Around FCS: Edwards, ASU still standing at Elon
By David Coulson, FCS Executive Director Elon, NC (Sports Network) - Armanti Edwards is like a seasoned, heavyweight champion when he approaches a title game. You might inflict some damaging blows along the way, but in the end, it almost always seems like Edwards is the one standing at the end of a big football fight.
Edwards hobbled off the field at halftime of Saturday's Southern Conference championship clash at Elon with three touchdown runs and a 21-0 lead, but also with a strained anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after taking a hit from Elon defensive end Andre Campbell late in the second quarter.
When the Mountaineers returned for the second half, it was backup quarterback Travaris Cadet who led Appalachian State back into the fray and Edwards was nowhere to be seen along the sideline.
After being almost totally silenced in the first half, Elon's record Rhodes Stadium crowd of 14,167 found a modicum of hope in Edwards' absence, particularly when Cadet and the Mountaineer offense went three and out on the opening series of the third quarter.
The Phoenix turned that momentum into a 10-play, 79-yard drive that concluded with a 23-yard Adam Shreiner field goal that cut ASU's advantage to 21-3.
But an apprehensive sense of dread had to spread through the Elon stands when Edwards finally arrived from the locker room, with a brace and a good bit of athletic tape protecting his injured joint. As Edwards began tossing footballs with his left arm to a teammate on the sideline, the Phoenix mood went from hopeful to hopeless.
Edwards only led the Mountaineers to six second-half points, but he helped his team play keep-away from the dangerous Phoenix attack.
"I was really proud of Armanti," said ASU coach Jerry Moore. "It reminded me of our first national championship game with Richie Williams." Like Williams, who came off the bench to guide Appalachian State to a 21-16 victory over Northern Iowa in 2005 with a painfully sprained tendon in his ankle, Edwards showed his toughness yet again.
When asked how bad the pain was from his injured knee, the understated Edwards responded, "It hurts a little bit." Few players in the Football Championship Subdivision have had as much of perceptible influence on a game, or the ethos of an opponent in the past couple of decades as the dreadlocked, 2008 Walter Payton Award winner.
Edwards has helped Appalachian State to at least a share of four consecutive Southern Conference titles, becoming the first quarterback to accomplish such a feat, and to back-to-back national titles in 2006-07.
His record in playoff games is a nearly impeccable 9-1 and he is now 4-0 in title-clinching conference games, with his fiery competitiveness on the field saying more than his quiet demeanor in the locker room.
With their fearless leader back in the trenches, Appalachian State (8-2 overall, 7-0 in league) was able to relax the rest of the way for a 27-10 victory that lifted them to an automatic bid into the FCS playoffs. The Mountaineers became just the second team in conference history to win at least five consecutive championships, joining a Georgia Southern program that won six in a row from 1997-2002.
The Mountaineers have now won 19 consecutive Southern Conference games, a streak that goes back to the 2007 season and is the fourth longest of all- time. Only West Virginia (30 from 1952-59), Alabama (20 from 1924-26) and Tulane (20 from 1929-32) have longer winning streaks in the SoCon.
While Edwards was the emotional glue for the Mountaineers, the much-maligned ASU defense also pushed the limits of its game, holding Elon's explosive offense to 270 yards and forcing Phoenix quarterback Scott Riddle into a miserable day.
Riddle, one of the most efficient quarterbacks in FCS, was 20-of-34 for 212 yards with one TD pass and was intercepted three times in his first six attempts. He was also sacked five times for 42 yards in losses.
Mark LeGree, ASU's two-time Buck Buchanan Award nominee at free safety, had two of those interceptions to go with two other pass breakups, while cornerback Ed Gainey added a third interception.
The opportunistic Mountaineers turned all three turnovers into first-half points as Edwards scored on dashes of 15, six and three yards. Edwards rushed 10 times, all in the first half, for 73 yards and was a precise 21-of-24 passing for 281 yards.
"I don't think there is any question that he rises to the occasion," said Elon coach Pete Lembo. "Whatever the level of the competition, he can rise one level about it." Appalachian State scorched the top defense statistically in FCS for 486 yards, the most that Elon has allowed all season.
All-American linebacker D.J. Smith had 15 tackles and combined with teammates Malcolm Bennett, Jabari Fletcher, Lanston Tanyi and Anthony Williams for seven tackles for losses.
It wasn't until less than five minutes remained that Riddle and the Elon offense finally got into the end zone on a 12-yard pass reception by Aaron Mellette.
Terrell Hudgins, Elon's three-time Payton Award nominee, had to dig and scratch for 10 receptions and 127 yards against a secondary that Lembo said was the best his team had seen this season.
About the only negative for the Mountaineers was that Jason Vitaris missed two of four field goal attempts and ASU failed to score on a couple of red zone excursions.
"We left some points on the field," Edwards admitted.
But after another championship-caliber performance, the Mountaineers can be excused for a couple of warts.
Lembo said that the team his Elon club faced on Saturday is as dangerous as any of ASU's national championship teams.
"I think what they're doing is peaking right now," Lembo explained. "They are healthy and they are obviously confident. In all three phases they're playing well and obviously they've been there before. I think they're pretty well positioned right now." Appalachian State can close out its third perfect SoCon slate in four years with a win next week at home against 1-9 Western Carolina, with a victory putting the Mountaineers in possible position for one of the top-four seeds in the FCS playoffs.
Whether ASU will have Edwards on the field will be determined after medical tests this week.
For Elon (8-2, 6-1), a victory over 5-5 Samford on the road in Southern Conference play next week would almost certainly vault the Phoenix into its first playoff appearance with an at-large bid. And even with a loss, Elon might still make the 16-team field.
"I've been to the playoffs a bunch of times as a head coach and an assistant coach," said Lembo. "Those are some of the best experiences I've had and I want these kids to experience that. But you don't want to limp in (to the playoffs). You don't want to sneak in the back door, you want to march in with a lot of confidence."
11/14 21:29:34 ET
