Did He Just Do That?

Senior Quarterback Armanti Edwards Nears End of ASU Career

Story by Jason Gilmer

Photo by James Fay

Third down is a time for players on the bench to find their helmets, grab some water or stretch their legs in preparation for going out to play defense or special teams.

If Armanti Edwards is in the shotgun, though, Mountaineer players sometimes forget those little details and focus on seeing something special.

With Edwards, you never know when that will happen. Teammates could watch him break three tackles for the needed yardage or complete a spin move in traffic, set his feet and hit a receiver down field for a score.

Getting ready to go back on the field might cost someone the chance to see excellence in action.

“Every time he’s got the ball, we all sit on the edge of our seats,” defensive tackle Anthony Williams said. “It’s like we’re in the stands watching just like everyone else. Something amazing is going to happen every time, and we don’t know what it is.”

Edwards’ football career is coming to a close for the Mountaineers. At 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 21, he’ll lead the team in the regular season finale against Western Carolina at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

“

Every time he’s got the ball, we all sit on the edge of our seats.

” —Anthony Williams, defensive tackle

During the game, on one end of the bench, will stand a group of kickers waiting for their turn to play. Third-and-six isn’t something that concerns them.

“Maybe I’ll swing my leg a few times, but I’m watching the play because I think he’s going to get that third down,” kicker Jason Vitaris said. “We, as kickers down on the end [of the sideline], just watch him in awe. He’ll make a play and we’ll look at each other and go, ‘Did he really just do that?’”

It’s a phrase that can be heard just as easily in the stands at ASU games or in video sessions by opposing coaches.

“Armanti does amazing, amazing things with a football in his hands, whether it’s running the ball or throwing the ball,” Elon coach Pete Lembo said.
Those days, though, are quickly running out. Edwards, a graphic arts and imaging technology major, will graduate in December and will likely make the move to professional football.

ASU officials might want to reserve a row of seats at this December’s graduation ceremony just in case some Southern Conference football coaches show up to make sure Edwards is really leaving.

Someone from Michigan might show up, too, just to say farewell.

“I know one thing—he’s been around a while, and he’s been every coach’s nightmare in the Southern Conference and across the country,” Wofford coach Mike Ayers said.

Photo by James Fay

Edwards will graduate in just 3.5 years and is taking 18 hours this semester so he can finish early. Less than 3 percent of ASU students graduate in less than four years.

Then Edwards will worry about his preparation for the next part of his life.

“Hopefully I can keep on playing football at the next level,” he said.

Almost all of the NFL teams have sent scouts to Boone this fall to watch Edwards, and other teammates, work out.

If Yosef is the face of the Mountaineers football team, then Edwards is its soul.

The soft-spoken and humble dual-threat quarterback has led the Mountaineers since his freshman year, compiling a 40-6 record as a starter, breaking 30 records and becoming the first quarterback in the NCAA to throw for more than 9,000 yards and run for more than 4,000 yards.

“He’s a special person. Not just a special player, but a special person,” Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said. “He’s a real credit to college football.”

“He’s just a phenomenal athlete and leader,” wide receiver Blake Elder said. “He’s selfless and humble and comes to play every Saturday.”

Edwards won the prestigious Walter Payton Award in 2008 (the FCS equivalent to the Heisman Trophy) and has a chance to win it again. If he does, he’ll be the first player in the trophy’s 23-year history to win it in consecutive years.

It seems like only a matter of time before his number 14, which is seen on jerseys throughout the stands on game days, is retired by the ASU athletic department.

“If there’s been a better player to come through here, I don’t know of one and we’ve had some really good players,” ASU Athletics Director Charlie Cobb said. “It’s been fun to be a part of watching him, that’s for sure.

“I don’t think anybody, when they recruited him, anticipated this kind of player. But he’s made himself into something pretty special.”

Cobb is one of many who believe that Edwards deserves more than just a shot to win another Payton Trophy. The athletic director thinks that Edwards’ name should also be in the Heisman Trophy discussion.

“If the Michigan game year would have occurred his senior year, then there would be a whole lot more [talk] because of the national media,” Cobb said. “At the end of the day when you look at the career stats and the year he has had…he absolutely [deserves it].”

Oh, yeah, the Michigan game. That was the day when the sporting world didn’t just take notice of the Mountaineers, but of Edwards in particular.

He led the Mountaineers to a shocking upset of the then-No. 5 Wolverines on the road. He accounted for 289 offensive yards and four scores in the 34-32 victory that put the Mountaineers on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

“He’s been an outstanding player and outstanding ambassador, not only for the Southern Conference, but for the FCS football with what he’s done,” Furman coach Bobby Lamb said. “With the Michigan game, he’s put FCS football on the national map.”

“

He’s been around a while, and he’s been every coach’s nightmare in the Southern Conference and across the country.

” —Wofford coach Mike Ayers

When Edwards left Greenwood (S.C.) High School, he wasn’t a highly recruited player. The Shrine Bowl player didn’t become the starting quarterback on the Eagles’ team until midway into his junior season.

Still, in his senior year, he showed signs of the brilliance that most fans in Boone have come to expect. He threw for more than 2,000 yards and ran for more than 1,000 in his final high school season.

He didn’t know what to expect during college.

“I never thought it would come out and be this way,” Edwards said. “It’s exciting to know I’ve accomplished so many things, but I have to thank my coaches and my teammates for getting me here.”

Always humble, Edwards is quick to note that “without the other 10 people on the field, it’s hard to get those yards.”

It’s hard to find anyone who has something bad to say about the team’s on-the-field leader.

“He’s definitely been one of those players where you hold your breath every time the ball is snapped to him,” Ayers said. “He can beat you with his arm. He can beat you with his feet. He’s the coolest guy there is when the ball is in his hands. He’s one of those special players who God has gifted with a great deal of physical and mental toughness that it takes to be a great player.”