ASU football notebook: Falahola has surgery on arm

CAMP TONTOZONA - Hours after undergoing surgery to repair a torn triceps muscle in the Valley on Friday, Saia Falahola was back among his Arizona State teammates at Camp Tontozona.

SOUNDSLIDES: The first Camp Tontozona under Dennis Erickson

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The redshirt freshman defensive tackle hopes his return to the field will be in similarly quick fashion.

Coach Dennis Erickson said Falahola, who had a 50 percent tear of the muscle in his left arm, should be ready to play again in eight weeks. But the player is hoping to come back sooner.

“I basically got in and out really fast,” said Falahola, whose operation was performed by orthopedic surgeon Dean Cummings. “It turns out that the tear wasn’t as bad as they thought. The doctor said I could be back maybe in four to six weeks.”

Falahola — who was among a group of players battling for playing time behind projected starters Michael Marquardt and David Smith — will be in a sling for about two weeks.

“There’s a lot of things that could happen that could make his return come sooner or later,” Erickson said. “But at least it’s not a season-long injury.”

SCRIMMAGE STUFF

The Sun Devils have their first scrimmage of the fall at 11 a.m. today at Camp Tontozona.

The format, Erickson said, will consist of the first-team offense and defense facing off for at least 36 plays, the second-team units for 36 plays and the third-teamers 24. There will also be special teams work.

Erickson cut Friday’s full-pads practice 55 minutes before the scheduled 5:15 p.m. end time in part because of the team’s workload today.

“We didn’t want to have a bunch of contact because of the (scrimmage),” Erickson said. “We cut the individual work short. Our team work was about the same as usual. It’s not like we took the day off.”

INJURY REPORT

Starting cornerback Justin Tryon did not participate in team work on Friday due to a bruised knee. The injury is not serious.

“We held him out as a precaution,” Erickson said. “He’ll go (today).”

Defensive linemen Alex Asi (knee), Eric Tanner (knee) and Kellen Mills (ankle), and safety Troy Nolan (shoulder) are among those who will not play in the scrimmage. On Friday, wide receiver Brandon Smith (ankle) ran on the side and wideout Nate Kimbrough (knee) was in an orange (noncontact) jersey.

ON THE TUBE

ASU’s game at Oregon on Nov. 3 will begin at 3:30 p.m. and be televised by Fox Sports Net Arizona.

Eight of the Sun Devils’ kickoff times — seven of them at home — are set, with the Oct. 13 home date against Washington and road games at Stanford (Sept. 29), Washington State (Oct. 6) and UCLA (Nov. 10) undetermined. The Stanford game is tentatively slated for 7 p.m.