JMU preseason football camp notebook: Practice #16

HARRISONBURG – Redshirt freshman Jace Edwards will be the backup quarterback for the James Madison football team this season, coach Mickey Matthews said after practice Thursday.

Edwards beat out Kansas State transfer Billy Cosh – also a redshirt freshman – for the spot.

“I’ve had a good camp,” Edwards said after Thursday’s practice at Bridgeforth Stadium. “I think we have a lot of good chemistry out there. It’s a good spot for me.”

Monday, Matthews announced that junior Justin Thorpe would be the Dukes’ starting quarterback. JMU opens the season Sept. 3 at North Carolina.

During Wednesday’s scrimmage, Edwards took all the snaps with the second-team offense, the first indication that Matthews had picked the Midland, Texas native as the Dukes’ backup.

“I guess I could have ruined it yesterday, but I had a good practice,” Edwards said.

Matthews said Edwards has strung together a number of good practices here in the final week of preseason camp.

“I think Jace really got better in the last week,” Matthews said. “He’s improved. Major college football teams are like NFL teams. A lot of times, the most important player on the team is the backup quarterback.”

As for Cosh, Matthews acknowledged it will be difficult to get him significant practice time as the third-string quarterback.

“It’s difficult to work with three quarterbacks as you get closer to the game,” Matthews said. “We’re certainly going to give Billy Cosh as many repetitions as we can but we’re going to give Jace the majority of repetitions.”

Lineup moves: Junior Jakarie Jackson has moved ahead of junior Ryan Smith at weak safety and senior Mike Allen is ahead of senior Taveion Cuffee to be the Dukes’ second starting cornerback.

Defensive back Marquis Woodyard moved to wide receiver as JMU continues to experiment with options to replace the injured Andre Coble (broken arm).

“We took the two best receivers, one of them has a cast on his arm and the other’s playing running back,” Matthews said, referring to Coble and Dae’Quan Scott. “From a talent standpoint, we’re not nearly where we were three weeks ago at wide receiver. We’re still searching for the best players.”

Play time: JMU ended Thursday’s practice early and Matthews said the team would be going to Massanutten Water Park for the afternoon. 

Back in the middle of things: Senior center Roane Babington, who has sat out most of past two weeks with a bruised ankle, returned to practice Thursday.