Sun Devil follow-up: Trying to put the best foot forward

GRADING OUT

• Arizona State’s new punter is Trevor Hankins, a sophomore walk-on from Scottsdale Chaparral High School and Glendale Community College who averaged 37.3 yards on three attempts against Oregon on Saturday.

ASU struggling for answers after blowout

Coach Dennis Erickson said the move is designed to allow Thomas Weber to concentrate on place kicking, an area where he has experienced a drop-off from his 2007 Lou Groza Award-winning season.

“Trevor has a strong leg and gets it off good, so we’ll go with him,” Erickson said. “I don’t want to get into a thing where we are going back and forth. There’s no need to do that.”

Hankins kicked ASU’s first two punts on Saturday, nearly having the first blocked and shanking the next. Weber then punted three times before Hankins returned to boot a 53-yarder.

“The first one, we missed a blocking assignment,” Erickson said. “The next one, he kicked it off the side of his foot, and I think that had a lot to do with what happened the first time. He was trying to get it off quicker, when he didn’t have to.”

• Much of the Sun Devils’ assignment problems on defense against Oregon was because of the Ducks’ speed, which Erickson said took even him by surprise.

“We felt that we were ready, assignment-wise, after two weeks of practice,” Erickson said. “But what happened was totally different than what we faced in practice. …

“We didn’t tackle well. We’re better tacklers than we showed, but they created some of that, too. They got us in one-on-one situations, and we couldn’t make the tackles a lot of the time.”

INJURY REPORT

• Backup defensive end James Brooks wore a walking boot on Sunday and is questionable for this week’s contest at Oregon State with an ankle sprain.

• Center Thomas Altieri (stinger) is day-to-day.

• Safety Troy Nolan injured an ankle on Saturday but should be OK, Erickson said.

• The Sun Devils utilized more pre-snap motion on offense against Oregon, and more of it is expected.

“It was a good change of pace for us,” Erickson said. “Defenses have to make some adjustments. We have to do something like that every week, to try and move people and get in the best situations to run the football and run the play-action pass.”

• True freshman running back Ryan Bass, who had a team-high 56 yards rushing on 10 carries, will have a bigger role in coming weeks. Erickson said that such players as offensive lineman Zach Schlink and wide receivers Brandon Smith, T.J. Simpson and Gerell Robinson could see more playing time.

• The time and television arrangements for ASU’s game at Washington on Nov. 8 should be announced today.

CORRECTION

It was reported  that ASU last wore all-maroon uniforms in 1999, but the Sun Devils have done so at least once since then: on Nov. 23, 2001, in a 34-21 loss against Arizona.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Sun Devils play at Oregon State at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, as Erickson makes his first visit with ASU to the school he coached at from 1999-2002. Erickson led the Beavers to 31 wins and three postseason games, highlighted by an 11-1 record and Fiesta Bowl victory in 2000.