Snoy getting in his kicks / Ex-Northridge kicker no longer just WSU's punter
By Jasen Asay
Created Sep 8 2009 - 11:13pm
Standard-Examiner staff
OGDEN -- There have been times during his career at Weber State when Mike Snoy did not want to go on the field, and his teammates would rather him stay on the sidelines as well.
But that's changed now.
With Snoy, who previously spent almost all of his time as the Wildcats' punter, handling the kickoff duties as well as competing with Jon Williams for field-goal and extra-point attempts, the sight of No. 16 trotting onto the field now has the possibility of adding points to the scoreboard.
It also makes the games more exciting for Snoy.
"I'm not as bored," said Snoy, who handled all the kicking duties in Saturday's 29-22 loss at Wyoming. "When I'm just doing the punting I get in maybe every 35 plays or something like that. Now I've got to stay more loose and practice field goals into the net."
With the Wildcats (0-1) playing at Colorado State (1-0) on Saturday, facing the toughest team WSU will see all season according to coach Ron McBride, any chance at points will be an opportunity that can't be wasted.
McBride said that he isn't sure who will handle the field-goal and point-after attempts against the Rams, and perhaps Williams may get his shot.
"Ideally, Williams would be the field goal and point-after guy and Snoy would handle the punts," McBride said. "Then one of them would do the kickoffs."
Snoy did all the kicking on Saturday because, according to McBride, he had been kicking the ball so well in practice that the coaches wanted to give him the chance. Snoy welcomed the extra work because it made the game more fun for him.
"I'm more into the game when doing all three because I have to be ready," said Snoy, who made both extra-point attempts in Saturday's game but had a field-goal attempt blocked.
After being a two-year starter at Northridge High School, Snoy came to WSU ready to be the 'Cats' punter his whole career. Now a senior, Snoy has handled the punting and not given the coaching staff a reason to worry.
"He's been a reliable asset from day one," McBride said. "He works at it all the time so he's gotten better. He's got a good strong leg and he gets the ball off and has good hang time, which is the key."
One of Snoy's goals for the season is to improve his punting average, however his offensive teammates are unknowingly being an obstacle in that goal. During Snoy's first two seasons he averaged better than 40 yards per punt. Last year his average was closer to 38 yards per punt, thanks mostly to an offense that moved the ball so well it rarely gave Snoy a lot of field to work with.
"The offense did so well most of time I was trying to pin teams inside their 20," Snoy said. "There weren't a whole lot of opportunities to get long punts."
Not that Snoy is hoping for more of those opportunities, but he knows if he gets the chance he needs to take advantage of it.
