by CORY WATSON
Sports Reporter

What should a football team do after it has won three consecutive national championships? 

Go for four.

The Appalachian State University football team will look to make another strong showing this year as it defends last season’s championship victory.

Quarterback Armanti Edwards stiff arms an Eastern Washington defender Dec. 1, 2007. File Photo

But as it usually seems to be the case in Southern Conference play, there will be plenty of teams ready to challenge an Appalachian team with a bounty of new faces starting on both sides of the ball. 

Appalachian will open the season Aug. 30 in Baton Rouge, La. against the Louisiana State University Tigers, coached by former University of Michigan assistant coach Les Miles. 

After Appalachian’s upset over the then fifth ranked Michigan Wolverines, LSU will not prove to be an easy task.

“They have great team speed,” Head Coach Jerry Moore said. “They have great competition playing in the [Southeast Conference] …That makes for a strong intangible.”

A victory against LSU could create an interesting situation for junior quarterback Armanti Edwards. 

Already listed as the No. 4 Heisman Trophy winner hopeful in the New York Times’ college sports blog, Edwards would make a strong case early on with a positive showing at Tiger Stadium.

When asked which game this season would create the greatest challenge for Appalachian however; many fans were quicker to respond with James Madison University than LSU.

“I think it’s going to be JMU for sure,” sophomore middle grades education major, Sara E. Cline said. “Just because in last year’s playoff game they really should have beat us, and we got lucky. That was our best and closest game, I think, last season and they’re going to want to win this year.”

JMU was defeated in the opening round of last seasons’ championship playoffs when the Dukes fumbled the ball at the ASU 9-yard line with 22 seconds remaining, allowing the Mountaineers to squeak by with a 28-27 victory.

Appalachian will travel to Harrisonburg, Va. Sept. 20 for the first time in 16 years, as they hope to hold off a James Madison team which set school records last year in offensive yardage. 

Appalachian will also look for victory in what could be another key game late in the season on Nov. 15 against conference opponent Elon University. 

The Phoenix field a powerful offense led by sophomore quarterback Scott Riddle and junior receiver Terrell Hudgins. 

Riddle was the 2007 SoCon Freshman of the Year, and had numbers to prove it with 31 touchdown passes. 

Hudgins hauled in 18 of those. 

ASU returns no starters to its secondary this year and the pass-happy Phoenix offense could challenge the inexperienced group.

In addition, Appalachian will face off against traditional conference rivals Georgia Southern University and Furman University consecutively in the heart of the season.

Wofford College will play at Kidd Brewer Stadium in a nationally televised game on ESPN Halloween night. 

The Mountaineers will play against The Citadel on homecoming and close out the regular season against Western Carolina University Nov. 22.

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