Question for App. St.

[BULLDOG8180]

Hey guys,
Why did Armanti Edwards start instead of Elder? Armanti attended the same High School that I did, so I like to follow his progress. Also, his nickname is "Money".

[Mr. C]

Jerry Moore said the coaching staff made the change to give the team a spark. They deceived everyone, saying it would be a game-time decision when the truth was they told Edwards he would start on Monday. I think Trey Elder was treated very unfairly. Nothing against Edwards, but Elder wasn't the reason for the slow offensive start. It was POOR line play, receivers dropping passes and TERRIBLE play calling by the coaches. There is no doubt that Armanti is talented and his did complete 15-of-29 passes for a touchdown and ran five times for 49 yards in the first half. But he read the defenses poorly at times and made several BIG mistakes. He missed badly on two passes to wide-open receivers in the end zone and made two bad decisions that caused interceptions. He is extremely talented, but he has so much to learn. I think the coaching staff just decided that they had three easy games in a row (Mars Hill, Gardner-Webb and Elon) and they would give Edwards some starts and see what happened. If he grows into the role, fine. If he doesn't, they have Elder waiting in the wings.

[boonedocks]

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArti cle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149190669079&path=!sports!col legeteampages!appalachian!&s=

ASU benches Elder, romps by Mars Hill 41-0


Armanti Edwards, a true freshman, displaced junior Trey Elder and apparently will continue as the starter.


Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers said that he and his staff talked after last Saturday's win over James Madison and that a decision was based on performance in practice as well as in games.

[KiddBrewer]

i think trey got screwed.......it wasnt his fault we didnt pass the ball the first couple games, and its obvious that the only pass that armanti can complete on a consistent basis right now is the quick hit, nothing long. sure armanti can run, and he may be a great player for us someday, but when it comes down to beating teams like furman, not mars hill, i would rather have treys experience in there, personally. i say the man, jerry moore, should give elder another good chance, and actually call some good plays this time. sorry for the rant.

[umassfan]

My question is... will App St be a true threat with their biggest question mark being the most important poss on the field?

[ASU Kep]

I don't think it's going to be a question mark for too long. Armanti will probably be our starter. Whoever starts the Chatty game is our starter for the rest of the year.

[umassfan]

I don't think it's going to be a question mark for too long. Armanti will probably be our starter. Whoever starts the Chatty game is our starter for the rest of the year.
You have to get there first and if your season is in the hands of a freshman QB.... Good luck because you will need it. He may get you into the playoffs with your weak schedule, but after that dont bet on it.

[psc2445]

You have to get there first and if your season is in the hands of a freshman QB.... Good luck because you will need it. He may get you into the playoffs with your weak schedule, but after that dont bet on it.

i think he is talking about the regular season game against Chattanooga.

[bobbythekidd]

My question is, "Was Edwards put in to gain game time experience and let Elder rest, or was Elder replaced outright?"

[PaladinFan]

So, preseason first team all SoCon quarterback gets benched against a DII team while the second team all SoCon throws for 300+ against an ACC team.

Further evidence preseason anything isn't worth the paper it's written on. xidiotx

[The Cats]

Good luck because you will need it. He may get you into the playoffs with your weak schedule, but after that dont bet on it.

Hey, I'll be the first in line to diss ASU, but playing in SoCon is not playing a week schedule.

[ncman071]

Mr. C with all do respect, Elder srewed himself. He has been playing much more timid than he did last year and Edwards was just flat out wonderful in this game. App is starting to look like they did last year offensively with Edwards. Granted, i know we played Mars Hill but obviously if you watched the game, Edwards was the best QB. As far as bad passes, Edwards will be fine once he starts practicing more with the first team offense because it is simply a timing issue. Edwards does a great job of firing the ball over the middle like he's supposed to and Elder tends to put too much touch and finesse into certain passes especially over the middle.

[KiddBrewer]

Mr. C with all do respect, Elder srewed himself. He has been playing much more timid than he did last year and Edwards was just flat out wonderful in this game. App is starting to look like they did last year offensively with Edwards. Granted, i know we played Mars Hill but obviously if you watched the game, Edwards was the best QB. As far as bad passes, Edwards will be fine once he starts practicing more with the first team offense because it is simply a timing issue. Edwards does a great job of firing the ball over the middle like he's supposed to and Elder tends to put too much touch and finesse into certain passes especially over the middle.



wow, pretty bold......Edwards was flat out wonderful? thats prolly giving him a little too much credit. And no, the offense does not look like it did last year yet. And...he over threw a lot of ppl, probably about 5-6 times, and he practices with the first time all the time, i watch practice 2-3 times a week. I dont agree with it, and wont until he shows that he can pass. Sure he made some throws yesturday, but if he trys to make the same ones he did yesturday, against georgia southern or furman, he'll throw 4 picks.

[hapapp]

I don't get the "screwed" angle. Why would the coaches not go with the player they think is the best fit for the offense? I just don't understand the suggestion of some kind of conspiracy.

I am not sure who should start. Trey has been a concern of mine from the beginning. I think he is talented and capable but I wasn't sure he was ready to take control of this team. Thus far I don't think he has shown that he has or can. I agree that Edwards makes the future look very bright, but he is a freshman and will likely make some critical mistakes in crucial situations. I really don't think a repeat of 2005 is possible with a freshman at QB.

The most critical piece missing from the puzzle coming into this season was the QB. I think we are still searching for it. Perhaps, the staff thinks that Edwards is what is needed and it is best to give him his chance now rather than later in the season. It's going to be interesting to see it unfold.

[Saint3333]

If the players believe in Edwards it will be the right move. Players appear to play harder and be a step quicker when he's in the game. If we can learn to read coverages quickly you just never know.

[youwouldno]

I'm not one to tell App who they should play. But as a Furman fan, this greatly increases my hopes for a SoCon title. A lot of schools recruiting Edwards didn't think he should even stay at QB... he's not the decision-maker Elder is and probably never will be. He's a better athlete but that's not the most important aspect of the QB position.

If he plays enough, he might understand the system well enough to be solid. But as a freshman? We'll see.

[ASU Kep]

I'm not one to tell App who they should play. But as a Furman fan, this greatly increases my hopes for a SoCon title. A lot of schools recruiting Edwards didn't think he should even stay at QB... he's not the decision-maker Elder is and probably never will be. He's a better athlete but that's not the most important aspect of the QB position.

If he plays enough, he might understand the system well enough to be solid. But as a freshman? We'll see.

This one time, about five years ago, people were saying the same things about a new QB that we had just recruited. Don't know if you've heard of him, his name was Richie Williams.

[tralfangar]

No offense, but it took a few years for him to learn, just like it will take a while for Edwards to settle in.

I think many people are frustrated because we have the defense this year and plenty of offensive weapons, therefore we can't afford to have this be a "learning" year for our quarterback(s). As for the "controversy", I say let the best man play. You can be certain the coaches will make sure of that.

It's definitely shaping up to be a year that will keep our messageboard alive and cranking haha.

[ASU Kep]

Armanti is light years ahead of where Richie was as a freshmen. He's nowhere close to what he became as a senior, either, but he's got boatloads of potential.

[youwouldno]

I'm talking about 2006. In 2006, Edwards is not a National Championship-caliber QB. Whether App St can win the SoCon with Edwards is a slightly different question but I doubt it. App fans are high on Edwards now but it won't take long for their tune to change, just like it did with Elder.

[hapapp]

I don't think the fans are down on Elder, though I think some have had higher expectations than perhaps they should have. I think Edwards is an exciting player but also one that is unlikely to lead us to any championships. I am not down on Edwards but I don't think the odds favor winning with a freshman at the helm, especially a true freshman.

[goasu984Life]

So, preseason first team all SoCon quarterback gets benched against a DII team while the second team all SoCon throws for 300+ against an ACC team.

Further evidence preseason anything isn't worth the paper it's written on. xidiotx

Trust me, as a person that has been in on SID meetings where those pre-season all-conference teams are voted, it really doesn't matter except as exposure for the conference before the season starts. The post-season awards are the ones that matters the most.

[ASU Kep]

A very interesting quote from Coach Moore, shamelessly ripped from Chuck Parker on the MMB (I havn't yet listened to the post-game interview):

"On the ASN post-game show, Moore indicated that all during practice the last two weeks, he's been "doing a lot of walking around and a lot of listening to players talking among themselves." He indicated that our players have made it clear that they believe Edwards has earned the opportunity to show what he can do in a starting role. He didn't come right out and say it, but I read between the lines that our players have more confidence in Edwards than they do in Elder at this snapshot in time. He indicated that Edwards is an exceptional athlete, a genuinely good person, a tireless worker; and that he believes he's going to be a really fine college QB."

I agree with him about the team having a lot of confidence in Armanti. Maybe just because he's a more mobile Richie-esque type of QB, but I've been to all three App games this year, and it's hard not to see the confidence not only the fans but the players have in "money". I am no Trey-basher, I'm only giving my perspective. All I know is that I'm glad we've got both of them. Whoever wins it is going to truly earn it...and they'll have one helluva back-up, which is definitely a good thing, particularly with how often our QBs run the ball. I only hope that this is settled ASAP before we get into the crux of our SOCON schedule (chatty, woffy, gsu, furman...wcu).

[KiddBrewer]

if were gonna have both of them, the coaches gotta decide whos starting and gonna be playing as soon as possible. history shows that its usually not good to have two quarterbacks battling for the job during the season, or spliting time....ask Tennessee about how it worked with Sheaffer and Ainge, or Ohio State with Zwick and Smith....it didnt work for them, but now they got a definate starter, and they are doing pretty well for themselves.

[phoenixsq]

To all you SoCon people, the best QB in the SoCon may be sitting in Elon, NC. Check out the stats:

PASSING GP-GS Effic Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G

Wes Pope 3-3 128.40 93-59-4 63.4 618 5 41 206.0

Even though you may question the teams play against (Coastal, Towson, Presbyterian) the are still solid numbers.;)

[Appstate03]

To all you SoCon people, the best QB in the SoCon may be sitting in Elon, NC. Check out the stats:

PASSING GP-GS Effic Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G

Wes Pope 3-3 128.40 93-59-4 63.4 618 5 41 206.0

Even though you may question the teams play against (Coastal, Towson, Presbyterian) the are still solid numbers.;)


I dont think 4 INTS and 5 TD's against questionable competition warrants the best QB in the Socon. Right now, I'd go with Swygert or Gray.

[ASU Kep]

Gray. After last weekend?

[phoenixsq]

I dont think 4 INTS and 5 TD's against questionable competition warrants the best QB in the Socon. Right now, I'd go with Swygert or Gray.


OK, I will bite. Let's look at the stats from the conference web site:

PASSING AVG/GAME Team Cl G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds TD Avg/G
-------------------------------------------------------------
1. Wes Pope....... ELON JR 3 93 59 4 63.4 618 5 206.0
2. Duran Lawson... CIT JR 2 65 40 0 61.5 333 1 166.5
3. Renaldo Gray... FUR JR 3 54 32 0 59.3 434 1 144.7
4. Antonio Miller. UTC JR 3 90 48 1 53.3 433 2 144.3
5. Bennett Swygert WCU SR 2 34 20 0 58.8 285 3 142.5
6. Travis Clark... GSU SO 2 39 20 1 51.3 233 2 116.5
7. Armanti Edwards ASU FR 3 32 17 2 53.1 207 1 69.0
8. Trey Elder..... ASU JR 3 41 18 1 43.9 197 1 65.7
9. Josh Collier... WOF JR 3 17 8 0 47.1 106 2 35.3
10.Jordan Sorrells FUR FR 3 6 4 0 66.7 49 1 16.3


Now how can you say that Grey and Swygert are even that much better than Pope?:eyebrow: He may have more INTs but he has double everyone in TD passes and his yards per game is 20% greater than everyone else.

[AppGuy04]

OK, I will bite. Let's look at the stats from the conference web site:

PASSING AVG/GAME Team Cl G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds TD Avg/G
-------------------------------------------------------------
1. Wes Pope....... ELON JR 3 93 59 4 63.4 618 5 206.0
2. Duran Lawson... CIT JR 2 65 40 0 61.5 333 1 166.5
3. Renaldo Gray... FUR JR 3 54 32 0 59.3 434 1 144.7
4. Antonio Miller. UTC JR 3 90 48 1 53.3 433 2 144.3
5. Bennett Swygert WCU SR 2 34 20 0 58.8 285 3 142.5
6. Travis Clark... GSU SO 2 39 20 1 51.3 233 2 116.5
7. Armanti Edwards ASU FR 3 32 17 2 53.1 207 1 69.0
8. Trey Elder..... ASU JR 3 41 18 1 43.9 197 1 65.7
9. Josh Collier... WOF JR 3 17 8 0 47.1 106 2 35.3
10.Jordan Sorrells FUR FR 3 6 4 0 66.7 49 1 16.3


Now how can you say that Grey and Swygert are even that much better than Pope?:eyebrow: He may have more INTs but he has double everyone in TD passes and his yards per game is 20% greater than everyone else.


so if he throws 40 TD's and 45 INT's on the season, you are ok with that?:confused:

[phoenixsq]

so if he throws 40 TD's and 45 INT's on the season, you are ok with that?:confused:

That is not the point:bang: . You are focusing on one stat. Look at the rest of the numbers such as yards and completion percentage. He is spreading the wealth to a lot of different recievers. Check it out:

RECEPTIONS/GAME Team Cl G Rec Yds TD Long Avg/C Rec/G
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. Michael Mayers. ELON JR 3 19 216 1 29 11.4 6.33
2. Emanuel Hassell UTC SR 3 18 126 0 13 7.0 6.00
3. Terrell Hudgins ELON FR 3 14 211 2 42 15.1 4.67
Reggie Hall.... ELON JR 3 14 101 1 18 7.2 4.67
5. Ta'Mar Jernigan CIT JR 2 9 74 0 14 8.2 4.50
6. Eddie Cohen.... WCU JR 2 8 153 1 29 19.1 4.00
Tory Cooper.... CIT JR 2 8 51 0 11 6.4 4.00
8. Justin Stepp... FUR SR 3 11 162 0 37 14.7 3.67
9. Michael Hines.. WCU JR 2 7 85 1 26 12.1 3.50
10.W. Mayfield.... ASU SR 3 9 108 1 21 12.0 3.00

I could live with the INT as long as the TD passes come and you keep winning.

[BULLDOG8180]

OK, I will bite. Let's look at the stats from the conference web site:

PASSING AVG/GAME Team Cl G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds TD Avg/G
-------------------------------------------------------------
1. Wes Pope....... ELON JR 3 93 59 4 63.4 618 5 206.0
2. Duran Lawson... CIT JR 2 65 40 0 61.5 333 1 166.5
3. Renaldo Gray... FUR JR 3 54 32 0 59.3 434 1 144.7
4. Antonio Miller. UTC JR 3 90 48 1 53.3 433 2 144.3
5. Bennett Swygert WCU SR 2 34 20 0 58.8 285 3 142.5
6. Travis Clark... GSU SO 2 39 20 1 51.3 233 2 116.5
7. Armanti Edwards ASU FR 3 32 17 2 53.1 207 1 69.0
8. Trey Elder..... ASU JR 3 41 18 1 43.9 197 1 65.7
9. Josh Collier... WOF JR 3 17 8 0 47.1 106 2 35.3
10.Jordan Sorrells FUR FR 3 6 4 0 66.7 49 1 16.3


Now how can you say that Grey and Swygert are even that much better than Pope?:eyebrow: He may have more INTs but he has double everyone in TD passes and his yards per game is 20% greater than everyone else.

dang! Looks like Duran Lawson might be the best so far! 0 ints. is impressive, although the 2 losses aren't.

[Mr. C]

That is not the point:bang: . You are focusing on one stat. Look at the rest of the numbers such as yards and completion percentage. He is spreading the wealth to a lot of different recievers.
I could live with the INT as long as the TD passes come and you keep winning.
Wes Pope is nowhere close to the best QB in the SoCon. He couldn't even beat out Kye Hamilton last year (and don't start the Paul Hamilton bashing, if Pope was better, he would have been playing). Most people thought heading into the season that Pope was (and still might be) only a temporary starter until the freshman got some seasoning. Congrats on the 2-1 start, but you have basically played a Big South schedule so far. We will see how good Pope is in two weeks when he has to play a national championship-caliber defense. If senior Justin Rascati struggled against ASU's mean defense, what do you think Pope would do?

BTW, you have to look at more than stats, particularly when you have such variable schedules between the schools.

[GreatAppSt]

You have to get there first and if your season is in the hands of a freshman QB.... Good luck because you will need it. He may get you into the playoffs with your weak schedule, but after that dont bet on it.

Weak schedule? :rolleyes: :nonono2:

[Mr. C]

In all of my years of covering App State football, the Mountaineers have had controversies at quarterback more often than not. The first game I covered in 1993, Scott Satterfield was making his first start after four years of D.J. Campbell as the starter and the broken collarbone of Andy Arnold at the end of training camp. Satterfield stunk things up in his first game and it became a revolving door of Satterfield, Jason Yaudes (anyone remember him around here?) and true freshman Gerard Hardy the rest of the season.

When Arnold came back in 1994, he and Satterfield fought for the position for half of the season. Satterfield suffered a couple of injuries in 1995 and even though the Mountaineers won their first 12 games and were ranked No. 2 in the country, some people thought they would be better off with Hardy starting.

Hardy became the starter in 1996 and struggled with a team that was ranked No. 4 in the preseason polls. In the middle of the year at Georgia Southern, Hardy was benched with the Mountaineers losing and Bake Baker came off the bench to spark a fourth-quarter comeback with 21 points.

Baker finished as the starter the rest of the year and again in 1997, but the QB controversy began again in 1998, with David Reaves and Daniel Jeremiah battling for time. That continued in 1999. In 2000, Jeremiah was clearly the No. 1 guy, but he stretched knee ligaments in the season-opening win against Wake Forest. Reaves took over and was ineffective and was also starting to suffer from shoulder problems and sophomore Joe Burchette replaced him. Now you had a three-way controversy. Burchette stayed as the starter the rest of the way, though Jeremiah bailed him out at Western Kentucky to send the Mountaineers to the semifinals. Many people felt Jeremiah could have won the national title, had he been named the starter for the semifinals against Montana, or if he had replaced an ineffective Burchette in that game.

In 2001, Burchette was clearly No. 1, but when he had back surgery before the season, a freshman named Richie Williams started the first two games of the year. When Williams struggled at Liberty, Burchette (who really wasn't suppose to play so soon, with the surgery) came in and led the team to a win and then started the rest of the season.

Williams was the starter in 2002, but there was a faction of Mountaineer fans who thought that Eric Elsener should have got the nod. They changed their minds when Elsener finally got a chance to start for an injured Williams in the defacto league championship game at Wofford. Elsener played terribly for three quarters before Williams came in and on one leg (does this sound familiar, UNI fans?) and nearly pulled out a comeback win against the Terriers. After that, there was little doubt that Williams was the top dog, though some fans wanted to see Trey Elder get the job in 2004 when he led the Mountaineers to a win over Texas State, with Williams out with a knee injury. Of course, by then, Williams was a Payton Award candidate and was viewed as one of the top QBs in I-AA.

So, as you can see, it isn't unusual for the Mountaineers to have a quarterback controversy.

[Mr. C]

Weak schedule? :rolleyes: :nonono2:
I wonder how UMass will do against James Madison this year? This guy is a piece of work.

[Mr. C]

Mr. C with all do respect, Elder srewed himself. He has been playing much more timid than he did last year and Edwards was just flat out wonderful in this game. App is starting to look like they did last year offensively with Edwards. Granted, i know we played Mars Hill but obviously if you watched the game, Edwards was the best QB. As far as bad passes, Edwards will be fine once he starts practicing more with the first team offense because it is simply a timing issue. Edwards does a great job of firing the ball over the middle like he's supposed to and Elder tends to put too much touch and finesse into certain passes especially over the middle.
Elder didn't play at his best against NC State and JMU, but neither did Kevin Richardson, the receivers and especially the highly-touted, experienced offensive line. Most of the people who cover ASU regularly (print and radio guys) thought Jerry Moore and his staff had lost his mind with this decision, to be quite honest. The same experts think the biggest culprit to the slow offensive start has been horrendous play-calling. The coaches didn't put the offense into very good positions in the first two games.

As far as Edwards was concerned on Saturday, he showed he is talented, but he also made A LOT of mistakes against a Division II defense. If he doesn't learn from those mistakes, he will put the team in a lot of trouble against teams like Furman, WCU and Chattanooga, who will come at him with lots of blitzes and other defensive schemes. You have to remember when making evaluations, that Edwards was playing with first-team personnel and Elder with mostly second-team guys on Saturday. Other than one bad pass, Elder played well against Mars Hill. Edwards had trouble converting third downs, threw two interceptions and missed two wide-open receivers in the end zone for sure TD passes. He showed sparks of brilliance, but had an uneven performance.

The Mountaineers have two winable games against Gardner-Webb and Elon to get Edwards ready for the heart of the conference schedule. If he struggles, you know Elder will be back in there quickly. This is likely to be a year where both quarterbacks are required to contribute to a Mountaineer team that has every other element in place to make a championship run.

[youwouldno]

Wes Pope? lol. There has been some QB inconsistency in the SoCon but Pope is not great by any means. He would be fourth string at Furman and probably App St as well.

[*****]

...This is likely to be a year where both quarterbacks are required to contribute to a Mountaineer team that has every other element in place to make a championship run.Thank you :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: for your EXPERT analysis. AGS is a better place because you CHOOSE to participate. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :hurray:

[ASU Kep]

Appsolutely.

1) Armanti
2) Trey
3) Chase
4) Wes Pope

[Mr. C]

Appsolutely.

1) Armanti
2) Trey
3) Chase
4) Wes Pope

:D xlolx :nod: :smiley_wi

[umassfan]

I wonder how UMass will do against James Madison this year? This guy is a piece of work.
Furman is the only quality team you will face all season. JMU will be lucky to be ranked in a week, NC State has slipped alot since its Phillip Rivers days, and the rest of the SOCON is weak. GSU wont be ranked for long and shouldnt even be ranked now. Please tell me another quality team that you face....... im waiting

[umassfan]

I wonder how UMass will do against James Madison this year? This guy is a piece of work.
Seems you are such the quality "national" sports writer, you would know we dont play them... but just ask them how they enjoyed their mudfest last year.

[JMU2004]

Furman is the only quality team you will face all season. JMU will be lucky to be ranked in a week, NC State has slipped alot since its Phillip Rivers days, and the rest of the SOCON is weak. GSU wont be ranked for long and shouldnt even be ranked now. Please tell me another quality team that you face....... im waiting


dude, I have read your crap for years now.... so I know how ignorant you ARE....

but calling the SOCON weak????? you are idiotic.....


say hi to your boy London..... I thought he was going I-A as a deepthreatWR

[seantaylor]

Their are really no great QB's in the Socon. Travis Clark potentially could be the best, but GSU's run game is ridiculous and will eat up stats. Second best could be Pope.

[Mr. C]

Furman is the only quality team you will face all season. JMU will be lucky to be ranked in a week, NC State has slipped alot since its Phillip Rivers days, and the rest of the SOCON is weak. GSU wont be ranked for long and shouldnt even be ranked now. Please tell me another quality team that you face....... im waiting
Once again, you have no clue about what you are talking about and are taking yet another opportunity to spew negative stuff at a bunch of schools not named UMass. App State tried to get games with virtually everyone in I-AA (I've actually seen the documentation on this), but not many people wanted to play the defending national champion. Congrats to JMU for stepping up to the plate. The Mars Hill and Gardner-Webb games wer unavoidable. NC State has tons of talent, just like they did when Phillip Rivers was there. They just don't have a coach, or a QB. The defense for the Wolfpack is terrific. Western Carolina just beat a ranked opponent. Chattanooga played tough at a traditional power, WKU. Both are quality teams. When you are in a conference, you play the teams that are in your conference. You don't have much control over that. Year in and year out, the SoCon is one of the top three or four leagues. Writing anything else isn't dealing with reality. Please get off the SoCon bashing stuff. It makes you look foolish.

On the subject of JMU vs UMass, can't you take a joke? It's not my fault that the A-10 has so many teams they don't play everyone in the same year. JMU and UMass should play every year, if they are in the same league.

[Mr. C]

Their are really no great QB's in the Socon. Travis Clark potentially could be the best, but GSU's run game is ridiculous and will eat up stats. Second best could be Pope.
There are few EXPERIENCED quarterbacks in the SoCon. Saying there are no great QBs in the league is silly. The cream will rise to the top over the course of the season and I doubt that Clark and Pope will be at the top. My pick for the best after last week would be Renaldo Gray.

[phoenixsq]

Wes Pope is nowhere close to the best QB in the SoCon. He couldn't even beat out Kye Hamilton last year (and don't start the Paul Hamilton bashing, if Pope was better, he would have been playing). Most people thought heading into the season that Pope was (and still might be) only a temporary starter until the freshman got some seasoning.
BTW, you have to look at more than stats, particularly when you have such variable schedules between the schools.

First of all, Hamilton made sure Pope could not beat out his son by moving the kid to tightend, fullback, etc....before spring ball ever started in 2004(and yes I will go there because all of us Elon fans, old assistant coaches who are now at other SoCon schools, and players knew this was done to promote Kye). That is why Hamilton was asked to resign and his son is no longer there. Get your facts right.:eyebrow:


Second of all, the kid makes great plays with his legs. He is 6-3, 224 lbs, very strong, and has a cannon for an arm. Remeber this is only his third start in a new offense. Those are good number no matter who you are playing (Coastal, who beat Wofford, Towson (3-0), and Presbyterian (last years SAC Champ) are not all that bad. Be careful not to bash our schedule too hard. Mars Hill?). All I am saying is give him some thought and watch him play in two weeks.:)

[Black Saturday]

Armanti is light years ahead of where Richie was as a freshmen. He's nowhere close to what he became as a senior, either, but he's got boatloads of potential.

Plus he has 4.4 speed you can't coach that Wlliams didn't have.

[PaladinFan]

Their are really no great QB's in the Socon. Travis Clark potentially could be the best, but GSU's run game is ridiculous and will eat up stats. Second best could be Pope.

Come on now. Y'all win a game and it's back to the same old stuff. You lost to CCSU and beat a Coastal team that gave up 38 points to Wofford and lost to Elon.

Clark couldn't figure out the direction the endzone was last week and now he's "possibly the best?" Covington and Lewis are good backs and you have a decent line, but when you start rushing for that kinda yardage against the SoCon I'll give them more credit.

Granted, Gray didn't show much the first two weeks so I don't know what to attribute that to. All the coaches said he was the standout performer all preseason and he was hurt the first two games. Makes me think that him torching the UNC secondary was not a fluke.

None of this will be resolved until the conference schedule. We'll see how good all these guys really are.

[Mr. C]

First of all, Hamilton made sure Pope could not beat out his son by moving the kid to tightend, fullback, etc....before spring ball ever started in 2004(and yes I will go there because all of us Elon fans, old assistant coaches who are now at other SoCon schools, and players knew this was done to promote Kye). That is why Hamilton was asked to resign and his son is no longer there. Get your facts right.:eyebrow:

Second of all, the kid makes great plays with his legs. He is 6-3, 224 lbs, very strong, and has a cannon for an arm. Remeber this is only his third start in a new offense. Those are good number no matter who you are playing (Coastal, who beat Wofford, Towson (3-0), and Presbyterian (last years SAC Champ) are not all that bad. Be careful not to bash our schedule too hard. Mars Hill?). All I am saying is give him some thought and watch him play in two weeks.:)
There is more to Paul Hamilton leaving Elon than Kye Hamilton starting at QB. What a joke. Paul Hamilton asked Elon to do some things for the program they were not willing to do. You don't fire a coach because he plays his son at QB (by the way, Hamilton resigned, he wasn't fired). How ridiculous.

No one was bashing your schedule, just pointing out that Pope hasn't gone up against tough competition yet. App State scheduled Mars Hill because Mars Hill was the only team it could get to come to Boone in this schedule slot. ASU tried to get games with virtually every school in I-AA during the off-season and no one wanted to come to Boone. I've been shown the documentation of this by the assistant AD, who handles scheduling. ASU has only played three sub-Division-I teams in my 14 years of covering them and one of those was a replacement game after the I-A game with Troy State was cancelled by 9-11.

Funny how everyone is singing Wes Pope's praises when just a month ago, folks in Elon were telling us that Pope was just a temporary starter until your highly-coveted freshman QB was up to speed with the system.

Get YOUR facts right.

[Mr. C]

Come on now. Y'all win a game and it's back to the same old stuff. You lost to CCSU and beat a Coastal team that gave up 38 points to Wofford and lost to Elon.

Clark couldn't figure out the direction the endzone was last week and now he's "possibly the best?" Covington and Lewis are good backs and you have a decent line, but when you start rushing for that kinda yardage against the SoCon I'll give them more credit.

Granted, Gray didn't show much the first two weeks so I don't know what to attribute that to. All the coaches said he was the standout performer all preseason and he was hurt the first two games. Makes me think that him torching the UNC secondary was not a fluke.

None of this will be resolved until the conference schedule. We'll see how good all these guys really are.
People don't realize that Renaldo Gray was playing with a sprained ankle the first two weeks. He also had to come out of the Jacksonville State game because of dehydration and cramps. Saturday at UNC we finally saw the real Renaldo Gray. Until someone else shows me something different, I will think Gray is the top QB in the SoCon.

By the way, the Furman-UNC game is being reshown by ESPNU this afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

[phoenixsq]

There is more to Paul Hamilton leaving Elon than Kye Hamilton starting at QB. What a joke. Paul Hamilton asked Elon to do some things for the program they were not willing to do. You don't fire a coach because he plays his son at QB (by the way, Hamilton resigned, he wasn't fired). How ridiculous.......Funny how everyone is singing Wes Pope's praises when just a month ago, folks in Elon were telling us that Pope was just a temporary starter until your highly-coveted freshman QB was up to speed with the system.

Get YOUR facts right.

For someone up in Boone who does not know what really goes on at Elon like those of us who live and die with Elon, we must be clueless:nonono2: . It is amazing that you can talk with such authority on your team as if you know our team:confused: . Since we who are at Elon and have followed all the actually comments made, don't you think that we may be a little closer to the facts than you are? He was asked to resign with the main reason being his son plus he wanted to use JUCO players that may not of met Elon's academic standards!! He would not backoff, so he was asked to resigned(aka fired)! What we are praising is not a Freshman's potential, but Wes Pope's results! You should respect that! :thumbsup:

[SoCon48]

For someone up in Boone who does not know what really goes on at Elon like those of us who live and die with Elon, we must be clueless:nonono2: . It is amazing that you can talk with such authority on your team as if you know our team:confused: . Since we who are at Elon and have followed all the actually comments made, don't you think that we may be a little closer to the facts than you are? He was asked to resign with the main reason being his son plus he wanted to use JUCO players that may not of met Elon's academic standards!! He would not backoff, so he was asked to resigned(aka fired)! What we are praising is not a Freshman's potential, but Wes Pope's results! You should respect that! :thumbsup:

but Wes Pope's [
Maybe they'll hold up vs SoCon competition.

[*****]

For someone up in Boone who does not know what really goes on at Elon like those of us who live and die with Elon... Maybe someone over in Boone, NC (133 miles from Elon) "does not know what really goes on at Elon"??? Especially someone who has been covering the Socon for years... yep, no clue. Wow, have people ever heard of the newfangled communication devices like telephones, TV, Internet, etc?

[ASU Kep]

Maybe someone over in Boone, NC (133 miles from Elon) "does not know what really goes on at Elon"??? Especially someone who has been covering the Socon for years... yep, no clue. Wow, have people ever heard of the newfangled communication devices like telephones, TV, Internet, etc?

You mean to tell me I-AA football is on the INTERNET? :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Mr. C]

For someone up in Boone who does not know what really goes on at Elon like those of us who live and die with Elon, we must be clueless:nonono2: . It is amazing that you can talk with such authority on your team as if you know our team:confused: . Since we who are at Elon and have followed all the actually comments made, don't you think that we may be a little closer to the facts than you are? He was asked to resign with the main reason being his son plus he wanted to use JUCO players that may not of met Elon's academic standards!! He would not backoff, so he was asked to resigned(aka fired)! What we are praising is not a Freshman's potential, but Wes Pope's results! You should respect that! :thumbsup:
You can call it whatever you want to call it. You admitted in your post that Hamilton wanted to use JC transfers. What I've said all along is that was the MAJOR reason, not Kye Hamilton. Paul Hamilton wasn't getting the cooperation from Elon he needed to turn things around. You are making this a he said, she said kind of thing. Paul Hamilton wasn't going to stick around in a non-winning environment, particularly when you consider what he had to put up with at East Tennessee State. When they wouldn't allow him to bring in JC transfers, the die was cast. Elon officials had NO CLUE what was needed to compete when they came into the SoCon and this is the second coaching change since they've been in the league. Your administration is just now getting a clue.

On the subject of someone knowing something in Boone, consider a few facts. Paul Hamilton is an ASU alumnus. Paul Hamilton still has tons of friends at ASU, where he played QB in the 1970s and early 80s. I have been around the SoCon for 14 seasons and have a FEW sources around the league. Beat writers talk about their programs every time they are together. So do other people that you know from the schools.

Pete Lembo is a great coach, with a proven track record, but Elon is A LONG WAY from competing successfully in the SoCon. If you remember right, the Phoenix was in a similar place last year at this time before losing all seven conference games, so the jury is still out. No one is disrespecting your QB Wes Pope. We are just raising our eyebrows when you try to say he is the best QB in the conference. There are only a small handful of Elon players who would start on most of the other teams in the league. Chad Nkang, obviously, but very few others. There is a reason Elon was picked to finish last in the conference and that is because the Phoenix doesn't have the same talent level as most of the other schools. Honestly, I don't know if Pope would start at ANY other school in the league. He might compete at a couple of places, but he might not even be the backup at several other schools. Teams like App State and Furman have second and third stringers that would start IMMEDIATELY at Elon. The talent disparity is just a fact of life.

[AppGuy04]

I find it funny that anyone "lives and dies" with Elon football

You must have 50 lives

[BULLDOG8180]

I find it funny that anyone "lives and dies" with Elon football

You must have 50 lives

Elon fans, as well as all others, have the god given right to support their school whole heartedly.

I played the game of college football. And I have had the great fortune to watch and coach my sons play at the high school level. It is perfectly okay to "live and die" with each game played....just as long you forget about it......5 minutes after each game.:twocents:

[AppGuy04]

Elon fans, as well as all others, have the god given right to support their school whole heartedly.

I played the game of college football. And I have had the great fortune to watch and coach my sons play at the high school level. It is perfectly okay to "live and die" with each game played....just as long you forget about it......5 minutes after each game.:twocents:

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/joke

[BULLDOG8180]

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/joke

I knew it was a joke. But sometimes supporting 1-AA and El-Cid, you do catch a lot of flack- not only do we here it from the big boys, but we here it from the big "little" boys. After 25 years, sometimes the jokes get old.

Sorry, but sometimes I have to vent. I should be all right for another 25 years.

[dallas2000]

Warrants mentioning that Armanti Edwards and Renaldo Gray are cousins... they both graduated from my alma mater, Greenwood (SC) High School.

[BULLDOG8180]

Warrants mentioning that Armanti Edwards and Renaldo Gray are cousins... they both graduated from my alma mater, Greenwood (SC) High School.

Yeah, it has been mentioned, ah that be my alma mater, too! Who are you?? I am an old guy.