Lack of mobility limits Edwards
by Steve Behr Sports Editor
By Steve Behr
(sports@wataugademocrat.com)
It became evident early that Armanti Edwards was restricted from running against South Carolina State, unless it was on an emergency basis.
The Appalachian State quarterback, still slowed by a knee injury suffered against Elon two games before, was forced to hand the ball off to Devon Moore, or pass against a Bulldogs defense determined to blitz the current Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
It seemed to work. Edwards was sacked three times, was under constant pressure from the South Carolina State defense, and tossed three interceptions, two in the first half.
South Carolina State's Rafael Bush returned 46 yards for a touchdown. Yet, despite all that, the Mountaineers managed to generate enough offense to beat the Bulldogs 20-13.
Edwards said he was not surprised by the Bulldogs' blitzing, but added that they disguised where it was coming from well.
"They did a good job of confusing our offensive line," Edwards said. "We knew that it was coming. We always got caught calling the protection to the opposite side of their blitz."
"The blitzing was no surprise," Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said. "That's been their package all year long. They're very athletic to begin with. Their backers and secondary people are very athletic. We thought we could run the zone play inside against them and a lot of times it's an option for us. Today, our option was to throw it."
Edwards said the decision not to run the ball was based on what South Carolina State's defense showed, but he also did not run the ball during practice last week to insure he would not injure his knee again.
"We didn't take a chance during the week," Edwards said. "We didn't want to take a chance during practice and re-injure it, so during the game, we'd see how it goes."
Edwards said the Mountaineers' game plan was not affected because he did not practice running the ball.
"That didn't hurt our game plan," he said.
Edwards' lack of mobility also hurt the Mountaineers in the red zone. Usually a threat to run the football inside the 20-yard line, the Bulldogs concentrated on keeping Edwards under pressure and stopping Devon Moore from reaching the end zone.
Edwards scrambled two times for 11 yards in the first half. On another occasion, he was sacked for minus 14 yards.
Another time, he ran the option, but pitched the ball to Moore for a 1-yard gain inside the 5-yard line.. Backup Travaris Cadet ran the ball once for minus one yard in the first half at the South Carolina State 7-yard line.
Edwards finished the game with minus one yard rushing on nine carries. He was sacked three times for minus 19 yards, but cranked out an 11-yard run in the second half.
"We didn't want to get into a deal when we run Cadet in there to run the option and the quarterback keep and run Armanti back out there to throw the ball," Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said. "We went over about ever scenario we could. The thing that kept surfacing, and Armanti talked about it a while ago, was the fact that during the course of the game that he felt that he could really run. But we didn't want to take a chance on that Wednesday in practice and sting that thing and go back three days with him. Fortunately we got through him running a minimum amount and he should be really good next week."
(sports@wataugademocrat.com)
It became evident early that Armanti Edwards was restricted from running against South Carolina State, unless it was on an emergency basis.
The Appalachian State quarterback, still slowed by a knee injury suffered against Elon two games before, was forced to hand the ball off to Devon Moore, or pass against a Bulldogs defense determined to blitz the current Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
It seemed to work. Edwards was sacked three times, was under constant pressure from the South Carolina State defense, and tossed three interceptions, two in the first half.
South Carolina State's Rafael Bush returned 46 yards for a touchdown. Yet, despite all that, the Mountaineers managed to generate enough offense to beat the Bulldogs 20-13.
Edwards said he was not surprised by the Bulldogs' blitzing, but added that they disguised where it was coming from well.
"They did a good job of confusing our offensive line," Edwards said. "We knew that it was coming. We always got caught calling the protection to the opposite side of their blitz."
"The blitzing was no surprise," Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said. "That's been their package all year long. They're very athletic to begin with. Their backers and secondary people are very athletic. We thought we could run the zone play inside against them and a lot of times it's an option for us. Today, our option was to throw it."
Edwards said the decision not to run the ball was based on what South Carolina State's defense showed, but he also did not run the ball during practice last week to insure he would not injure his knee again.
"We didn't take a chance during the week," Edwards said. "We didn't want to take a chance during practice and re-injure it, so during the game, we'd see how it goes."
Edwards said the Mountaineers' game plan was not affected because he did not practice running the ball.
"That didn't hurt our game plan," he said.
Edwards' lack of mobility also hurt the Mountaineers in the red zone. Usually a threat to run the football inside the 20-yard line, the Bulldogs concentrated on keeping Edwards under pressure and stopping Devon Moore from reaching the end zone.
Edwards scrambled two times for 11 yards in the first half. On another occasion, he was sacked for minus 14 yards.
Another time, he ran the option, but pitched the ball to Moore for a 1-yard gain inside the 5-yard line.. Backup Travaris Cadet ran the ball once for minus one yard in the first half at the South Carolina State 7-yard line.
Edwards finished the game with minus one yard rushing on nine carries. He was sacked three times for minus 19 yards, but cranked out an 11-yard run in the second half.
"We didn't want to get into a deal when we run Cadet in there to run the option and the quarterback keep and run Armanti back out there to throw the ball," Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said. "We went over about ever scenario we could. The thing that kept surfacing, and Armanti talked about it a while ago, was the fact that during the course of the game that he felt that he could really run. But we didn't want to take a chance on that Wednesday in practice and sting that thing and go back three days with him. Fortunately we got through him running a minimum amount and he should be really good next week."