Edwards’ Biggest Fear Is Flying, Not the LSU Tigers
By David Droschak (Posted 8-19-08)
The days leading up to Appalachian State’s showdown with defending national champion LSU are flying by for Armanti Edwards.
“It’s coming too fast, again,” said the quarterback with the magical feet who appears to race off the ASU media guide toward an image of the program’s three national title trophies.
The actual game, the intense battle on the field against the SEC power doesn’t worry the elusive Edwards, who helped orchestrate college football biggest upset ever last season at Michigan’s Big House. The football part against LSU will be a piece of cake for Edwards, who fears no team, no fan base, no defense -- and with good reason. Michigan’s defenders are still trying to stop him, as is every Southern Conference foe and I-AA playoff team the Mountaineers have breezed past recently.
Flying to Baton Rouge -- now that’s a different story for Edwards, who has taken the Boone, N.C., program to great heights the last two seasons but can’t seem to stomach the high road to get there.
Edwards has a fear of flying. He tried to hide under the seat en route to Ann Arbor, begging, pleading to take the bus with the band before being told “no” by the coaching staff, reluctantly boarding the plane to play the Wolverines for the biggest game of his life.
“Armanti is a kid who had never been on a airplane and was not very comfortable on that charter, yet he gets out in front of 100,000 people and puts on a show – amazing player,” said ASU athletic director Charlie Cobb, who was a pretty fair player in his days at N.C. State.
Edwards completed 17 of 22 passes for 227 yards and ran for another 62 yards, accounting for four TDs against fifth-ranked Michigan in what was a precursor of things to come in the 2007 season as the Mountaineers won their third straight national title.
“I didn’t want to go,” Edwards said of the Michigan trip. “When we celebrated after the game I forgot we had to fly again and I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to stay.’ I’m not too good with heights and I couldn’t help but look outside. Then they were talking about we were fixing to go through turbulence and I didn’t like that. I’ll play Michigan, LSU, anybody, any day, instead of being that high in the air. Trust me; I was ready to get off that plane.”
Like it or not, Edwards will have to face his greatest fear again in about a week as the Mountaineers take on the Tigers in a first-ever, ESPN-televised battle of defending national champions to open the season. At 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, Edwards could stand behind 6-3, 250-pound Tim Tebow and not be seen. However, if Edwards can pull off another mind-boggling upset Aug. 30 in Death Valley, he’ll be heard from in the Heisman Trophy race.
Does Edwards have a chance to win college football biggest award? Well, actually no. With Tebow back to defend his award, along with returning QBs Patrick White of West Virginia, Chase Daniel of Missouri and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, along with top running backs Chris Wells of Ohio State and Knowshon Moreno of Georgia, the ASU junior isn’t likely to come close. But don’t totally discount Edwards’ ability to make a run – and pass – at the Heisman.
Ed Marinaro of Cornell pushed Auburn’s Pat Sullivan to the limit in 1971, finishing second and ahead of noted players Greg Pruitt, Johnny Musso and Lydell Mitchell of powerhouse programs. Jerry Rice of Mississippi Valley State in 1984 and Joe Dudek of Plymouth State in ’85 each finished ninth in the voting. And the next two seasons, Gordie Lockbaum of Holy Cross finished fifth and third.
Edwards does have a ring to his name, which should help voters remember him, but more importantly, his performances on the playing field more times than not are unforgettable. And you won’t find a more competitive kid, a tougher individual. The opposition has tried time after time to rough up the small QB, but after being bullied by his older brother and cousin Renaldo Gray (Furman’s QB) growing up, Edwards has learned to take a lick and keep on ticking.
“For some reason once I’m on the field a whole new animal comes out,” Edwards said. “I hate to lose. Ask my mom or my daddy or anybody who is close to me. They can beat me in something as simple as walking and I don’t like it. I just hate to lose.”
Edwards can beat you with his feet, arm and intensity. He piled up 3,536 yards of offense in 2007 despite missing four and a half games with a shoulder injury after amassing 3,404 in his freshman year. He has been responsible for 408 of Appalachian State’s 1,169 points in two seasons.
In Appalachian State’s semifinal playoff victory against Richmond last season, Edwards completed 14 of 16 passes for 182 yards and three scores, and rushed an additional 31 times for 313 yards and four more TDs in one of the most spectacular individual shows in football history.
“Armanti is what you call a nightmare for defenses,” said ASU teammate and defensive back Leonard Love. “He’s deceptively fast and he’s tough, so you can give him your best shot and you know he’s going to get up. We believe as long as we have a guy like him we can go in and compete and beat anybody we want to.
“Everybody knows he’s just flat-out amazing. Some of the things he does, it’s hard to explain just how he does it. He may have the fastest 10-yard burst I’ve ever seen. He can be literally be walking and the next second be 15 yards down the field.”
Edwards has become a fixture in the Boone community, an honor student who volunteers time reading at area schools and day-care centers. He’s also involved in local Bible studies, and unlike many of his peers in sports these days, shuns any earrings or jewelry. Edwards doesn’t even wear his national title rings.
“Catching dust on the dresser,” Edwards said when I asked about his national title rings. “My mother likes to show it off, I’m not a big show off. I would rather nobody knows me. I like to stay back.
Polite, quiet and intense, coach Jerry Moore knows he’s got a special player to rely on as the 2008 season approaches.
“He’s smarter than any of us,” Moore said of his star QB. “Somebody in town called him right after the season and wanted to know if Armanti would call a kid with a health problem. Armanti not only called him, but also took the kid out to get a hamburger. That’s pretty big for a 19-year-old college kid to take the initiative to go do something like that. That’s just the kind of person he is. A lot of people here in Boone can’t even pronounce his name but they love him. He’s the real deal, he’s special.”
Edwards heads into the LSU game wide-eyed and anxious to perform, knowing college football fans and all those associated with the game are waiting for the blowout, for an opportunity to say ASU’s Michigan Miracle was just that, a miracle.
“It just feels like a national championship game,” Edwards said. “If we lose everybody is going to say the Michigan game was a fluke. We’re looking forward to this one. They know we’re coming, so they’re practicing. They don’t have any excuses if they lose.”
Have a safe landing Armanti!
Edwards by the numbers (after two seasons):
Record as starter: 22-2
Playoff record: 8-0
Total offense: 6,940 yards
Total yards per game: 266.9 yards
Touchdowns: 68
Passing: 4,199 yards
Rushing: 2,741 yards
100-yard rushing games: 13
200-yard passing games: 8