Edwards named starter in Buffalo

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In his first season out of Stanford, Trent Edwards has become the starting quarterback for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. At first a replacement for an injured starter, Edwards got the nod this week over his now-healthy teammate. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8017
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In his first season out of Stanford, Trent Edwards has become the starting quarterback for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. At first a replacement for an injured starter, Edwards got the nod this week over his now-healthy teammate.

Things just keep getting better for former Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards.

Despite the fact that former starter for the Buffalo Bills, J.P. Losman, is now healthy, Edwards was named the team’s starter for Sunday’s match-up against the Baltimore Ravens.

The rookie is 1-1 after his first two NFL starts. Edwards got his first start over two weeks ago against the New York Jets, replacing the injured Losman and leading the Bills to their first win of the season, 17-14. A week later, he nearly led his team past the 5-1 Dallas Cowboys on Monday night; the Cowboys needed an onside-kick recovery and a last second field goal to pull out the 25-24 win.

“It’s the right call for us for now,” a team source told ESPN.com. “He’s [demonstrated] a lot of poise. We’ll just see how it goes from here on out.”

Edwards, a native of Los Gatos, has completed 55 of 79 passes for 507 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions in his first two games. The former Cardinal quarterback was the 92nd pick of the 2007 NFL Draft.

Stanford awarded with Pontiac Game Changing Performance

More than a week after the Cardinal football team pulled off what has been called the greatest upset ever, the team received yet another honor for its performance. It was announced yesterday that the game-winning touchdown pass from sophomore Tavita Pritchard to senior Mark Bradford was chosen by online voters as the Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Week.

The touchdown, which tied the score at 23 and allowed senior kicker Derek Belch’s PAT to win the game, beat out three other nominees in a public poll through the company’s website pontiac.com/ncaa. The award comes with a $5,000 donation to the university’s general scholarship fund, and the Cardinal is now eligible for the end-of-season Game Changing Performance of the Year, which is worth $100,000.

Dray’s season over early

Sophomore Jim Dray, who has been the Cardinal’s starting tight end this season, will miss the rest of the year with a knee injury sustained in Stanford’s loss to Texas Christian on Saturday. Coach Jim Harbaugh announced yesterday that Dray tore the ACL in his left knee.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Dray said in a press release. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but I chose to play football and I know the risks. It happened, and now I will work harder to come back and be stronger.”

As a redshirt freshman last year, Dray finished second on the team with 19 receptions and started 11 of Stanford’s 12 games at tight end. He scored a touchdown in his first start and was a member of the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team at the end of the year.

In the first six games of 2007, Dray had nine receptions for 116 yards, scoring the team’s first touchdown of the season against UCLA on Sept. 1.