BDKJMU wrote:Hopefully Thorpe is back starting these last 2 games. As a starter he is 7-0 in the last 7 I-AA games he has started (last 4 of 08' and 3 this yr before the 5 game suspension.
Edwards #s compared to Thorpe's this yr:
PASSING ----GP-GS Effic Cmp-Att-Int Pct Yards TD Long Avg/G
Jace Edwards 6-5 -130.8 -62--99---2 62.6 733 --3 --80 --122.2
Justin Thorpe 4-4 -150.5 -32--48---2 66.7 409 --3 --52 --102.2
They're comparable passers. But Edwards has been playing with an injured non throwing shoulder since the end of the Maine game, sprained his ankle in the 1st qtr last Sat vs UNH, and the JMU OL has been reshuffled due to losing 2 starters for the season. With that need a very mobile QB. Edwards healthy has decent mobility, but is limited now (ankle), and Mickey wants to limit the hits he takes (shoulder). Thorpe has way more and is much more of a running threat.
Thorpe The QB?
".....Jace Edwards, who has been hampered by injuries. Edwards sprained an ankle in Saturday’s loss to New Hampshire to go with the dislocated shoulder he suffered in an overtime loss to Maine on Oct. 8........
.......“We’re going to work Justin in,” Matthews said. “We’ll see how healthy Jace is with his ankle. Certainly, Jace has brought a lot to the table. We’ll just have to see where everything is. We’re going to practice both guys unless Jace just can’t practice.”
Matthews said he won’t announce a starter at quarterback until Thursday. He said he is considering closing practice to the media this week to keep his decision secret from Rhode Island.......
......While suspended, Thorpe was still allowed to practice with the team. He led the Dukes’ scout team, working against the first-team defense and running the opposition’s plays.
Matthews said he couldn’t give Thorpe the practice time as the backup quarterback, because Billy Cosh and Andre Coble needed those repetitions in case they were forced into action.
“Jace with his bad shoulder, he could’ve gone down at any time,” Matthews said. “Justin knows our offense. It’s not like we’re going to put in the wishbone.”.
Last Saturday, even with Edwards’ ankle injury limiting the play-calling, Matthews didn’t feel comfortable running the Wildcat with Dae’Quan Scott because Scott’s shoulder injury prevented the Dukes from working on that package during practice.
“I just hate to start calling plays in the game that we haven’t practiced all week, so we didn’t run that,” Matthews said.
He considered pulling Edwards for the backup, but Coble did not make the trip to Durham, N.H., and, apparently, the coaching staff doesn’t have much confidence in Cosh, a redshirt freshman and transfer from Kansas State.
“We just felt like he gave us our best chance of winning,” Matthews said of sticking with the injured Edwards. “We certainly thought about going with Billy Cosh a couple times. Because we know the mobility problems he was having in the game. But we never did.”
Quarterback mobility won’t be a problem if Thorpe plays.
Rhode Island coach Joe Trainer said his Rams will prepare both for the dual-threat attack Thorpe led early in the year and the pocket-passing scheme JMU used with Edwards behind center.
“You kind of go in with really two different types of game plans,” Trainer said Monday. “Thorpe’s more of an athletic type of kid and a guy that can hurt you running the ball. The other guy’s more of a pocket guy, not as much quarterback run.”......
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