Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller
It may be "just" a matter of pain tolerance whether Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter can make his 37th consecutive start at USC on Saturday.
Carpenter was sacked 55 times a year ago and has been knocked around this year, too, so his pain tolerance track record is good.
The East Valley Tribune and Arizona Republic reported that Carpenter's injury suffered in the Sun Devils' 24-14 loss at California has been diagnosed as "a non-weight-bearing projection of a bone in his left ankle."
Basically: A sprained ankle.
"I've been told he has a chance to play," ASU coach Dennis Erickson told the newspapers. "If he progresses during the week and can stay healthy, that's the key. You don't want him hobbled out there in the game."
Carpenter's backup is junior Danny Sullivan, who has never started a game. Sullivan is 1-for-8 this year in mop-up duty and is 26-of-52 for 257 yards in his career with two touchdowns and one interception.
H
Ted Miller has been covering college football since 1997, starting with Auburn and then heading West to Washington and the Pac-10. His columns for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer won first place in 2007 APSE Best Writing contest. The Atlanta native and University of Richmond graduate presently lives with his wife in Scottsdale, Ariz.
