What Michigan football kicker Dominic Zvada shares with Jake Moody, James Turner
ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines have fought through some inconsistencies this year in each phase, but its field goal kicking and extra points – manned by junior Dominic Zvada – have been a constant for them.
Zvada, who transferred to Ann Arbor this offseason from Arkansas State, has shown off a big leg that shows up just about every week. Through 8 games, he is 9-for-10 on field goal attempts and 17-for-18 on extra points. Five of his field goals have come from beyond 50 yards with a long of 55.
Knowing that those points can be put on the board when drives have trouble getting too fast past midfield has been a godsend for an inconsistent offense.
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“I think it’s huge, especially for the psyche of the team,” special teams coordinator J.B. Brown said on Wednesday afternoon. “When you know Dom’s out there to put points on the board, you feel good about it. So I’m extremely excited to have the room we have because they’ve been money all year. They just need to continue to work hard and keep being detailed with it.”
Saturday’s game against Michigan State included a miss from Zvada that fortunately came after a timeout call. The effects did not linger, as he booted through a 37-yarder just before halftime to give U-M a 9-6 lead it would not surrender in a 24-17 win over the Spartans.
It’s that unflappability that has kept Zvada on a roll.
“He knows what he’s doing on that,” Brown said. “He’s completely good. And he refocuses himself right then and there. As soon as it happened, we just looked at each other, and he’s like, yep, I’m good. And I said, all right, go make the next one. And obviously, he put it right down the pipe. So he’s extremely mature. He understands his emotions. He’s able to control his emotions. He does a great job with that.”
Michigan’s pedigree of having an elite kicking game has continued into this season with Zvada, who took the baton from James Turner, who in turn took over for Jake Moody. There are similarities in each of their games, but Zvada brings a bit differently to the table.
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“He is a lot like them in the sense that mentality-wise, he can’t get shaken, which is awesome,” Brown said. “He does a great job of focusing on the moment, just like them. He talks a little bit more than them. They were very quiet. love all three of them the exact same. They’re all like my kids. I have nothing but good things to say about every one of them. From a playing standpoint, very similar. All great ball strikers, all clean rotations.
“Personality-wise, though, they’re all similar in the fact that they just – they’re in the moment. They don’t look too far ahead. They don’t look in the past. They’re where their feet are.”
The first thing Michigan looks at when it recruits the kicking position is the unflappability each of its last three guys has shown. At this point, it is not much of a secret.
“There’s no doubt,” Brown admitted. “They have to have talent, and we wouldn’t look at them if they didn’t have talent. But at the end of the day, the mental standpoint of a kid is where you want to look the hardest, just so you know that they can handle what’s about to happen.”
