April 21, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State football program and head coach Denver Johnson might have secured something neither has had since 2005 - a consistent place- kicker. Johnson announced the addition of junior place-kicker Zach Kutch, who played his two previous seasons at Auburn.
The Redbirds used three place-kickers last season, as Steven Fetzer, Kevin Mazur and Tyler Funk each converted at least one point-after-touchdown (PAT) attempt, which was the first time since 1949 that ISU had three kickers score points in the same season.
"Zach was a very highly-ranked kicker coming out of high school and had a good career at Auburn," said Johnson. "He will actually graduate from Auburn in May and enter Illinois State as a graduate student. We have struggled with our place-kicking in the last couple of years and we fortunate to add a proven commodity like Zach into the mix."
Kutch, a product of Milton High School in Milton, Fla., handled kickoff duties for the Tigers in five games last season. He averaged 53.2 yards on 16 kickoffs. He sat out the 2006 season as a redshirt. As a true freshman, Kutch appeared in five games and made 14 kickoffs with a pair of touchbacks, while averaging 61.9 yards per kickoff. He was also named to the All-SEC Academic Team as a freshman.
"We evaluated him, and Zach evaluated us," said Johnson. "He knows the situation and we both feel like it is a good move for him to come to Illinois State. He will have to come in and earn (the position), but we expect him to compete for the place-kicking job."
As a senior in high school, Kutch converted 11-of-15 field goal attempts, including a long of 52 yards. In his last two years combined, the 5-foot-9, 172-pounder made 52-of-55 extra-point attempts and 24 of his 33 field goal tries, including a 100 percent success rate on field-goal attempts inside 49 yards.
Named to the All-Northwest Florida Team as a junior, the two-time first-team all-area kicker also earned first-team all-state honors following his junior and senior seasons. According to Rivals.com, Kutch ranked in the top-10 among senior kickers in 2004. A member of the Emerald Coast High School All-Star Team, Kutch also earned all-region honors by PrepStar.
Kutch is the third transfer from Auburn during the Johnson-era at Illinois State, joining former linebacker Cavari Dailey and defensive back/wide receiver Joe Walkins.
