It seems as though Garth Gerhart has gone down with an ankle injury, and will be out for a few days to help it heal.

This couldn't come at a worse time for Gerhart, as Thomas Altieri returned to the field from his concussion on Friday (just in time to play in the Tontozona road exhibition).

Altieri might have the opportunity to lock down the starting center job in the next few days if he shows strong performances in practice.

Another offensive lineman, Matt Hustad, has been injured and is standing on the sidelines with a knee injury. With the lack of depth on the OL in the first place, these injuries put further stress on the skill positions.

In other Sun Devil news, Samson Szakacsy has been named the third string QB, beating out Chasen Stangel (last year's scout team QB). Szakacsy was injured last season, and did not have an opportunity to show off his promise. Both Szakacsy and Stangel are redshirt freshmen. Danny Sullivan is still the backup QB.

As for the slot receiver battle between Kerry Taylor and Kyle Williams, the role is still up for grabs. Whoever wins the role will have a fantastic spot in the offense, with the other still being active in 4-wide sets.

Williams said he's looking forward to playing alongside Taylor this season.

"It's going to be me and Kerry on the inside (receiving positions) most likely," Williams said. "When we go to single sets, it will be me or Kerry. Depending on who is tired, I might come in and play for Chris (McGaha) or for Mike. Same with Kerry.

"We've got a hell of a rotation, we really do."

Hopefully the line can stay healthy long enough to give our wideouts the chance to break free this year.

The man who was expected to start at center this year, Thomas Altieri, has suffered a concussion and is out indefinitely.

Thomas Altieri departed Arizona State’s morning practice on Monday with what coach Dennis Erickson said was a concussion, an ailment that will sideline the junior for an indefinite time.

Considering that he is trying to hold off redshirt freshman Garth Gerhart for the starting center job, Altieri potentially has a lot to lose by missing practice snaps.

"That position is still a flip of a coin," Erickson said. "I wouldn’t want to be out of there very long. That’s something that is evaluated every single day, If somebody is moved ahead of you, you have to go back and earn it. That is the nature of football."

Altieri, who has played in three games in two seasons, had a slight edge over Gerhart after spring practice. Last week, the 6-foot-2, 300-pounder said he felt he had become a more consistent blocker.

Concussions are difficult injuries to measure in terms of recovery time and prognosis. In contact sports, these types of injuries can be season-ending, depending on severity. Lets look at some notable concussions of the recent past.

On February 17, 2007, Brendan Shanahan of the New York Rangers suffered a concussion, which brought about serious symptoms of vertigo.

The room would spin when he did something as simple as bend over. He longed for a way to measure his healing, to know when he would be able to skate with his teammates again, but concussions offer no such benchmarks.

It wasn't until over a month later, on March 21, 2007, that Shanahan was able to take the ice again.

Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins was lost for the season on October 27, 2007 when he was hit from behind into the boards. Missing 72 games, Bergeron has made a full recovery and will be ready for the 2008-2009 season.

However, a concussion of that severity can change a player's tactics on the ice or in the heat of the moment. Who knows if Bergeron will be half the player he was before the injury.

On the other hand, Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a concussion in Week 7 of the 2006 season against the Atlanta Falcons.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

A week later, Roethlisberger was back on the field, going 25/37 with one touchdown and four interceptions against the lowly Oakland Raiders. A week after that, he threw 3 interceptions against the Denver Broncos.

Continue reading this post »

House of Sparky was able to have an exclusive phone interview with Gregg Smith, the ASU Offensive Line Coach. He shed some light on a few issues regarding the offensive line that I was very interested in hearing more about.

House of Sparky: Thank you for your time, Coach Smith.

The offensive line will have a new look this season. What is the biggest difficulty you face when replacing so many players?

Coach Smith: The biggest difficulty is game experience. You know, we only have two returning starters, Shawn Lauvao and Paul Fanaika so they are the only two who have a lot of game experience. Our center, Thomas Altieri, has played some, and you know Adam Tello was redshirted last year. John Hargis, who is starting at left tackle, was on the defensive line last fall. So when you only have two guys who really have game experience, the other three are going to have to learn and perfect themselves as we go along through fall practice.

Picture of Paul Fanaika, ASU's starting right guard. via www.paloaltodailynews.com

HoS: Losing Mike Pollak is a blow to the offensive line. What will the Sun Devils miss most about him this year?

Coach: Well, I think number one is leadership. That is probably the one thing that he reflected through the whole team, not just the offensive line. His leadership and what he provided for this football team was extremely important. That being number one, number two was Pollak being a captain of the team and captain of the offensive line, and making all of our calls. We are going to miss that experience from him. Losing a guy like that always hurts you, and it just takes a while for somebody else to grow into his role and provide the things he provided.

HoS: Adam Tello is currently practicing on the first team. What are some of his strengths and how significant will his role be this season?

Coach: He is penciled in as our starter at right tackle. He is a very athletic player; he plays with a lot of toughness, which is going to help him in the long run. His biggest weakness right now is game experience, and that is something that he is going to have to deal with in practice and training camp.

HoS: The 2007 offensive line gave up 55 sacks, the second most in the nation (better than only Notre Dame). What are some of the new approaches that will better protect Rudy Carpenter?

Coach: After reevaluating our season in the spring, we are trying to simplify our protection schemes. Also, we are putting a lot of emphasis on our quick passing game, so that Rudy is able to get the ball out a little bit faster. We are going to utilize our strengths, which are the receiving core and Rudy Carpenter. We are also trying to do a better, more efficient job on gap control and to solidify the middle of the pocket.

House of Sparky would like to thank Coach Smith again for his time and his informative answers. Further analysis will be forthcoming!