Carpenter's status unclear for game against USC

The crutches are gone, but the status of Arizona Statequarterback Rudy Carpenter for Saturday's game against eighth-ranked USC is still up in the air.

"I'm not going to put him out on the field unless he has the mobility to be able to move and throw," ASU coach Dennis Erickson said Monday at his weekly news conference. "He's got to be pretty close to 100 percent.

"We won't know anything about that until time goes on, so ... it really doesn't need to be discussed until we see how he progresses in the next three days."

Carpenter injured his left ankle early in the fourth quarter of Arizona State's 24-14 loss at Cal on Saturday and was seen on crutches after the game.

"I feel good," Carpenter said Monday. "I'm sure everyone has questions about my foot. I don't know what's going to happen ... as far as the game on Saturday."

If Carpenter is unable to play, the Sun Devils would turn to junior Danny Sullivan, who is 1-for-8 passing for minus-1 yard this season. Sullivan is 26-for-52 for 257 yards in his career at ASU.

"He is very competitive and he knows what we're doing, so if that's the case, he will do a good job," Erickson said.

For Carpenter, the frustrations of the injury and three straight losses after opening the season 2-0 are evident.

"I'm like you guys, I'm trying to find the answer," Carpenter said.

"If I had the answers to what it is that we were supposed to do ... we'd be doing it already.

"I watch the film every week, practice every week. We try and run our game plan, and on offense, we haven't been executing the way we should be."