ASU’s Carpenter may still play vs. USC

Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter could play this week at Southern California if he can handle the pain of what has been diagnosed as a non-weight-bearing projection of a bone in his left ankle.

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“I’ve been told he has a chance to play,” coach Dennis Erickson said on Sunday. “If he progresses during the week and can stay healthy, that’s the key. You don’t want him hobbled out there in the game.”

Carpenter, a senior whose string of 36 consecutive starts is second-longest in the nation, suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 24-14 loss at California, when his foot was rolled over after he scrambled and threw a deep pass to receiver Kyle Williams that was intercepted.

The ailment, determined when Carpenter underwent an MRI exam after ASU arrived back in the Valley on Saturday night, is similar to a sprain.

If Carpenter cannot play, backup quarterback Danny Sullivan, a junior, would make his first start. Erickson said that Sullivan, who is 1-for-8 in mop-up duty this season, would have to take most of the first-team snaps in practice this week “if there is still a question mark” with Carpenter.

“You don’t know about a guy until he plays,” Erickson said. “Danny has spent a lot of time studying the game and practiced our offense a lot. He’s smart and a competitor. If he plays, he’ll go in and do a good job. But it’s not an easy place to make your first start. I have all the confidence in the world in him.”

Only Curtis Painter of Purdue, with 37 straight starts, has more longevity among college QBs than Carpenter. However, ASU’s signal caller is no less of an iron man, as Carpenter has played through an array of ailments, such as a shoulder injury in the 2005 Insight Bowl, sore hands in 2006 and a sprained thumb (which eventually required surgery) last season.

He likely will be itching to play.

“We’re going to do what’s best for Rudy,” Erickson said. “It depends on what the medical people say, and we’ll go from there.”

After getting knocked from the No. 1 ranking after an upset loss at Oregon State on Sept. 25, USC rebounded on Saturday by drilling Oregon, which was considered perhaps the second-best team in the conference.

Things look bleak for ASU now, but it 2006, the Sun Devils visited the Trojans on the heels of two consecutive losses, the latter an especially dreadful showing against Oregon. However, ASU hung in with USC, losing 28-21 on a touchdown in the final minutes.

“It’s the next game on the schedule, and the (Los Angeles Memorial) Coliseum is an exciting place to go play,” Erickson said. “That’s where we’re going to take this team to compete like hell, and who knows?”