Danny Sullivan is still the starting quarterback for the ASU football team — at least for now.

ASU coach Dennis Erickson announced at his weekly press conference that the senior quarterback will take the first snap when the Sun Devils face Washington State in Pullman on Saturday, despite a struggling offense and grumblings from fans in ASU’s 28-17 loss to Oregon State last week.

“After evaluating it, Danny did some awfully good things for us,” Erickson said. “He threw it pretty successfully, [and] he managed the game pretty well. Danny Sullivan didn’t lose the football game, by any means. Everybody was involved in that.”

Erickson did not rule out the possibility of true freshman quarterback Brock Osweiler seeing his first game action since the Sun Devils’ contest against ULM, however.

“Does that mean that Brock won’t play? No,” Erickson said. “I haven’t decided that yet, and I won’t make that decision until the end of the week — whether I’ll give him a series or two early in the game.”

Sullivan still looked visibly subdued on Monday after hearing boos and chants for Osweiler throughout the game on Saturday.

“It’s tough dealing with that whole situation Saturday,” Sullivan said. “You don’t expect any of that to happen. It was tough every time going on the field, but the last 48 hours, I’ve had time to just relax, get support from my family and friends and just continue what I’ve been doing.”

Sullivan completed 32 of 58 passes for 338 yards and a touchdown against the Beavers, but the ASU offense still had problems finding the end zone and converted just four of 18 third-down attempts on Saturday.

“Crucial downs is what I’m not helping this football team with,” Sullivan said. “I’m not making the plays I want to make, and it’s frustrating, that’s for sure.

“I think my frustration was shown Saturday night after the game. It’s not the way I want to be playing right now.”

Erickson said the mood of the team was quiet during Sunday’s film session but added the Sun Devils do not have time to dwell on the OSU loss and must turn their attention to their first Pac-10 road contest against WSU.

“It hurt, [and it] still hurts, but you can’t sit around and worry about it,” Erickson said. “You’ve got to make corrections, obviously, and the players have to make corrections and try not to let this happen again. We’ll rebound. We have too much senior leadership on this team to not rebound, [and] we’ve got too much character not to rebound.”

Despite still having No. 3 total defense in the nation (232 yards per game), the Sun Devils have continued to struggle with getting any consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. ASU ranks 115th out of 118 Football Bowl Subdivision teams with just three sacks.

“We couldn’t get there with four [pass rushers and] we didn’t get there with five,” Erickson said. “That’s another phase of the [OSU] game that was disappointing.”

Arguably the most surprising development of the early season is the virtual disappearance of senior defensive end Dexter Davis, who is fourth all-time in school history with 27.5 career sacks but has yet to get to the quarterback this season.

“They’re putting a back on him [and] they’re putting a tight end on him, along with the tackle,” Erickson said. “If I was playing us, that’s what I would do, too.”

Erickson said following the Georgia game that he was still looking for another running back to take some of the load off of senior Dimitri Nance, and he may have found the right complement in sophomore Ryan Bass.

Bass gained 25 yards on eight carries — with most of those yards coming on one drive in the second quarter — but he did have a crucial fumble on that same possession after the Sun Devils had taken the ball down to the OSU 20-yard line.

“He’s going to play [because] he gives us something different,” Erickson said. “The fumble we don’t like … and you just can’t do it, but I’m not going to bench him because he fumbled one time.”

Injury update

Erickson said sophomore center Garth Gerhart (toe) could have played against OSU and will be ready to go against WSU, and he also expects senior safety Ryan McFoy (foot) to play against the Cougars.

Sophomore guard Zach Schlink (knee) is doubtful to play, and sophomore offensive lineman Matt Hustad (knee) is still a week or two away from being healthy, Erickson said.