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Temple kicker scores longest college football field goal in 16 years
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Temple kicker scores longest college football field goal in 16 years

NORMAN, OKLAHOMA - AUGUST 30: Kicker Maddux Trujillo #91 of the Temple Owls kicks the ball to the Oklahoma Sooners for a touchback of 65 yards in the third quarter at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on August 30, 2024 in Norman, Okla. Oklahoma won 51-3. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

Maddux Trujillo made a 64-yard field goal against Utah State on Saturday. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

Temple kicker Maddux Trujillo scored the longest college football field goal in years late in the first half on Saturday.

Trujillo fired a 64-yard kick as time expired in the second quarter against Utah State. He fired the ball from the right hash mark and had plenty of room to spare when it went over the crossbar. The field goal cut Utah State’s lead to 21-17 at halftime.

The kick is the longest field goal made at the highest level of college football since 2008, when UTEP’s Jose Martinez hit a 64-yard field goal 16 years ago. It is also the longest kick in the history of Lincoln Financial Field in a college football or NFL game. Eagles kicker Jake Elliott held the previous record with a 61-yard field goal.

Trujillo’s field goal is one yard shy of the FBS record for no-tee fielding. Former NFL and Kansas State kicker Martin Gramatica holds the record with a 65-yard field goal he made in 1998. The longest field goal in NCAA history is a 69-yard kick by Abilene Christian’s Ove Johansson in 1976, but kickers could kick from a holding tee until 1989.

The field goal also comes on the heels of the NFL’s best kicking start to the season ever. The success of professional kickers has been a big story in the first two weeks of the season, as kickers across the league have made 35 field goals of 50 or more yards at a nearly 90% clip so far in 2024.

Temple came back to win the game 45-29 with 28 points in the second half. The win is the Owls’ first of the season after starting 0-3.