Looking to generate a bit more of a pass rush on Saturday, ASU football coach Dennis Erickson will make a change at defensive end.
Freshman Junior Onyeali will make his first career start against Washington, replacing senior Jamarr Robinson.
“He is playing good, that is how it is,” Erickson said of Onyeali. “He is playing real well, so he’s going to get the opportunity.”
ASU has only recorded just four sacks on the season, which is the worst in the Pac-10.
Injury Update
Sophomore cornerback Deveron Carr’s shoulder injury may cause him to miss significant time. Carr will likely need surgery on the shoulder, but could wait to have it until after the season.
Junior wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad (turf toe) also will not play against the Huskies.
Because of the injury to Pflugrad, Erickson has moved sophomore Jamal Miles from running back to the slot wide receiver position for the time being.
With Miles moving to wide receiver, freshman Kyle Middlebrooks has been practicing exclusively at running back this week.
“This is the first two days that we have had him fully at running back,” Erickson said. “Jamal is full time in the slot right now so we moved Kyle to running back and he looks pretty good. I think he has a chance. He has a little different style.”
Middlebrooks is just 5-feet-8-inches tall, usually small for a running back. Oregon State junior running back Jacquizz Rodgers, who is an inch shorter than Middlebrooks, is a rare exception.
“I’m not saying he’s Jacquizz Rodgers, I mean height wise [he is similar],” Erickson said. “We’ll start at height and go from there after that.”
Hargis Progressing
After having surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in April, it has been an inspired comeback attempt by senior offensive lineman Jon Hargis.
On Wednesday, Hargis made another step toward getting back on the field by starting one-on-one drills and making football moves, testing the knee.
Hargis was denied an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA, so this is his final season to compete on the field.
“There is a possibility that after the bye week that they think he can come back,” Erickson said. “Probably Cal or the next one after that, which is an amazing deal.”
Red zone Offense
After having some issues in the red zone thus far, the Sun Devils have been focusing on their red zone offense during practice this week.
“We have looked at it,” Erickson said. “It is not really different than what we are doing, we are just doing different things in what we are doing, that would be the best way to put it.”
Erickson will consider putting resdshirt junior quarterback Steven Threet under center in the red zone, but it will mostly depend on how the Washington defense plays ASU.
“We will go under the center more and do some different things out of there,” Erickson said. “It is more what they do defensively down there than anything.”
Guy misses practice
Junior defensive tackle Lawrence Guy missed practice Wednesday with the flu. Despite the illness, Erickson expects Guy to be able to play on Saturday.
“He’s sick,” Erickson said. “He has the flu. He came in this morning and we had to send him to the doctor. I don’t think it is anything that will cause him to miss the game.”
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
