona State on Saturday, posting a 13-0 advantage after the Sun Devils pulled most of their starters.

ASU coach Dennis Erickson reiterated on Sunday that he is not alarmed at the drop-off in production as his squad went deeper on the depth chart, noting that many players — 21, to be exact — appeared in their first Division I game.

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“You always wish you could do more,” Erickson said. “It was the reserve groups full of young guys who got a learning experience, more than anything. It’s not like we didn’t play well early in the game. In the first half and the first two drives of the second half, both sides of the ball played well.”

Two players were absent from ASU’s parade of players against NAU: Defensive end Jamarr Robinson and linebacker Morris Wooten.

On Sunday, Erickson said the two are serving three-game suspensions for an undisclosed team rules violation.

Wooten, whose was suspended before last year’s Holiday Bowl, will be back for the Nevada-Las Vegas contest on Sept. 13; Robinson returns for the Georgia game a week later.

Among those making their ASU debut on Saturday were eight players who were in high school last year.

Erickson said that defensive end Lawrence Guy, linebacker Brandon Magee and safety Clint Floyd were the true freshmen who stood out most on film. However, he suggested that this week’s contest against Pac-10 opponent Stanford will be a much more relevant test.

“The only way you learn is to play in the game,” Erickson said. “The game situation is different. You can’t deal with that learning curve until you play in game. Typically, the biggest improvement you will see with a new player is between the first and second game.”

Stanford’s veteran defensive line will be a much stiffer test for an ASU offensive line that surrendered just one sack against NAU.

In 2007, the Cardinal exposed the Sun Devils’ susceptibility to frequent blitzing when the teams met in September, and the strategy became a blueprint for other teams for the rest of the season. That helped result in 55 sacks allowed by ASU, a school record.

“They put it to us pretty good last year with their pass rush, so it’s all relative to who you are playing, I guess,” Erickson said. “But for what we were trying to do (on Saturday), I thought we were OK.”

Erickson praised the arm strength, accuracy and decision-making of quarterback Rudy Carpenter, who completed 22 of 28 passes for 388 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions.

Carpenter abandoned the pocket to scramble for a team-high 40 yards rushing, finishing with headfirst slides that caused his coach to hold his breath.

“I’d like for him to go over and put in time with the Diamondbacks and learn to slide,” Erickson said. “That’s the kind of player that Rudy is. But I try to emphasize going down (and avoiding contact) with him.”

GRADING OUT

• Arizona State’s running backs — playing without starter Keegan Herring, who was out with a hamstring injury — had just 54 yards on 18 carries against Northern Arizona on Saturday, but coach Dennis Erickson said that ASU did not have a chance to really establish the run. “We’d like to run it better than we did,” Erickson said. “What they did on defense caused us to throw it more.”

• For the most part, the Sun Devils avoided penalties, substituted smoothly and did not waste timeouts, mistakes that can happen frequently in first games. ASU was flagged just six times.

• Pierre Singfield is entrenched as the starting cornerback opposite Omar Bolden. Terell Carr, whom Singfield battled for the job in camp, did not play on defense until midway through the third quarter. “He made some mistakes, but he played well,” Erickson said.

• True freshman cornerback Josh Jordan is the fifth defensive back in nickel situations because he is the best man-coverage option, Erickson said. Safety Max Tabach was the extra secondary member for most of preseason drills.

Injury report

• Erickson said that he is “not sure” if Herring will be available for Saturday’s Pac-10 opener against Stanford.

• Safety Angelo Fobbs-Valentino will have an MRI on his knee after the swelling goes down, Erickson said. The early prognosis is a medial collateral ligament injury, which Fobbs-Valentino suffered while covering a punt.

• Backup center Garth Gerhart, who missed the NAU game due to a high ankle sprain, should be available against Stanford.

NOTES

• Rudy Carpenter made his 32nd straight start, tying him with Curtis Painter of Purdue for the longest active streak in the nation among quarterbacks. The senior’s 338 yards passing against NAU moved him to 16th on the Pac-10’s all-time career list, with 8,386 yards.

• Erickson is 96-18 (.842) at home in his college coaching career.

LOOKING AHEAD

Stanford, which visits ASU for a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday, defeated Oregon State 36-28 on Thursday. Running back Toby Gerhart, who rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns, is the brother of Garth Gerhart.

“(Second-year coach) Jim Harbaugh has done a great job,” Erickson said. “He has turned it around and has the players believing in what they are doing. They earned that win against Oregon State. We’ll have our work cut out for us.”

A handful of players on the Cardinal roster have Valley ties, including defensive end Ekom Udofia of Scottsdale Chaparral High School and offensive linemen Allen Smith (Tempe Corona del Sol) and Ben Muth (Phoenix Pinnacle).