SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The pressure facing Zac Yoakam kicking field goals in the middle of Notre Dame spring practice inside the Irish Athletics Center isn’t quite the same as the pressure of playing his first collegiate game in front of a sellout crowd in Ohio Stadium, but it’s still pressure, nonetheless.
Six months after making his Notre Dame debut as a freshman kickoff specialist, the walk-on Yoakam entered Notre Dame’s spring as the de facto No. 1 kicker on the Irish roster. That will change once South Florida graduate transfer Spencer Shrader arrives in June, but that doesn’t make Yoakam’s opportunity any less meaningful.
New Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi, a former Marshall punter and kicker, will be tasked with replacing Blake Grupe as last year’s starting place-kicker.
“It takes time to get used to the pressure of kicking it in practice,” Yoakam said Saturday. “I didn’t do that a lot last year, because Grupe’s a really good kicker. But it’s getting easier the more you do it. Just like how practice makes perfect. Getting reps like this makes you better at it.”
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Yoakam made all nine of his attempts during Saturday’s practice with the pressure on him. The longest of which came from 43 yards out, which wasn’t a coincidence. Yoakam shared after practice that Biagi has informed the kickers that they’re not allowed to attempt field goals of 44-plus yards until they’re making 95% of their attempts from shorter distances.
The 5-foot-8, 192-pound Yoakam proved he could live up to the moment last season. Less than an hour before opening kickoff of last year’s season opener at Ohio State, Yoakam was given the final word that fellow freshman Bryce McFerson’s groin injury would prevent him from performing kickoff duties.
“I had it in the back of my mind, there's definitely a possibility I'd be kicking it off,” said Yoakam, a product of nearby Upper Arlington (Ohio) High. “I was ready for it. I mean, it's Columbus. I'm from Columbus. It was awesome.”
Due to Notre Dame’s offense struggling in the 21-10 loss, Yoakam was only asked to kick off three times against the Buckeyes. On the first kickoff, after Notre Dame took a 3-0 lead on the opening possession, Yoakam’s kick reached the goal line almost exactly but Emeka Egbuka returned it 25 yards. On his next two chances, Yoakam kicked touchbacks.
Attendance in Ohio Stadium that Saturday was reported at 106,594.
“I think the biggest adrenaline rush you'll ever get,” Yoakam said of kicking in front of large crowds. “I would say it's like the first time riding a roller coaster with like a huge drop. That first kickoff, you just have so much energy and so much emotion and so much adrenaline. Whatever the happiness emotion is. It's just awesome. It's one of the best things you can ever feel.”
Yoakam never relinquished the kickoff role last season. On 78 kickoffs in 13 games, Yoakam totaled 49 touchbacks. Only 18 FBS kickers had more touchbacks. One of them was Shrader, who had 50 touchbacks in 62 kickoffs.
Yoakam celebrated his touchbacks by sprinting to the end zone and waving for Irish fans to cheer on the team. But former special teams coordinator Brian Mason told him he wasn’t allowed to do so unless every one of his kickoffs during a game was a touchback.
“It’s kind of like in my mind, touchback, I can celebrate,” Yoakam said. “If not got, got to get a tackle. So no running into the end zone.”
Biagi has also imparted messages to Yoakam this spring. Rather than remembering them in the back of his head, Yoakam also writes them on the back of his hand. Although on Saturday, Yoakam wrote down the words wrong.
The two lines should have read: “Land upright” and “Finish straight.”
“Coach Biagi is trying to put in ideas before you kick,” Yoakam said. “You know how there's a pre-snap mentality. That's pretty much one of the things before I get in my stance. I have to remember what I need to do, which is land upright and finish straight. That’s been working out.”
Biagi can offer those specific details because of his experience as a kicker. Yoakam has already noticed the difference.
“A lot of it's about just finishing towards your target,” Yoakam said. “A lot of kickers (don’t) that he's noticed and that's what I was at first before I switched with it. He helped me change my form a little bit.
“I wasn't finishing towards my target destination. I want to finish straight towards the field goal, and I was finishing to the left a little bit, to the right a little bit, all over the place. Consistency is what he's really looking for.”
Whether Yoakam wants to beat out Shrader for field goals or kickoffs in the fall, he’ll need to be consistent. The sense of competition that Mason fostered in his one season with the program by bringing in extra players at the specialist positions will live on while Mason is the special teams coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts.
After Shrader joins the fray, Notre Dame will also welcome walk-on kicker Marcello Diomede to the mix.
“No matter what, you're going to have competition,” Yoakam said. “At the end of the day, you just have to come up and show yourself.”
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