Koetter changes mind, names Carpenter starter

The high-profile, thought-to-be-over quarterback battle at Arizona State took a sudden, bizarre turn on Sunday, as coach Dirk Koetter said that he had changed his mind and given Rudy Carpenter the job. Sam Keller, named the starter on Friday night, had the first-string duties for less than 24 hours.

The senior was excused from practice on Sunday to consider his options, and two sources close to the ASU program said that he has decided to leave.

“I screwed up, and I’m fixing it,” Koetter said several times to a crowded media contingent after practice. “I have to get the best 11 guys out there. I have to do what’s best for ASU football. In every decision I make, I have to do that.”

The about-face came on Saturday, after Koetter “talked to everyone,” he said.

That included a group of about 19 players in a meeting on Saturday, which was originally a scheduled off day for the Sun Devils.

Wide receiver Terry Richardson, a roommate of Carpenter’s, was part of the meeting and said he was “torn” between the two QBs.

“Sam is in my class,” Richardson said. “My position is that whoever is in there, we’ll do great. I think the decision had to be made right now, before the season. This is something that could have set us back in the middle of the season. We had to do this now and get it done.”

Koetter said his decision was not influenced by Friday’s scrimmage, in which both quarterbacks played well. Keller completed 20-of-29 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns against the first-team defense; Carpenter was 12-of-21 for 342 yards and five scores against the second team.

The mood of Carpenter — a sophomore who last season finished as the nation’s passing efficiency leader after Keller suffered a thumb injury — was a direct contrast to the disappointment he showed Friday, when he thought he was going to be the backup.

“Coach Koetter has nothing to apologize about,” said Carpenter, who threw for 2,273 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2005. “He made a decision, and it was the decision he made. He’s not perfect, and he decided that there was something he could have done better.”

A departure by Keller (2,165 yards passing and 20 TDs last season) would make true freshman Danny Sullivan the No. 2 quarterback. A 6-foot-4, 200-pounder from Los Gatos, Calif., Sullivan has been quick to learn the ASU offense, Koetter said.

The other two QBs on the roster are walk-ons: Brett Boon and Dax Crum.

In the last nine years, just one Sun Devil quarterback — Andrew Walter in 2003 — has managed to start every game.

“Danny is No. 2, no redshirt for him,” Koetter said. “We aren’t the only team in the country with that situation. We knew there was a risk for this, that one of those top two guys (might leave).”

Keller, who has a redshirt year available, has two options should he not return to ASU: Transferring to a Division I-A school and sitting out this year, or going to a I-AA or lower program, where he would be eligible to play immediately.

A group of Sun Devil players planned to visit Keller on Sunday night.

“It’s a rough time for him right now,” said receiver Alex King, a former roommate of Keller’s. “He’s got a million different things in his mind right now. Does he want to stay or transfer? It’s his future we’re talking about.”

Rumors swirled over the weekend that Carpenter was mulling options in the wake of his demotion to the second string.

“Sam has to do what’s best for him and his future, just like at a certain point, I had to do what’s best for my future,” Carpenter said. “College football is a business, and sometimes, people have to do what’s best for themselves, and I don’t think anyone can blame somebody for that.”

Both Keller and Carpenter eschewed a Koetter suggestion to use a two-QB system, as their competitiveness dictated that there was room on the field for only one signal caller.

Now, that’s Carpenter.

“I feel horrible about the way all this came down on Sam,” Koetter said. “I apologized to Sam and Rudy, and I apologized to the team. I screwed it up, so I have to fix it.

“Bottom line? ASU needs the right guy for our program.”