Broken leg gives Arizona State lineman an extra year to prep for NFL
Emmit Bohle lay on the field at Mountain America Stadium. The Arizona State Sun Devils were locked in a tight game with Oklahoma State. It was just the second game of the season. But it marked the end of the line for the 6-foot-7, 320-pound offensive lineman.
Bohle had gotten tangled up with a couple of other players and next thing he knew, he was unable to get up. He had broken his leg — that was obvious to him at the time. He flung his helmet to the field in frustration.
"I just got rolled up on. I just knew it wasn't good," he said, after a recent spring practice. "I looked over and my foot was pointed in the wrong direction. That's never a good thing. It wasn't fun spending the rest of the season watching when I just wanted to be out there helping the team but it happened. Things don't always go the way you want."
Bohle's injury ended up being one of many the Sun Devils had to deal with through a trying 3-9 campaign in 2023. A total of 31 players missed time with injuries with the Selby, South Dakota native one of nine offensive linemen sidelined, most of those for five or more games. The situation was so dire coach Kenny Dillingham had to move defensive linemen over to the other side of the ball for practice purposes. The only positive is that a lot of athletes got significant playing time that they otherwise would not have so that should help the team's depth this season.
Bohle is back after getting a waiver from the NCAA for a senior-year do-over. He played in 12 games at tackle in the 2022 season, starting the last seven and would have been the mainstay at one of those tackle spots last year had he not been injured.
Offensive line coach Saga Tuitele is glad to have him back and leading a position group that includes another veteran in center Leif Fautanu and bolstered by some transfer portal acquisitions. It was the biggest position of emphasis for Dillingham and his staff during the offseason.
"The hardest thing last year was when he broke his leg and was in the hospital I was trying to gauge, at what point do I ask him, `Are you coming back?' He's such a great guy, one that really sets a standard, has done a great job. Probably a week after surgery he brought it up so I knew he was all in," Tuitele said. "It just changes your thought process and your plans for the season. When you have a tackle like that who is basically a two-year starter. He knows the system, knows my style. He knows what our standards are, loves Arizona State so you get that all in one."
Tuitele, starting his second season heading up the Sun Devils team in the trenches, says Bohle has the potential to play the game at the next level which is impressive given his unique background.
South Dakota isn't exactly a hotbed for football. Selby is just a tiny town of about 600. Bohle got his start playing nine-man football, and he wasn't a lineman. He was actually a tight end, tallying 28 receptions for 387 yards with three touchdowns as well as four 2-point conversions in 2017 as a senior at Selby High School. His school was so small, it had to combine with another nearby to be able to field a team.
In 2018 Bohle moved on to Northern State, a Division II school out of Aberdeen, South Dakota. He redshirted there as a freshman as he adjusted to the new position and added 60 pounds so he could hold up in the demanding new role. He played for that school in 2019 and 2021, starting every game at left tackle, the in-between year being the season abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After earning second-team All-NSIC North Division honors and being an integral factor in his team averaging 458 yards per game total offense, Bohle moved to Tempe. He selected ASU over offers from Illinois State, North Dakota, Sacramento State and Weber State. It is believed to be the first time in nearly 20 years ASU has brought a Division II transfer in on scholarship.
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He has enjoyed everything about Arizona.
"What's not to love," he said. "The weather is so much better. I wouldn't say I've taken up anything new. I still like fishing, a lot of outdoors stuff but here you can do it all year round. You're not limited to being outside a couple months of the year."
Bohle struggled early in the 2022 season as he adapted to football at a higher level. He allowed 13 total pressures over the first five games but cut that down to seven over the final seven games. That's why his injury last year was an unfortunate one. It stunted his development at the position. But Tuitele says Bohle's athleticism will translate to the next level. He credited the staff at Northern State as well as previous ASU line coach Mike Cavanaugh for helping Bohle in the transition.
"He's long and he can bend and he has quick feet," the coach said. "He has a high football IQ and he's got the absolute potential to continue playing. He comes from great family, great parents, so he's a mature guy and he really cares and that's the thing. He cares about football, cares about his teammates, that's a good mix."
Bohle, who has secured his degree in liberal studies, is now looked at as one of the leaders of the position group and said he wouldn't have wanted his collegiate career to end with an injury. He also said the team is determined to bounce back from a poor 2023 as it now heads into Big 12 competition for the first time.
"Last year was very tough, but we have all gotten closer," he said. "We know what we have to do and we don't want to have to go through something like that again so we're all on the same page. People may not expect much from us but we expect a lot and we're working hard."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU lineman Emmit Bohle eager to make up for lost season
