Appalachian State QB Armanti Edwards Is Out, Team Safe with DeAndre Presley In

Appalachian State senior quarterback Armanti Edwards will not play in the season opener against East Carolina on Saturday, it was decided on Wednesday.

Edwards, the 2008 Walter Payton Award winner, has been recovering from an offseason laceration after getting his foot caught underneath a lawnmower, mowing the lawn at an off-campus residence just prior to the start of fall camp.

Edwards was rushed to Watauga Medical Center, where he received better than 30 stitches to seal the wound, which cut all the way to the bone.

Edwards returned to practice last Friday, but remains doubtful for Appalachian State’s home opener against perennial FCS power McNeese State next Saturday.

Edwards has amassed 10,783 yards of career total offense and is on pace to finish second all-time on the NCAA’s Division I all-time career ledger, trailing only the late Steve McNair.

Slated to start against the Pirates on Saturday is rising sophomore QB DeAndre Presley. The Tampa, FL., native will be making his second-career start for the Mountaineers, recording his only other start in relief of an injured Edwards in last season’s regular-season finale at Western Carolina.

Presley garnered SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honors after racking up 314 yards of total offense (158 passing, 156 rushing) in leading the Mountaineers to a 35-10 win over the Catamounts.

In all, the Tampa, FL., native saw action in nine games last season for the Black and Gold, connecting on 30-of-45 passes for 379 yards, two TDs and had one pass picked off. As a running threat, Presley accounted for 415 yards and seven scores on the ground on 73 attempts, averaging an impressive 5.7 yards per carry.