Special H said:
JMU had 2 players ejected from the game last week for targeting. Does anyone know if these guys are cheap shot artists like Weber St? It would seem like it due to the ejections and dirty play form them but I just don't know enough or care about east coast football.
Also is this the same team that had that super QB Brock Landers that couldn't even make it through an entire game against us in 2009 or something? Why was there so much hype around a guy that didn't even make the pros? Must be that east coast arrogance you guys are talking about in the other thread.
Cool post.
Coach Cignetti runs a program very much like Coach Hauck. He instructs the guys to play fast and physical. We've lost a few guys throughout the season to targeting calls, but they've all been the type of call where it's a bang-bang play that happens so fast and the contact was dangerous, but unintentional. There hasn't been a single call on JMU this year where you could seriously say our guy was head-hunting. The first guy last week was a 3rd stringer who only plays special teams. The other guy is our starting strong safety, Wayne Davis, so he'll miss the first half on Friday. Wayne's targeting call was interesting.....his helmet went into the middle of the guys chest, so they called it for using the crown of his helmet since he wasn't able to make contact with his shoulder. It was the type of hit that would have been applauded 10 years ago, but is a penalty today. I guess that's just the way it is.
Not sure who Brock Landers is, but Rodney Landers was a hell of QB for us. But, to call him a QB would be incorrect....he was a RB who could occasionally pass. Most of his yardage was designed runs, RPOs, or option. IIRC, he twisted an ankle early in the game. In hindsight our offense was way too dependent on one guy. But that was 4 coaches ago and the only people who remember that are the fans. I'm guessing that most of our players have no idea who Rodney Landers is, and the results in 2004 and 2008 will have zero influence on the game.
Best of luck to the Griz!