Appalachian State junior quarterback Armanti Edwards was always told he wasn’t big enough to play quarterback at the Division-I level. ”[Coaches] wanted me to play receiver or cornerback,” Edwards said. “I considered it, but at the same time, I always wanted to play quarterback.”  Four touchdowns and 300 total yards later on a warm September day last year in Ann Arbor, Mich., Edwards proved his critics wrong as the Mountaineers defeated No. 5 Michigan, 34-32, a team considered by many a contender to win the national championship. ”There is no doubt he can play the position at a high level,” said LSU defensive tackle Charles Alexander. “He’s like a [former Oregon quarterback] Dennis Dixon or even like a [former Arkansas running back] Darren McFadden in that your gameplan is based around stopping him.” Edwards began his high school career as a wide receiver and had minimal success before shifting to quarterback the second half of his junior season at Greenwood High School. At his new position, Edwards dominated the conclusion of his junior season and his senior season, compiling 47 touchdowns and 4,500 total yards.   But Edwards received limited interest from D-I teams to play quarterback as coaches said his 6-foot, 180-pound frame was     better suited to play other skill positions.So Edwards accepted a scholarship offer from Appalachian State, where Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore promised the Greenwood, S.C., native an opportunity to play quarterback in a system that exploited his strengths.”In high school we also ran the spread offense, so I felt like it was a good feel,” Edwards said. “The only thing I had to get used to was the terminology.”The learning curve for Edwards was minimal. He won the College Sporting News National Freshman of the Year Award after throwing for 2,251 yards and running for 1,153 more en route to a national championship in 2006.Edwards followed up his dominant freshman season with an even better sophomore campaign, rushing for more than 1,700 yards. He also improved his completion percentage from 61 percent to 67 percent and threw three fewer interceptions.”Armanti gives you a chance every time the ball is snapped,” Moore said. “And good football teams are that way. Great players give you a chance.” But the only game in the minds of fans across the world is the Michigan game, which will always play second fiddle in Edwards’ eyes to the Mountaineers’ winning a conference and national championship in 2007.”We have [the Michigan game] on DVD, and I only watched it once or twice after the game,” he said. “That’s just a regular season game for us. I’d rather watch a [SEC] game over and over again than Michigan.”Edwards has another chance to shock the world Saturday against LSU.While the often humble Edwards stopped short of guaranteeing a Mountaineers’ victory, he did say Appalachian State is coming to Baton Rouge knowing a victory is in its grasp.”It’s going to be a good, hard-fought game by both teams,” he said. “I don’t have a score for it. But anybody who plays sports goes in expecting to win.”Regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s contest, Edwards said the landscape for football in Boone, N.C., has been changed forever because of the play of the Mountaineers on Sept. 1, 2007.”The whole world knows us now,” he said. “When we walk around here in Boone, people know who we are now. A couple years ago, only a hand-full knew our faces, but most of Boone knows our faces now.”When asked whether or not he likes his new-found regional stardom, the kid who was always told he would never be in the spotlight had an easy answer.”Not really,” he said laughing.—- Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]