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Football: Stover relishes chance to shine as kickerTim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, Dec. 6, 2013
Hunter Stover is going to be handling all the kicking duties in Mobile on Saturday. / Leslie Westbrook/The AdvertiserUL at South AlabamaGame: 7 p.m., Saturday, Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile. When UL coach Mark Hudspeth announced last Monday just what would be added to Hunter “I’ve been practicing my whole career to kick field goals,” he said, “and it’s finally here.” Two days after Stephen Brauchle missed a 48-yarder off the upright in the fourth quarter of last Saturday night’s 31-28 loss to UL Monroe – dropping the sophomore to 8-of-13 on field-goal attempts this season – Hudspeth said Stover, already UL’s kickoff specialist He’s never tried either as a collegian. So with an outright Sun Belt Conference Not with so much still on the line before UL faces Tulane in the Dec. 21 New Orleans Bowl. But Stover, who came to UL as a linebacker who could also kick, doesn’t mind the pressure whatsoever. “It could have been the first game; it could have been the last game. As long as my number’s gotten called,” he said, “I’m excited to put in some work. “I’m sure (circumstances) will (add to it). I mean, we’ve never had (Sun Belt) championship before outright. … But pressure is pressure. It should be the same kick every time.” Stover plans to have his blinders on Saturday, just like he did before arriving at UL in 2010. “You kind of have to,” he said. “You’ve got to block out everything.” That’s what he did when he started in high school as an All-District kicker at Vermillion Catholic. And that is what he did when he went on to earn All-State honors as a kicker at Notre Dame, where he finished high school. It was in his junior season that Stover hit his career-long, a 58-yarder in a 2008 state-playoff game against Richwood. But that, he candidly admits now, was off of a tee. And it came a couple of ACL knee surgeries ago. Truth be told, he seriously doubts he can make one that long these days. Stover is best known now for his kickoffs, and especially how he chases them down. He leads all UL special-teams players with 10 total tackles, including one against ULM that had UL players and coaches on the sideline falling like bowling pins. Watching him run down the field trying to take a return man has become a game within the game for many Cajun fans. He even had his own special cheering-section full of buddies who stood last Saturday on the first row of the 50-yard line at Cajun Field holding a sign that said “Real Kickers Make Tackles.” Still, Stover does feel he has decent range. “Anything inside of 50,” he said, “I’m sure I’ll be able to put it through.” If that’s really so – and with Brauchle 4-of-5 from 30-to-39 yards, but with two misses on six tries inside of 30 and 0-for-2 from beyond 40 – the question of why the move wasn’t made earlier seems like a valid one. The answer makes sense too, though. Stover sustained a hamstring injury But Stover is fully healthy That combined with the fact Hudspeth said he’s had so little confidence in his field-goal unit lately – and especially after Saturday’s miss – the trigger has been pulled. Stover suggested he would understand if Brauchle was upset that it was, particularly with no chance during practice this week to prove he should keep his job. “But it is how it is,” Stover said. “He’s got a good leg, and he’s a good kicker, man.” At least for Saturday, though, the Cajuns are betting on Stover’s leg. And he genuinely is thrilled they are. As much he’d like to see a blowout UL win, in fact, he even suggests he wouldn’t mind if the outcome at South Alabama boils down to one last swing. “You’ve got to make it,” Stover said. “But, I would love an opportunity like that – just to win it.”
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