The ASU football team does not have to be reminded of Appalachian State’s win over Michigan last season to gear up for its season opener against NAU Saturday.

In fact, the Sun Devils only need to look at their own recent history.

In 2006’s opening game, the Lumberjacks went into the fourth quarter tied with ASU, 14-14.

The Sun Devils pulled away in the final period and won 35-14, but the result didn’t erase anyone’s thoughts of what could have been.

“I’m not going to lie: This game for me is a little stressful,” senior quarterback Rudy Carpenter said. “We’re playing a team that has everything to gain by playing us. … They’re going to be ready.”

With Georgia looming on its schedule and next week’s Pac-10 Conference opener against Stanford, it would be easy for No. 15 ASU to overlook its other in-state rival.

Coach Dennis Erickson doesn’t think that will be a problem this time around.

“The bottom line for us is we need to be ready to play,” Erickson said. “It’s an opponent that if we don’t play well, we will get beat. … That’s the nature of it.”

One thing the Sun Devils should have going for them is energy. After a hot summer of workouts and a grueling fall camp, the players are anxious to get on the field.

“We’ve been waiting so long for the opener,” sophomore wide receiver Kerry Taylor said. “We’re ready to get out there and put everything we’ve worked for out there on the field.”

One concern going into the game may be at the running back position.

Senior Keegan Herring injured his hamstring Wednesday night and his status for the game remains unclear.

Junior running back Shaun DeWitty (hamstring) will not play on Saturday.

Even with the possibility of having two running backs out, Erickson said he is confident the unit will get the job done.

“The good news is we have a lot of depth there with [junior] Dimitri [Nance] and [junior] Jarrell Woods running well,” Erickson said.

Along with more carries for Woods, there will likely be more snaps for freshman Ryan Bass.

Erickson had already planned to play Bass in the season opener, but injuries have allowed the freshman to take more repetitions in practice.

While banged-up junior wide receiver Chris McGaha (toe) will likely play Saturday, his discomfort in practice this week means his snaps may be limited.

If McGaha is indeed limited, freshman wide receiver Gerell Robinson, whose size made him a useful target when ASU practiced its red-zone offense this week, will see more of the field Saturday.

For Bass, Robinson and most of the other freshmen on the ASU football team, Saturday’s crowd will likely be the largest they have ever played in front of.

One of their team captains has some advice for them.

“I would tell them to go out there and have fun,” Carpenter said. “I would tell them to expect to be nervous, full of emotion and real intense, but to trust what their coaches have been telling them.”

Though he probably won’t have the same pregame jitters as his freshmen, Erickson said he is excited about the opportunity to further evaluate his team.

“I don’t know that you can continue to practice against each other and find out where you are,” Erickson said. “It will be a start for us to find out exactly where that is.”

The unit Erickson and his staff are most anxious to evaluate is the offensive line.

The starting quintet, which has been the center of much discussion in the offseason, features three players who will be making their first collegiate start on offense.

Erickson knows that the NAU defense will use a variety of different schemes to attack the Sun Devil offense and its inexperienced line.

“They’ll bring different people, [and] they’ll blitz quite a bit,” Erickson said. “They play with three guys down, two guys down. They change it up quite a bit.”

Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu