The storyline is a familiar one: Appalachian State, led by its star quarterback, enters the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs as one of the favorites to win the national championship.
This time, however, Armanti Edwards isn’t leading the Mountaineers (9-2), the top seeds who host Western Illinois (8-4) today at Kidd-Brewer Stadium.
Junior DeAndre Presley is the Mountaineers’ quarterback, and in the first season post-Armanti, Presley has picked up where the two-time Walter Payton Award winner left off.
Presley led Appalachian State to a share of its sixth straight Southern Conference title. He was named the league’s offensive player of the year and is one of three finalists for the Payton Award.
“He is a great on-the-field, off-the-field leader,” ASU coach Jerry Moore said.
Presley showed that leadership in the first game of the season against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The Mocs led by 21 points twice in the game, but Presley rallied his team to a 42-41 win.
It was a pivotal moment, Presley said.
“When we were down 21 points against Chatt, my whole thing was really ‘stay focused,'” he said. “I told our guys that we were going to win the game and to keep their heads and continue to do their jobs.
“I felt like at that moment was really when I took over as being the quarterback and the leader of our team.”
Presley made the pivotal play in the game, recovering a fumble after a completed pass and returning it 33 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
“About then everybody began to, I’m going to use this phrase, get on the bandwagon a little bit,” Moore said. “The next thing you know, five or six games into the season, we’re undefeated and he hadn’t even thrown an interception.”
Presley threw 185 passes this season before his first interception. Heading into today’s game, he has thrown for 2,223 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for 753 and 11 scores.
The comparisons to Edwards, now with the Carolina Panthers, were inevitable because they’re both great athletes who are can run and throw.
Edwards led ASU to the second and third national titles in the Mountaineers’ three-peat from 2005 to ’07. Now it’s Presley’s turn.
Two other SoCon teams are in action today in the round of 16. Wofford (9-2), which shared the league title with ASU, visits Jacksonville State (9-2). Georgia Southern (8-4) travels to No. 2 seed William & Mary (8-3).
The league hasn’t had three teams reach the quarterfinals since 1995.
Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeatCTFP.