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OXFORD, Ohio— As
Dom Dzioban waited to attempt a game-tying 47-yard field goal on the final play of the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon, two rhyming words kept repeating inside coach
Chuck Martin's head.
Hero or zero?
And when the clock hit zero in Miami's Homecoming game, Dzioban was the hero.
"When we were recruiting him, he was making all these big kicks in the high school playoffs," Martin recounted later. "They went on this great run and kept winning on his field goals, and he said, 'Coach, that's what I love: Hero or zero. That's why I don't like punting. Punting never gets that moment where you can be the goat or you can be the hero.'
"He kept telling me: 'Hero or zero— that's what I live for.'
"I was thinking about that when he went out to try to tie. I'm like, 'He loves this stuff. This is what he does. This is why he plays this game.'"
So it didn't matter that Miami began its drive 75 yards from the end zone with 44 seconds to play and trailing by three points.
It didn't matter that it had been raining in Oxford for basically 48 hours straight.
It didn't matter that UMass tried to ice Dzioban with a late timeout.
It didn't matter that he entered the game with a total of four made field goals in five years as a RedHawk.
And it didn't matter that the longest successful kick in his collegiate career to date had been from 43 yards.
When
Hudson Powell snapped the ball and
Alec Bevelhimer put it on the ground 47 yards away from the goalposts, the most confident person in the building was wearing No. 31 for the home team.
"This is what kickers live for," Dzioban said after the game. "I mean, this is why I became a kicker.
"I didn't become a kicker to hit first-quarter chip shots. I became a kicker to hit 40-yard game-winners!"
And speaking of game-winners…while Dzioban's clutch 47-yarder to force overtime might have been the most important kick of the day, it wasn't his favorite one.
That would be the 43-yard kick a few minutes later that ended the first overtime and gave Miami its first win of the season, a memorable 23-20 comeback victory.
"I like the game-winning one better," he said with a grin. "I like to win games."
When Dzioban's final attempt split the uprights, he began pumping his fist and took off sprinting toward the far end of Yager Stadium, with the rest of his teammates in fast pursuit and his family and friends cheering in the stands.
"I don't really remember what happened," he laughed. "I was trying to do a celebration, but there were guys mobbed around me, so I probably would have gotten hurt.
"I just started running all around and ended up in the other end zone…I loved the fact that I could look around and everyone's smiling, everyone's cheering."
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There were quite a few times over the past five years where it seemed like Dzioban might never get to enjoy this sort of storybook scenario.
The first and only specialist to come to Oxford on scholarship in the
Chuck Martin era signed with the Red and White in 2019 after setting school records with 37 field goals and 340 career points at Lincoln Way East (Ill.) High. He converted 18 of 20 field goals and 50 of 51 extra points his senior year, claiming All-State honors and helping his team to a state championship.
"You fall in love with him and I offered him, because I'm like, 'This kid has this mindset that's unbelievable,'" said Martin. "He loves kicking because he wants those playoff moments."
However, Dzioban's path to placekicking kept getting derailed. In fact, he didn't even attempt a field goal in a game for Miami until the 2024 season opener a few weeks ago.
After getting beat out for the kicking job in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Dzioban became the RedHawks' punter instead. "He wanted to play," Martin said. The next year,
Graham Nicholson, the eventual Lou Groza Award winner as the best kicker in the country, arrived. That left Dzioban in the punter role for another two years, where he blossomed into an All-MAC performer.
"Dom had an amazing camp [in 2021]. It wasn't like Dom didn't win the job," Martin explained. "Dom won the job; Graham was stupid-good…
"I've been saying for years, 'We've got two great kickers,'" Martin continued. "Then he becomes a second-team all-league punter."
Fast forward to 2023, and Dzioban suffered a leg injury that would ultimately cost him the entire season. "They fix it, but not everything gets fixed…so it's like he's going to be fine, and then two weeks before the first game, they have to go in and do it again," Martin recalled.
"And what a blow to the kid…Bev [Bevelhimer] turns out sixth in the country in net punting and first-team all-league. And Dom loses his job by being injured! He's second-team all-league; Bev's sixth in the country. Bev's a more talented punter; Dom's a kicker that's trying to punt."
With Nicholson and Bevelhimer both originally slated to return in 2024, Martin said he wouldn't have been surprised if a finally-healthy Dzioban (who had already finished his Bachelor's degree in Marketing) had elected to go somewhere else.
But…
"He wants to kick. He lives to kick. He lives for this. And he stays…this is what he came back for," said Martin.
When Nicholson transferred to Alabama in April, the door was finally open for Dzioban.
And —just like he did Saturday in each of his five kicks (three field goals, two extra points)— the Frankfort, Ill. native made the most of his opportunity.
"There was definitely a point in time where I didn't know if I was going to be able to play football again…or actually contribute to the team," Dzioban said. "But I stuck to it and I grinded it out. I got back to where I could make plays for my team, and I was lucky enough to get a chance to do that today…
"I knew I was a good field goal kicker the last couple years. It was frustrating not being on the field, but I never really pouted about it. I became pretty solid at punting, I worked at my craft every day and I was lucky enough to get a shot tonight."
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Dzioban was quick to credit his teammates after Saturday's win, specifically pointing out the offensive execution on the final hurry-up drive of regulation. "I knew Brett was going to give me a chance," he said. Sixth-year quarterback
Brett Gabbert went 5-for-5 through the air in the final minute, connecting with
Kevin Davis on all five throws for a total of 42 yards to get the RedHawks in range for Dzioban's heroics.
"It just happened to work out perfectly for me," said Dzioban. "I have a great snapper, I've got an experienced holder, a great O-line, and Gabbert, an experienced quarterback to get us down there.
"You can't go wrong with that…
"We knew what the task at hand was…we fought to the end, and I'm really proud of our guys."
Now the RedHawks hope to use the momentum from a thrilling team victory (and just the second OT triumph in program history) to springboard into Mid-American Conference play, which kicks off Saturday at Toledo in a rematch of last December's MAC Championship Game.
And if any of those MAC matchups come down to the final kick, based on what happened at Yager yesterday, Dzioban, Martin and everyone associated with Miami Football have to like their chances.
"As you get older…it's about memories and it's about moments," Martin said. "Dom had an amazing moment for everyone…I'm really happy for [him]. And he deserved it.
"In that situation, to go out there and bang it, and then bang another one, [with] what he's been through, it's pretty cool.
"That's why we do sports."
Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures
Miami Football returns to Yager Stadium on Oct. 19 for a Family Weekend showdown with MAC rival Ohio in the Battle of the Bricks. Friends and Family ticket packages are available now; click here to purchase your seats today!
