EAST LANSING – Another year, another record-breaking performance for Jonathan Kim against Iowa.

The Michigan State kicker set a program single-game record with six made field goals in a 32-20 win over the Hawkeyes on Saturday night.

“I can’t remember exactly when during the game someone came up to me and said, ‘Hey, you just set the record,'” Kim remembers. “I asked myself, ‘Which record?’ And then they ran away, so I was like, “Okay.”

Kim, a sixth-grader with a huge leg, kicked a 58-yard field goal in last year’s loss at Iowa, setting a Kinnick Stadium record for furthest shot. This time, the former North Carolina transfer was targeted to score, especially early on when the Spartans (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) moved the ball but couldn’t get into the end zone.

Kim finished the night 6 of 7, making the most field goals in a game in the country this season while tying Michigan’s Jake Moody (November 17, 2018) for the modern Big Ten record. Only Purdue’s E.C. Robertson made more field goals in a conference game, and that was in 1900. Kim’s six field goals surpassed the previous program record of five set by Paul Edinger (twice in 1998) and John Langeloh (1988).

“It’s an honor,” Kim said. “I’m just glad I can go out and help this team win.”

Michigan State didn’t have a single punt on Saturday – the first game for the program since 1989 – as standout Ryan Eckley merely performed his duties. Kim got the biggest workload of his career, hitting four field goals in the first half alone as Michigan State took a 12-0 lead into the locker room.

“That’s crucial,” coach Jonathan Smith said. “In the first half we ripped through them, momentum-wise, and there were some other big wins in the second half.”

Kim split the uprights from 42, 43, 36 and 29 yards before firing past the left wing from 55 yards as time expired in the first half. It was his first mistake this season, but he didn’t think about it. Three minutes into the fourth quarter, he took another 55-yard shot – this time into the wind – and drilled it before breaking the program record with a 46-yarder on his next attempt.

“At the 55 in the second half, I thought we were going to hit the ball and they yelled ‘money,'” Kim said of the name of the field goal unit, “so I was like, All right, I guess “It’s time to go kick.”

Although it was a record-setting night for Kim, he struggled on kickoffs with just two touchbacks in nine attempts. Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen benefited from five kickoff returns for 145 yards.

“I just got a little too far under them and moved a few of them a little to the right,” Kim said. “Just didn’t lock on contact, which resulted in the ball fading a little to the right. Kicking into the wind isn’t ideal, of course, but there were definitely some pushes I’d like to have again.”

Two years ago, Michigan State didn’t have a kicker who could reliably make even one chip shot, and that directly cost the team its bowl eligibility. Kim moved on last year as a kickoff specialist who went 0-1 on field goal attempts for four years at North Carolina and turned a major weakness into a weapon. He is now 15 of 16 and is part of a three-way tie for most field goals in the country this year.

“Thank God for Jonathan Kim,” linebacker Jordan Turner said. “We appreciate that as a defense because we know he can still get us points on a consistent basis.”

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