ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

TEMPE, Ariz. --  Danny Sullivan spent all summer running and lifting and throwing and playing the part of Arizona State's starting quarterback. That's what he tentatively will be as he takes the field for the first preseason practice Thursday evening.

Now the senior, who spent the previous three years backing up Rudy Carpenter, wants to leave no doubt in any minds that he's the guy who can right the Sun Devils listing offensive ship. 

Before he can win over skeptical fans, though, he's got to make a definitive statement that resonates throughout the team, including within himself. 

"I've invested myself in this so I can put this to rest," he said. "I need to make myself the starter, to put any doubt in my mind out and put out any doubt my teammates have in me. We need go go into the first game and do well and get any doubt out of our heads."

Sullivan faced doubts during spring practices. His lack of mobility and middling performances as a backup had convinced many that either athletic sophomore Samson Szakacsy or touted true freshman Brock Osweiler would win the job.

But Sullivan fought off all challenges with a strong spring and won over coach Dennis Erickson.

"He's a lot better than people think," Erickson said. "With Sullivan, we'll throw it a lot more because that's what his strength is. And he'll get rid of the ball."

Getting "rid of the ball" is the operative phrase. Sure, the Sun Devils offensive line surrendered 89 sacks over the past two season. But a good percentage of those happened while Carpenter tried to make bigger plays than the coverage was giving him.

Sullivan might lack mobility, but the thinking is he'll get rid of the ball before he'd need to scramble anyway.

Erickson wants to get back to the quick-hitting, spread offense he built his reputation on. That means lining up in the shotgun with three or four wideouts and making quick reads based on how the defense lines up its coverage.

"The quick passing game out of the spread formations is going to be big for us," Sullivan said. "It will take some pressure off the O-line, too."

The 6-foot-4 Sullivan is doing his part to improve his ability to duck a pass rush, too. He's far leaner, tipping the scales at 238 pounds, 12 less than last fall. He's focused on his quickness and footwork this summer, and followed every weight room session with 20 minutes of running on the treadmill.

He's ready to assert himself as the starter, but if Erickson wants to introduce specific packages that get Szakacsy on the field, so be it.

"I'm not a selfish guy," Sullivan said. "If that's what it takes to win and will be better for us, then good for him. Sampson has worked his butt off to get back to where he needs to be with his arm. Him seeing time in order to throw a change-up at defenses could be a good thing."

[Szakacsy had elbow surgery in 2007].

Whoever wins the starting job, on Sept. 26, he will lead the Sun Devils into Georgia's Sanford Stadium -- "Between the Hedges" -- one of the nation's toughest environments.

While Sullivan said he was excited about playing on such a big stage, he also insisted Georgia is not on his mind.

The Sun Devils season imploded last year in large part because many players were already thinking about the Bulldogs while they were playing UNLV.

That inglorious overtime defeat still hangs over the program, a hard lesson in looking ahead.

"It will be a fun experience to go down there to Georgia," Sullivan said.  "But we can't be looking forward to any game -- Georgia or USC or Cal. We can't be doing that this year. We did that last year and look what happened. It put us in a bind all year."

That bind was a program-worst six-game losing streak, which transformed the Sun Devils from nationally ranked to nationally irrelevant.

Sullivan doesn't seemed too disappointed that the program, picked fifth in the preseason Pac-10 media poll, isn't getting much national notice.

"We're where we need to be -- under the radar," he said.

But Sullivan said he and the other 11 seniors topping the depth chart know this is their last go-round, and they intend to take advantage.

"We want to go out with a bang," he said.