Saturday (8/27/11) practice notes

[PonyPride]

Only a few notes today, as I spent a lot of time taking photos and the team did some work on specific game situations that the coaches do not want reported, for obvious reasons.

• RB K.C. Nlemchi (hip flexor) was back on the field, doing position drills and getting some carries in team (11-on-11) drills. After practice, Nlemchi said he felt "great."

• Backup OT Josh Emshoff sat out with what he called a "bone bruise and partially torn ACL" in his right knee. Emshoff said surgery probably won't be necessary, saying he will to through a regimen of rest and rehab and will play with a brace on his knee.

• Walk-on kicker Chase Hover worked with the first-team field goal unit at the end of practice when the Mustangs did "live" field goals. Hover hit four of five field goals, although none was as long as the 57-yarder he hit in Friday's practice.

After graduating from Plano West High School, Hover's college options were limited — he talked with Kansas State but didn't get a scholarship offer after tearing the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his right knee while playing wide receiver. He enrolled at Blinn Junior College, redshirting one season and playing last year, until his father read an article a couple of weeks ago that suggested the SMU kicking jobs were not 100 percent locked down. When he contacted the SMU football office, Hover was invited to walk on, and despite already having gone through two-a-days at Blinn, headed to Dallas.

"I always kept my eyes open (for a chance to play for an FBS team)," Hover said. "I feel bad for Blinn, and I hate to leave my teammates, but this was my chance. I didn't want to look back and realize I had passed up this opportunity."

At SMU, Hover has joined a crowded group of kicking specialists, and has worked at punter, placekicker and kickoff specialist. He said he likes kicking field goals the most, but would like a chance at all three. He said he would feel "pretty consistent" on field goals from about 47 yards and in, although the longest he has hit in a game was 57 yards. At Blinn, he averaged 35.4 yards on 34 punts, with a long of 42. Hover said he is kicking and punting well now, and if he gets the chance to punt in games, he is more interested in consistency than average, although he "would like to average about 40 to 45 yards, with a hang time of about 4.3 (seconds)."

• If football doesn't work out, RB Zach Line could consider getting into the agent business, proudly bragging about his younger brother, Prescott Line, a senior RB/LB at Oxford (Mich.) High School who has committed to sign in February with SMU. Zach said that in Oxford's game against crosstown rival Lake Orion High School — last year's 1A (highest class) Michigan state champions — Prescott rushed 33 times for "about 238 yards" and five touchdowns in Oxford's 41-20 victory.

[S....M....U]

thanks for the updates

[mustangpride101]

Looks like the team is working hard and Line I think will have a shot at the next level. As far as his younger brother, is he as big?

Hoover sounds like hes doing well, how did the other kickers Loftus and Namdar do? I think ATM will come down to special teams and field positioning.

[One Trick Pony]

He wont miss BLINNTERGARDEN

[that's great raplh]

woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains

[MiracleOnMockingbird]

Are Hover's mom and dad helicopter parents?

[giacfsp]

(Groan ...)