ASU's fresh start

LINGERING: LAST-SECOND LOSS TO MONTANA IS STILL WITH MOUNTAINEERS

Moore's team will go for sixth straight SoCon title

Last season's down-to-the-wire loss to Montana in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision semifinals hasn't been forgotten, but the sting felt by Appalachian State players is being offset by the approach of a new season.

The Mountaineers will begin preseason camp Aug. 6, and the 2010 opener at Chattanooga is little more than a month away.

"We were one pass away from a chance at another national title," said linebacker D.J. Smith, recalling a dream-crushing loss that ended with an incomplete pass from Montana's 3-yard line on a bitter day last December.

"It will be in the back of our minds, but we also know that this will be a new season and a fresh start for us."

Smith, a senior who along with senior safety Mark LeGree are preseason All-Americas, is one of seven returning defensive starters from a team that went 11-3 and won a fifth straight Southern Conference title.

The Mountaineers, picked to finish first in the Southern Conference this season in both the coaches and media polls, have nine returning starters on offense but a major void with the loss of quarterback Armanti Edwards, now a receiver with the Carolina Panthers.

Memories of what Edwards did in his four record-setting seasons no doubt remain, but how vividly they linger will largely depend on the development and performance of a new quarterback.

DeAndre Presley, a junior who was the primary backup to Edwards in 2008 but moved to receiver last season, has been shifted back to quarterback and will battle redshirt freshman Jamal Jackson for the starting job.

"We went through the same thing with Richie Williams (when he left)," said Jerry Moore, who is set to begin his 22nd season as coach of the Mountaineers. "He had a terrific career and Armanti stepped in there."

Whether any quarterback can have the impact that the dual-threat Edwards had is questionable, but Moore said that he has confidence in both Presley and Jackson. He gave Presley a slight edge heading into preseason camp, but only because he has game experience and two starts under his belt, including a forgettable performance in place of an injured Edwards in last season's opener at East Carolina, which led to Presley's move to receiver and emergence of Travaris Cadet as backup.

"Both (Presley and Jackson) have tremendous work ethic," Moore said. "They both are good leaders. I'm going to go back a few years, a lot of years, but I'd love to play with either one of them. I could line up and play with either one of those guys and want to give all that I've got. I have great respect for them.

"Both those guys have extremely good arms. They can both throw the ball well, and they're both tough, hard-nosed runners. And probably DeAndre may have more speed than Armanti had. He may not have the quickness and make you miss like Armanti did, but in sheer speed he's probably every bit as fast as Armanti.

"So it's not like we don't have something to work with. It's our job as coaches to get them in position to show their stuff."

One will be in place when ASU begins the season Sept. 4 against Chattanooga. It will be the first time that the Mountaineers have opened a season against a Southern Conference opponent since 1991.

"Armanti's first start was against Mars Hill (in 2006), it wasn't against Chattanooga," Moore said. "One of these guys is going to start against Chattanooga in a conference game. There's just a lot of difference.

"Camp is going to be important. In the spring, we were looking at them and looking at plays. Now we're getting ready to go play so you start to get more precise."

Moore said that Cadet, a speedy junior, will work exclusively at receiver but will remain a safety net if needed at quarterback. Also getting a look at quarterback will be sophomore Jey Yokely and freshman Kalik Barnes. Elijah Adamiak, another freshman recruit, left during summer workouts and will not play.

ASU will begin the season with three new staff members. Bob McClain will coach the offensive line, Scot Sloan defensive backs and sources say that Trey Elder, a former ASU quarterback, will be the new wide-receivers coach.

McClain replaces Shawn Elliott, now the offensive-line coach at South Carolina; Sloan replaces John Wiley, now associate head coach at East Carolina; and Elder replaces Lance Taylor, who left to take a job with the New York Jets.

Dale Jones, a veteran ASU assistant, will be the new defensive coordinator, replacing Wiley.

tbowman@wsjournal.com


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