Recently, Michigan State kicker Jonathan Kim sat down with Spartans Illustrated’s Matt Sheehan on the "Locked On Spartans" podcast to discuss his game-winning kick versus Maryland, his approach to staying calm and more. He also recently spoke to the media in East Lansing.
The Spartans moved to 2-0 on the 2024 season, and 1-0 in Big Ten play, as Kim’s 37-yard field goal helped lift the Spartans over the Terrapins by a final score of 27-24 this past Saturday.
“It was fun in the moment, but I’ve just kind of enjoyed more so the team aspect of winning," Kim said about his game-winning field goal. "It was cool that I was able to put the final points on the board, but it was the offense that got me there and the defense made the game-sealing tackle,”
Even though Kim’s field goal gave the Spartans the win, Kim's mentality is that a game-winner is just as important as any other field goal attempt.
“It’s always the next kick is the most important kick — you don’t ever want to dwell no matter how good or how poorly your last kick was, just moving on and just knowing again, trusting in my ability going out knowing that I can hit a 50-yarder,” Kim said.
Kim says the confidence his teammates give him in practice throughout the week and during the game helped him on his game-winning field goal attempt.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about the team," Kim said. "Having them around me, it’s just like practice — if I put too much pressure on it in the game situation, then it’ll become too big of a moment — so just getting back into my team and just having them there and showing confidence in me really helped."
Kim also mentioned that for every field goal that he attempts, his peace of mind is his faith.
“I take every kick with the mindset of being grateful, just taking the gratitude to God,” Kim said. “Whether I get this opportunity or I don’t, whether I make it or I miss, I’m just thankful to be here,” Kim said.
In practice, the team simulates what game-winning field goal attempts would look like in real game situations. Kim mentioned that it is difficult to simulate the same amount of pressure in practice in a game.
“We do game-winning field goal situations (in practice)," Kim said. "I would say it's hard to simulate the same amount of pressure, but at the same time, I didn’t really feel pressure. Just going back to my faith, I only play for God, and no matter what happens, he’s still going to love me, so there was no pressure at all in that kick."
In the opening game against Florida Atlantic, Kim didn’t have the opportunity to attempt a field goal. Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith decided to run the ball on fourth down instead of making it a two-possession game in the fourth quarter. The attempt failed, and Smith took responsibility for his decision, which is something that Kim admires about his head coach — a coach who is willing to take accountability for his choices.
“It’s great because nobody’s above the program here," Kim said. "Just like (Coach Smith) says, “low ego, high output,” and I would expect the same thing from him. He’s very humble, a great human being, so just hearing him be humble — not only just with us in the room, but everybody — was awesome."
The Spartans entered the game against the Terrapins as nine-and-a-half point underdogs and were able to pull out a hard-fought road victory. Kim mentioned that the win for the team can help them build their confidence moving forward in the games ahead.
“A road win was big going into a game where we were the underdogs, it was huge, everybody was really excited and just winning, in general, is great for a program and definitely helped boost our confidence going into the rest of the season,” Kim said. “Just looking at the Big Ten, it just seems like it’s anybody’s conference right now. No one has really stepped up too much, it’s exciting, and I can’t wait to see what comes out of the Big Ten.”
