ASU football notebook: Erickson says Weber should be able to punt

Coach Dennis Erickson didn’t seem worried about the status of kicker Thomas Weber after Arizona State’s final practice Thursday before heading to Cal for its game Saturday.

“He’s going to wear what he’s got on there, which is a splint. He was able to punt, handle it. There wasn’t any bother of it today.”

Weber, a sophomore who last year won the Lou Groza Award for best kicker in the nation, was seen wearing a light splint on his left hand Wednesday in practice. It is believed he injured his wrist during ASU’s Sept. 20 game against Georgia.

Junior Mike Nixon, who has been racking up tackles at the linebacker position, is expected to start on the weak side for the Sun Devils and will be listed as ASU’s backup kicker should Weber’s left hand require more attention.

“He’s our backup. We always have to have a backup, a guy on the road in case something happens,” Erickson said.

ERICKSON ON CAL

Arizona State’s game against Cal is the Sun Devils’ first road game of the season and their second Pac-10 conference game of the season.

“Cal’s a good football team, a good football program. Ever since Jeff’s (Tedford) been there, they’ve been very competitive,” Erickson said.

“They play very well together as a team, they’re very physical. To me, they’re a better team than they were a year ago.”

STARTERS

Erickson said junior offensive lineman Tom Njunge will start Saturday and he plans on starting defensive tackle Guy Lawrence over Saia Falahola. Falahola has practiced lightly this past week after being bruised up through the first four games.

“Saia has been nicked up a little bit. Lawrence has had a lot of the turns, so Saia will alternate in there, as will Paul ’Unga, but we will start Lawrence.”

The strong safety position is still up for grabs between senior Rodney Cox and freshman Clint Floyd.

“Right now, we’re not sure whether it’s gonna be Rodney or whether it’s gonna be Clint Floyd,” Erickson said.

Erickson maintained running back Keegan Herring (hamstring) is nearly 100 percent.