Blogging with the Devils

Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter is sacked by Texas safety Drew Kelson during the Holiday Bowl on Thursday.

I was on the sideline at Qualcomm Stadium as Arizona State’s football team came out for pregame warmups prior to the Holiday Bowl on Thursday and noticed quarterback Rudy Carpenter running by the Texas players already on the field, clearly saying something in spirited fashion.

My thought was that it was just Carpenter being Carpenter — the intense, passionate player in the process of psyching himself up. The Longhorns did not seem to think much of it either, as they simply continued with their warmups. If they took offense to anything Carpenter said, they masked it well.

As a result, I was surprised on Friday to see Carpenter taking a beating on the Internet, accused of trash-talking to Texas in the days before the Holiday Bowl.

During ESPN’s broadcast of the game, analyst Kirk Herbstreit said: “This week, I guess, Rudy Carpenter let the Longhorns know at every event how he feels about them, kind of taunting the Longhorns leading up to this game.” He did not elaborate.

This Internet column about Carpenter talking smack contains not a single quote from the quarterback, not a single quote from a Texas player in response — not a single quote, period.

I stood inches away from Carpenter at each of the three post-practice interviews he gave before the game and heard nothing about the Longhorns that could be classified as trash talk. If I had, I certainly would not have hesitated to get it in the Tribune.

Carpenter, Dec. 19: “Texas is obviously a storied program. They’ve got four national championships. They got one in the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago. They’re a really good team. It’s going to be fun to play a team with the great amount of tradition that they have. I think it’s going to be exciting for us.”

In that same interview, on the Longhorns defense: “They’ve got a guy named Marcus Griffin, he plays safety for them. He’s a pretty good player. He’s fast, big, strong, physical. They also have a middle linebacker, (Rashad) Bobino who is a very good player, too. He’s a fast guy who plays really hard. Those two guys really stick out to me. They’ve got a good defense.”

A lot of the pregame chatter was centered on if Texas would be motivated to play after a disappointing loss to rival Texas A&M to end the regular season. If Carpenter had served up such motivation on a platter, would that not have made Lone Star sports headlines for at least a day or two? I saw no such reports from the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, whose UT football coverage I have read daily since the Holiday Bowl matchup was announced.

Yes, the Longhorns had four sacks and frequent hurries of Carpenter. But if someone points to that as evidence of a fired-up defense, that person has obviously not seen ASU play this year. The Sun Devils gave up a school-record 55 sacks.

Carpenter speaks his mind, and on occasion, some ears burn as a result. There is a reason that he was allowed to talk to the media only after games and on Mondays during the regular season.

Could he have said something — perhaps to Texas players during a bowl function, with no reporters present — that was insulting? Could he have offered some friendly banter that was misinterpreted? Absolutely. However, if that were the case, I certainly would have expected some sort of reaction from the Longhorns as Carpenter ran onto the field on Thursday.

In some corners, Carpenter is getting vilified for something he allegedly said. Before jumping on that train, however, we should at least have an idea of what — if anything — he said.

Right now, we do not.

Arizona State vs. Texas

When: 6 p.m. Thursday
Where: Qualcomm Stadium; San Diego
TV/Announcers: ESPN/Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters
Radio: KTAR (620 AM)
Records: Arizona State 10-2; Texas 9-3
Rankings: ASU No. 12 Associated Press/No. 11 USA Today (coaches)/No. 12 Harris Interactive/No. 11 Bowl Championship Series standings; Texas No. 17/No. 17/No. 17/No. 19
Series: First meeting
Tickets: Less than 1,000 remain. Available online at ticketmaster.com or texasboxoffice.com

SUN DEVILS’ KEYS TO VICTORY

1. Handle the athleticism: Against Southern California on Thanksgiving, ASU was overwhelmed by the Trojans’ speed and physicality at times. As a school that annually has stellar recruiting classes, Texas will have a load of both on the field. Good assignment football is a must for the Sun Devils.

2. Know that the Longhorns will play: There has been speculation if Texas even wants to be in the Holiday Bowl, fueled by coach Mack Brown’s early-morning practices and depth-chart shakeups. Brown tried many of the same tactics last year before the Alamo Bowl, a game in which Iowa stormed to a 14-0 first-quarter lead. The Longhorns came back to win 26-24.

3. Make it a home game: ASU is the designated visiting team, but the Sun Devil fans easily sold their 11,000-ticket allotment — Texas still has seats left — and could have as many as 20,000 supporters in the stands. That could create a fan-noise advantage similar to what ASU had at the 2004 Sun and 2005 Insight bowls.

INJURY REPORT

Arizona State
OUT: DB Chris Baloney (leg); DB Josh Barrett (knee); DL Saia Falahola (triceps); OL Zach Krula (knee); DL Tranell Morant (knee); QB Samson Szakacsy (elbow); RB Ryan Torain (foot) PROBABLE: OL Paul Fanaika (leg), RB Keegan Herring (ankle), OL Brandon Rodd (ankle)

Texas
OUT: LB Antwan Cobb (knee); OL Dallas Griffin (knee); OL Tony Hills (leg); WR Limas Sweed (wrist) QUESTIONABLE: LB Drew Kelson (knee)

WHEN ASU HAS THE BALL

A good balance between run and pass has gotten the Sun Devils this far, but Rudy Carpenter might get a few more chances to sling the ball against Texas, for three reasons. With two weeks of rest, Carpenter’s right (throwing) thumb feels the best it has since he suffered the injury in October; Keegan Herring has been limited by a sore ankle, meaning that Dimitri Nance will carry the bulk of the ASU running game — something the sophomore has never done before — and Texas’ pass defense has been generous, allowing an average of 419.3 yards in the last three games. The Sun Devils must beware Texas defensive tackle Frank Okam and rush ends Lamarr Houston, who could exploit ASU’s propensity to give up sacks.

Texas tailback Jamaal Charles (25)  and quarterback Colt McCoy (12) are the Longhorns’ top two rushers.

WHEN TEXAS HAS THE BALL

Only USC and Oregon — who both defeated ASU — have provided as big of a challenge on offense as the Longhorns, whose capability to run and pass the ball with near-equal success should test a Sun Devil defense that prides itself on taking away an opponent’s strength. Quarterback Colt McCoy’s passing and his ability to run if a play breaks down prevents defenses from keying on speedy tailback Jamaal Charles, who is averaging 6.3 yards a carry. ASU does not give up many big gains, but Texas — which has played through the loss of star receiver Limas Sweed and offensive linemen Dallas Griffin and Tony Hills to injuries — has the capability to nickel-and-dime its way to scores.

THE INTRIGUE

The Sun Devils and Longhorns have a bowl TV window all to themselves — in fact, there are no other games on Thursday — so a potentially big audience on ESPN will tune in to watch both try for program-affirming victories. ASU has already improved its “competitive traction,” as athletic director Lisa Love would say, in its first season under coach Dennis Erickson, which would be validated with a win against one of college football’s most storied programs. An 11-victory season would be the sixth in school history. A loss against rival Texas A&M that might have kept Texas out of the Bowl Championship Series has the team and coach Mack Brown feeling heat from fans. The Longhorns are looking for redemption, and a victory would increase their nation-leading streak of double-digit win seasons to seven.

TEAM REPORTS

ASU OFFENSE

SE 1 Michael Jones; LT 62 Brandon Rodd; LG 67 Shawn Lauvao; C 76 Mike Pollak; RG 63 Paul Fanaika; RT 79 Julius Orieukwu; TE 87 Brent Miller; SLOT 6 Kyle Williams; FL 13 Chris McGaha; QB 12 Rudy Carpenter; RB 31 Dimitri Nance

ASU DEFENSE

LE 97 Luis Vasquez; DT 77 Michael Marquardt; DT 90 David Smith; RE 58 Dexter Davis; SLB 44 Travis Goethel; MLB 25 Mike Nixon; WLB 29 Robert James; CB 32 Omar Bolden; CB 4 Justin Tryon; FS 22 Rodney Cox; SS 14 Troy Nolan

ASU 2007 schedule and results

ASU 2007 statistics

TEXAS OFFENSE

SE 6 Quan Cosby; LT 71 Chris Hall; LG 52 Charlie Tanner; C 65 Buck Bernette; RG 55 Cedric Dockery; RT 74 Adam Ulatoski; TE 16 Jermichael Finley; FL 9 Nate Jones; QB 12 Colt McCoy; TB 25 Jamaal Charles; FB 49 Luke Tiemann

TEXAS DEFENSE

DE 98 Brian Orakpo; DT 96 Derek Lokey; DT 97 Frank Okam; DE 36 Lamarr Houston; SLB 40 Robert Killebrew; MLB 44 Rashad Bobino; WLB 33 Scott Derry; LCB 28 Brandon Foster; RCB 13 Ryan Palmer; FS 26 Marcus Griffin; SS 21 Erick Jackson

Texas 2007 schedule and results

Texas 2007 statistics

Much has been made of the fact that the normally well-traveling Texas football program is having trouble selling its 11,000-ticket allotment to the Dec. 27 Holiday Bowl against Arizona State. ASU — which easily sold its batch — is encouraging its fans to buy tickets through UT.

Is the Holiday a downer for Longhorns fans that might be making arrangements for a Bowl Championship Series game had their team not lost to archrival Texas A&M? Have Rose Bowl trips in 2005 and ’06 caused the novelty of southern California to wear off?

How about this: Texas followers just might be sick of the Holiday Bowl.

This is the team’s fourth trip to San Diego this decade, thanks to the tired conference tie-ins such as the ones sending the Pac-10’s No. 2 team and the Big 12’s No. 3 squad to the Holiday each season. The Longhorns defeated Washington in 2001 and were beaten by Oregon in 2000 and Washington State in ’03.

At other schools, going to a bowl location is threatening to turn into a dull routine. Clemson is playing in the Peach/Chick-fil-A Bowl for the sixth time since 1993, and the Tigers went to Atlanta three times in a four-year stretch from 1996-99. West Virginia’s appearance in the 2007 Gator Bowl was its third in four seasons.

The conferences want to keep the tie-ins to ensure bowl bucks, but at least switch them around from season to season. An agreement between the Sun and Gator bowls — they swapped their Big 12 and Big East tie-ins for this year, sending Texas Tech to the Gator and South Florida to the Sun — is a start, but there needs to be more of it. A lot more.

After all, if Dennis Erickson turns the Sun Devils into an annual Pac-10 contender but the Southern California juggernaut keeps rolling, ASU fans could start getting sick of spending the holidays at the Holiday.

Miami (Fla.) defensive lineman Russell Maryland buries Texas quarterback Peter Gardere during the 1991 Cotton Bowl.

Speaking of Erickson, his only previous meeting against Texas was not enjoyable for the Longhorns — or anyone else that values sportsmanship.

Miami (Fla.) abused the Longhorns in the 1991 Cotton Bowl, winning 46-3. However, the most indelible images of the game were when the Hurricanes, as a college football preview magazine put it the next August, “offended the nation with (their) display of taunting, showboating and cheap-shotting.” Miami’s 202 yards in penalties that day are held up as Exhibit A in the oft-made charge that Erickson’s teams are undisciplined.

Since arriving at ASU, Erickson has been adamant in his dispute of that perception, which emerged again when the Sun Devils were whistled for 136 yards, including eight personal fouls, in a victory against Colorado on Sept. 15.

Afterward, Erickson said that Sun Devils who commit blatant 15-yard penalties “won’t play.” Since the Colorado game, ASU has limited its penalty frequency, averaging just 5.7 flags during the last 10 games.

“Anything that hurts our football team, I will not put up with,” Erickson said after ASU’s victory against Arizona on Dec. 1. “That is not how my teams play, and it never has been. We will have fun, but we will (show class).”

Tom Njunge, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound offensive tackle from Pasadena (Calif.) City College, has verbally committed to the Sun Devils, according to Internet recruiting services. Njunge is a teammate of cornerback Terell Carr, who pledged to ASU earlier this month.

Njunge is the Sun Devils’ 15th known commitment in the 2008 class, which Erickson said will include as many as 25 players.

The signing period for junior-college transfers who intend to enroll for the spring semester — as Njunge does — begins on Wednesday. Letter-of-intent day for current high school seniors is in February.

The don’t-overwork-the-players practice philosophy of Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson evidently includes the bowl season.

The Sun Devils begin on-field preparations for the Holiday Bowl on Friday, and they are scheduled to use just 10 of the 15 bowl practices permitted by the NCAA.

(Final exams, which began on Dec. 5 and run through Wednesday, and the coaching staff spending last week recruiting also factor into the lighter practice schedule.)

ASU works out Friday and Saturday and Dec. 17-21 at the Kajikawa Practice Facility on campus. Those workouts are slated for 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

“We’re going to practice like we normally would during the season,” Erickson said. “Most of the bowl game preparation will be done here. All the game planning will be done and most of our contact stuff will be done before we go to the bowl site.”

The team departs for San Diego on Dec. 22 and practices at UC-San Diego in La Jolla, Calif. Their itinerary through game day:

Dec. 23 — Practice, 8:15-10:15 a.m.; Navy and Marine Corps luncheon aboard the USS Ronald Reagan.

Dec. 24 — Practice, 10:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.; team day at the San Diego Zoo.

Dec. 25 — Practice, 10:15-11:45 a.m.; team day at Sea World.

Dec. 26 — Kickoff luncheon; walk-through at Qualcomm Stadium.

The 12th-ranked Sun Devils (10-2) face No. 17 Texas (9-3) in the 30th annual Holiday Bowl at 6 p.m. Dec. 27. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Since the Holiday began pairing the Pac-10 and Big 12 in 1998, the Pac-10 entrant has been the designated visiting team in odd-numbered years. As a result, ASU will wear its white jerseys, Texas its burnt-orange tops.