Appalachian State fell to No. 2 in the Football Championship Subdivision rankings after a season-opening loss but will try to rebound today in a game full of firsts.
The Mountaineers will play their first home game of the season at 3:30. No. 16 McNeese State will be a first-time opponent.
Perhaps most notably, quarterback Armanti Edwards is expected to play for the first time since cutting his foot in a lawn-mowing accident.
Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers said earlier this week that Edwards will play, and Edwards said he's planning to start.
Today's game will be the first in a three-game series against McNeese -- games also are scheduled in 2014 at Lake Charles, La., and in 2015 in Boone. Moore said that this series, and a two-game series in 2012 and 2013 against Montana, is good for ASU in that it matches traditional FCS powers.
"I think it's good for our division of football, and I certainly think it's good for the schools involved," Moore said. "Our people are anxious to see the Cowboys. A lot of our people have never seen them play. What's kind of ironic about that is that we were on schedule to meet in the playoffs a couple of times in the last four or five years, but one of us got beat and we didn't get to play each other."
Edwards said he is fully recovered from a deep cut to his right foot that required about 35 stitches, and that he is looking forward to playing after missing preseason camp and last week's 29-24 loss to East Carolina.
"I've been sitting out for four weeks, and watching the game last week made me just anticipate it even more," he said, adding that he isn't experiencing any pain in his right foot. "It's completely closed, you can barely see a scar."
Moore said he doesn't know how long Edwards will play. Travaris Cadet, a junior-college transfer, essentially locked up the backup's role with a strong debut against East Carolina. DeAndre Presley, who started at quarterback last week, has been working some at receiver.
"We're more concerned about Armanti's conditioning right now than his foot," Moore said. "I just don't know how long he can go play. As much as he's played for us, he knows what to do and how to do it. It's just that conditioning is a factor."
McNeese State, which escaped an upset bid in its opener by rallying for a 27-24 victory over Division II Henderson State, has two of the Southland Conference's top players.
Matt Viator, McNeese State's coach, said: "It kind of starts with our tailback with Todd Penland, who made some All-America teams last year and set some records here at McNeese, and Derrick Fourroux is in his fourth year starting at quarterback for us."
Penland, a senior, was the Southland's offensive player of the year in 2008 after rushing for 1,431 yards. He ran for 152 and two touchdowns last week against Henderson State.
Fourroux, a 6-2, 200-pound senior, passed for 2,205 yards and rushed for 447 yards last season.
"They're a tough football team," Moore said. "They're a hard-nosed football team. They've got a rich tradition of winning. They've been in the playoffs -- they've been to Chattanooga (in the FCS championship game). I've seen them there twice."
The Cowboys were runners-up in 1997 and 2002, losing in finals to Youngstown State and Western Kentucky.
Notes: Four ASU players made their first starts Saturday: sophomore Matt Ruff at right guard, junior Pat Mills at left guard, sophomore Jordan Gary at tight end and redshirt freshman Justin Lloyd at bandit…. Of the 44 players on ASU's two-deep list, 10 are seniors, and six started against ECU. Last season, the Mountaineers had only six seniors on their two-deep…. ASU is 0-7 against teams from Louisiana (0-3 vs. Northwestern State, 0-1 vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 0-1 vs. Nicholls State, 0-2 vs. LSU).
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
Game day
• Teams: McNeese State at Appalachian State
• Time: 3:30
• Radio: WKBC 97.3; WBLO 790
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