Dennis Erickson doesn’t seem to mind the suspense.

The ASU football coach has yet to make a decision on the Sun Devils’ (4-6, 2-5 Pac-10) starting quarterback come Saturday against UCLA, and said he may not until game day.

With ASU’s bowl aspirations in the balance, Erickson did not put the kibosh on sophomore Samson Szakacsy, freshman Brock Osweiler or senior Danny Sullivan taking the first snap at the Rose Bowl against the Bruins (5-5, 2-5 Pac-10).

“It depends on what side of the couch I wake up on [Saturday] morning,” Erickson mused when asked of the deciding factor.

Szakacsy took the majority of repetitions on Tuesday, followed by Sullivan, who Erickson said he wants to give opportunities with the first unit. Osweiler took the least amount of repetitions.

While the starting quarterback could be a Saturday surprise, it may be followed by a second in the backfield.

With true freshman Cameron Marshall still hampered by injury and sophomore Ryan Bass suspended, explosive true freshman receiver Jamal Miles took limited repetitions as a running back Tuesday.

“That’s where he may end up next spring,” Erickson said.

The Sun Devils ran for only 84 yards on 38 carries against Oregon last week.

Keys to the Carr

One of the few bright spots for the Sun Devils against UO was the play of redshirt freshman cornerback Deveron Carr.

“Deveron is getting better and better all the time,” Erickson said.

Carr started his first career game against USC two weeks ago and was a critical part of a secondary that held Matt Barkley to his lowest passing output of the season, as the Sun Devils forced the freshman into 15 incomplete passes out of 22 attempts.

While UO ran wild against ASU, the Ducks only passed for 120 yards, and star quarterback Jeremiah Masoli completed 50 percent of his passes.

With the absence of junior corner Omar Bolden to injury and senior Terell Carr to suspension, Deveron Carr was placed in the spotlight.

“Everybody has to step up,” Deveron Carr said. “Two superstar corners went down, and you have to be willing to step in and not miss a beat.”

Through most of the season, the Sun Devils’ seemingly sole weak spot on its defense was its secondary. But Deveron Carr, along with sophomore safety Clint Floyd, who made his first start of the season against USC, took advantage of their time on the sideline as observers.

Deveron Carr said that observation has benefitted the whole unit.

“I would say it is a little more [improved] discipline from us sitting out and learning and watching the mistakes that other corners and safeties have made,” Carr said. “We capitalized on the mistakes they made and didn’t make those mistakes.”

Carr’s development began last season in his redshirt year and continued into the spring.

Carr, who said he was a bit “surprised” by his play thus far, knows that his early performance could be an indication of a high ceiling.

“I’m just getting started,” Carr said. “There is a lot to learn. When I am actually up to par, I want to see what I look like myself.”

Reach the reporter at nick.ruland@asu.edu.