Sun Devils football notebook: Schlink’s injury hurts thin offensive line

Arizona State got thinner on the offensive line on Tuesday, when true freshman Zach Schlink had season-ending microfracture surgery on his right knee.

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Doctors found no cartilage in the knee of Schlink, who was injured in Saturday’s game at Washington, his first college start. The 6-foot-4, 330-pounder faces at least four months of rehabilitation, which leaves a chance that he could be available for spring drills.

“It’s too bad,” coach Dennis Erickson said. “He finally got a chance to play and did well. The next three games would have been great for his improvement. It was kind of a freak injury he had. We have to look to next year with Zach. Now, we have to solve the problem.”

That means more tweaking for an offensive line that has had little synergy this season. Schlink started at left guard on Saturday, with Shawn Lauvao moving to right tackle.

On Tuesday, redshirt freshman Garth Gerhart, the backup center, practiced at left guard. The Sun Devils could revert to the lineup they used before Schlink was inserted, with Lauvao at guard and Tom Njunge at right tackle.

Gerhart said that he has not played a line position other than center before.

“It’s the same position in a lot of ways,” Gerhart said. “I feel a little faster. The steps are a different — you don’t have to get as deep as a center. But I was pretty comfortable on my first day. It was the first time in my life, actually.”

If ASU wants to keep the redshirts on freshmen Andrew Sampson, Patrick Jamison and Kyle Johnson, it is down to nine viable players on the offensive line two-deep.

The offensive line had perhaps its best game of the season at Washington. Quarterback Rudy Carpenter was sacked twice — both in the first quarter — and the Sun Devils had 182 yards rushing.

“It was big for us,” left tackle Jon Hargis said. “The last couple of months, we’ve been sitting in film study and coming out talking about all the things we could have done better. Everyone was getting sick of it. But getting a win has been a great morale boost for us.”

INJURY REPORT

Defensive tackle David Smith, who reaggravated a nagging neck stinger early in last week’s game, will not play against Washington State on Saturday.

Safety Clint Floyd had a successful blood test on his kidney, Erickson said. Doctors will perform the same test as Floyd exercises, and if there is no bleeding, he could be cleared to practice.

“There’s a possibility he could be with us for the UCLA game (on Nov. 28),” Erickson said.

BUBBLE WASH

ASU’s indoor practice facility remains unusable, but at least it is getting cleaned.

Workers on Tuesday sprayed dirt off the fabric roof, which was flattened during an Aug. 28 monsoon. The roof was re-inflated in October so assessors could enter and determine the extent of the damage.