NORMAL - Illinois State football coach Denver Johnson may have just put the long-distance field goal back into his playbook.

A Redbird team that has converted only one field goal from 40 yards or beyond the past three seasons has added former Auburn place-kicker Zach Kutch as a transfer.

The 5-foot-9, 172-pound Kutch will join ISU in the fall and have two years of eligibility remaining.

"Zach was a very highly ranked kicker coming out of high school and had a good career at Auburn," Johnson said. "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 are fortunate to add a proven commodity like Zach into the mix."

A native of Milton, Fla., Kutch was Auburn's kickoff man in five games in 2007, averaging 53.2 yards on 16 kickoffs. He sat out the 2006 season as a redshirt. In 2005, Kutch had two touchbacks among 14 kickoffs and averaged 61.9 yards.

In his final two years of high school, Kutch was 24 of 33 on field goal attempts and 52 of 55 on extra-point kicks. All nine of his field goal misses came from 49 yards or beyond.

"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."

In 2007, ISU had three kickers (Steven Fetzer, Kevin Mazur and Tyler Funk) convert at least one extra-point for the first time since 1949. Fetzer's 47-yard field goal is the Redbirds' only kick from at least 40 yards in eight attempts over the past three seasons.

Johnson has not regularly consented to field goal attempts from 40 yards or more since Stephen Carroll was the Redbird kicker in 2004.

Kutch is the third transfer from Auburn in Johnson's tenure, joining linebacker Cavari Dailey and wide receiver/defensive back Joe Walkins.