The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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10 THE WOLVERINE ❱ NOVEMBER 2024 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Michigan kicker Dominic Zvada transferred from Arkansas State with high expectations, and he's exceeded them all. He was 8-for-8 on field goals and 15-for-16 on extra points through six games, including four field goals from over 50 yards. Zvada talked about his Michigan experience and more in this Q&A with Cham- pions Circle representative and former Michigan tight end Jake Butt. The Wolverine: How was it that you ended up at Michigan after entering the portal from Arkansas State? Dominic Zvada: "I didn't really have an idea of where I was going, but I knew I'd probably get an opportunity to play somewhere big. Within the first couple days being in the portal, Michigan hit me up. As soon as I saw [Michigan special teams] coach J.B. Brown follow me on Twitter, he sent me a DM — I said, 'If this is a thing, this is a thing.' "I knew the second I saw on my phone I could have the opportunity to play at Michigan, I had to put everything into that." The Wolverine: Lots of specialists get treated differently, not as "football play- ers." How have you been received? Zvada: "What's special about this team — and yeah, we get crap, but it's all fun and games — when it's time to go to work and everyone's serious, we're part of the team … one of the guys. Not just the football players, but the coaches see it that way, too. "Everyone knows we have a job to do. When we step on the field, it's an im- portant play. Those are game-changing plays in some sense." The Wolverine: What do you do to prepare for a game during the week? Zvada: "Preparation is separation. That's a big thing. It all starts in the offsea- son, doing what I like to do … go on the EA Sports [video] game and kick field goals in the different stadiums I'm playing in. Tuesday or Monday I was in my room and played Michigan at Washington. I set the time to 4:30, went out there and just ran it up. When I got in range, just first down, I'd kick the ball. Just seeing it go through the posts helps you visually. "Another thing, right when I got here, I got into operations working with [holder] Tommy Doman and Wags [snapper William Wagner]. A big thing is trust- ing the guys … my success is in their hands." The Wolverine: What's the time it takes to get a kick away, and how do you prepare for that during the game? Zvada: "Our operation time from snap to kick is 1.25 seconds to 1.3. It's in the blink of an eye. Once you get in the game and on the field, everything is muscle memory. I don't even remember where I kick it from. I come to the sidelines and ask Coach, 'Where was kick from?' He'll say, 'Man, that was 55 or 53.' I'm surprised. "… When the offense is out there, I'm next to my coordinator waiting, stretch- ing, especially when we're close to field goal range. But when the offense is on the bench, defense is on the field, I'm kicking into the net." The Wolverine: How much practice do you get a week? Zvada: "A lot of the stuff for us is keeping our legs healthy, not overdoing it. They call it our pitch count. Much like a pitcher, you don't want to throw too many balls. You'll throw your arm out. In the same sense for a kicker. You're using the same part of your body repeatedly. "I only kick Tuesday and Thursday, only get maybe a total of 10 to 12 team reps per week. That's just to keep it consistent and the operation smooth, the line smooth. It's not too much to the point I'm over-kicking and starting to hurt." — Chris Balas Zvada made all 8 of his field-goal attempts through Michigan's first six games, including four from over 50 yards. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Michigan men's basketball has high hopes despite coming off an eight-win season and having a new head coach in Dusty May. But in the eighth annual "unofficial official" media poll released by The Columbus Dispatch, the Maize and Blue were picked to finish ninth out of 18 teams in the league. The poll surveyed 33 basketball writers across the Big Ten. Michigan finished dead last in the Big Ten last season, going 8-24 before head coach Juwan Howard was fired following his fifth year at the helm. Purdue was picked to win the conference this season, with 20 of a possible 33 first-place votes, followed by No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Michigan State, No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Rutgers and No. 8 Ohio State. Michigan checked in next, ahead of No. 10 Maryland, No. 11 Iowa, tied No. 12 Wisconsin, tied No. 12 Nebraska, No. 14 USC, No. 15 Washington, No. 16 Northwestern, No. 17 Penn State and No. 18 Minnesota. Six teams received first-place votes, including Purdue, with Indiana (7), UCLA (2), Illinois (2), Michigan State (1) and Ohio State (1) all receiving at least one top tally. May is one of four first-year coaches in the Big Ten, and Michigan was slotted second among teams with new men at the top of the program. Ohio State (Jake Diebler) came in eighth, while USC (Eric Musselman) and Wash- ington (Danny Sprinkle) were selected 14th and 15th, respectively. Here's a look at how Michigan has finished relative to its preseason placement. U-M BASKETBALL'S BIG TEN RESULTS Season Preseason Postseason Placement Record Big Ten Rank (Conf. Record) 2024-25 9th — — 2023-24 11th 14th 8-24 (3-17) 2022-23 3rd T-5th 18-16 (11-9) 2021-22 1st T-7 19-15 (11-9) 2020-21 6th 1st 23-5 (14-3) 2019-20 5th 9th 19-12 (10-10) 2018-19 2nd 3rd 30-7 (15-5) 2017-18 T-5th T-4th 33-8 (13-5) — Clayton Sayfie ❱ Sitting Down With Junior Kicker Dominic Zvada MICHIGAN PICKED NINTH IN BIG TEN MEDIA POLL