EWU's Top LB out for the Season… Again

[Mvemjsunpx]

Eastern Washington starting linebacker Zach Johnson has apparently suffered the same patellar tendon tear that cost him his entire 2009 season. He has 260 career tackles & should be in line for a medical hardship.

http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx? ... id=4439806


Also there's a rumor that star WR Brandon Kaufman has a broken hand, but may still play anyway.

[CatBlitz22]

Jesus. They can't catch a break can they?

[Grizalltheway]

Jesus. They can't catch a break can they?

Feel pretty badly for them at this point. But, at least they have an excuse for sucking..

[JBB]

Tough Break for those guys. I wish them the best.

Its a tough go for the defending national champions and fans like Screamingeagle174(sp?)! Chin-up man. You guys can get right back in it in a couple years of rebuilding, just like NDSU. If you can turn things around you might get to play in the insanely popular Fabulous Fargo Dome this year. Good luck!

[mtgrizfan4life]

To all EWU fans, I am sorry your team is snake bitten. Seriously, I do not wish this kind of luck on any team, well other than the Dallas Cowboys. I hope somehow you guys can salvage this season.

[AZGrizFan]

Jesus. They can't catch a break can they?

Feel pretty badly for them at this point. But, at least they have an excuse for sucking..

Exactly. The Griz have no such excuse.

EWU fans, my heart goes out to you. This is the Griz last year....QB, starting RB, starting DE, etc., etc., etc.

[Grizalltheway]

Feel pretty badly for them at this point. But, at least they have an excuse for sucking..

Exactly. The Griz have no such excuse.

EWU fans, my heart goes out to you. This is the Griz last year....QB, starting RB, starting DE, etc., etc., etc.

We've only truly sucked in one game so far.

[AZGrizFan]

Exactly. The Griz have no such excuse.

EWU fans, my heart goes out to you. This is the Griz last year....QB, starting RB, starting DE, etc., etc., etc.

We've only truly sucked in one game so far.

Really? Is the glass half full or half empty? 1/2 of the Cal Poly game, most of the EWU game and all of the Sac State game.

We''ve played 2 quarters of GOOD football...a couple quarters of mediocre football and several of really BAD football..,

[kalm]

For the record, Zachary Johnson missed the 2009 season due to Blood clots in his leg. At least he should be eligible for a medical red shirt.

Btw, here's the o line situation explained in a post on the redzone:

THE INJURY bug has bit the O Line a bit this year, and were not winning? NO,THE INJJRY bug has decimated the O Line this year, If we start with Right guard, gone for the season, his back-up quit, now were with 3rd string walk-on. Center--All American Powers (pcl)! His backups were LG(out for the season), RG1, out for the season and RG2, out for the season. So today, you got to see the 5th option at Center which was a TE. Lastly, at RG1, out for the season, RG2, out for the season, and the back-up is a DT. Yes, the Left and Right tackles are still in place, but the RT didn't play until the Grizz game from previous injury.

We had a 240 Lb back up TE take over at center in the 2nd quarter against the cats.

Hell, even SE174 looked a little gimpy heading into the game. Could have been the apple juice he was drinking though.

[kalm]

We've only truly sucked in one game so far.

Really? Is the glass half full or half empty? 1/2 of the Cal Poly game, most of the EWU game and all of the Sac State game.

We''ve played 2 quarters of GOOD football...a couple quarters of mediocre football and several of really BAD football..,

Half full. You're young at some positions and have time to improve as the season goes on. Split with the cats and at worse go 8-3 with a first round home game is what I see happening.

[Grizalltheway]

Really? Is the glass half full or half empty? 1/2 of the Cal Poly game, most of the EWU game and all of the Sac State game.

We''ve played 2 quarters of GOOD football...a couple quarters of mediocre football and several of really BAD football..,

Half full. You're young at some positions and have time to improve as the season goes on. Split with the cats and at worse go 8-3 with a first round home game is what I see happening.

Z ain't happy with anything less than 10-1 and a loss in the title game.

[Wildcat Ryan]

If it weren't for bad luck they'd have no luck at all

[93henfan]

I won't feel sorry for you until you have to use a TE/WR tandem as your quarterback (ala UD 2008 with Robbie Agnone and Aaron Love). That was a gawdamn disaster.

[kalm]

Half full. You're young at some positions and have time to improve as the season goes on. Split with the cats and at worse go 8-3 with a first round home game is what I see happening.

Z ain't happy with anything less than 10-1 and a loss in the title game.

Or 6-5 and a loss in the Humanitarian Bowl.

[AZGrizFan]

For the record, Zachary Johnson missed the 2009 season due to Blood clots in his leg. At least he should be eligible for a medical red shirt.

Btw, here's the o line situation explained in a post on the redzone:

THE INJURY bug has bit the O Line a bit this year, and were not winning? NO,THE INJJRY bug has decimated the O Line this year, If we start with Right guard, gone for the season, his back-up quit, now were with 3rd string walk-on. Center--All American Powers (pcl)! His backups were LG(out for the season), RG1, out for the season and RG2, out for the season. So today, you got to see the 5th option at Center which was a TE. Lastly, at RG1, out for the season, RG2, out for the season, and the back-up is a DT. Yes, the Left and Right tackles are still in place, but the RT didn't play until the Grizz game from previous injury.

We had a 240 Lb back up TE take over at center in the 2nd quarter against the cats.

Jesus.

[Wildcat Ryan]

Well I'd have to say Weber's chances of winning this game have just increased

[Trapped in CA]

I hope EWU is pursuing getting a medical school. Cripes. Seriously, I hope everyone can recover fully.

This only cements the idea the EWU used up at least a couple years' worth of karma in that run last year.

[EWURanger]

It's a tough break for Zach, but hopefully he can come back next year with a medical hardship since he missed the entire 2009 season. I can't remember this many key injuries in one year, let alone only having played 4 games. Three of those O-lineman are done for the season; Powers could come back in 2-3 weeks pending on how he heals up. We've had to resort to moving Defensive lineman into the guard positions, and as was already mentioned, a 3-d string 245 TE into the starting Center position.

On defense, we're pretty think at the LB positions. Down 3 of them right now if I'm correct.

Yes, Kaufman has a broken hand, but we have good depth at WR, so that's probably the easiest injury to accept. Nick Edwards has really been the go-to guy this season.

Tough pill to swallow for sure, but nothing left to do but strap it on and get after it again on Saturday against a very tough Weber team.

[JBB]

Sometime the injury bug is more like a plague. That's a huge reason why NDSU was 3-8 in 2009. You might want to review your conditioning program. If you remember our discussions last year you probably recall how important diet and regular exercise are for a well conditioned team. Often you will find straying from these fundamentals of the game will result in increased injuries. I remember EWU was injury prone against NDSU too.

[kalm]

Sometime the injury bug is more like a plague. That's a huge reason why NDSU was 3-8 in 2009. You might want to review your conditioning program. If you remember our discussions last year you probably recall how important diet and regular exercise are for a well conditioned team. Often you will find straying from these fundamentals of the game will result in increased injuries. I remember EWU was injury prone against NDSU too.

True, there was really no reason for that to be as close as it was. But injuries, turnovers, and bad calls are sure fire ways to keep an inferior opponent in the game. Luckily, the better team came out on top anyway.