Temple kicker hits longest college football field goal in 16 years

Temple kicker Maddux Trujillo hit the longest college football field goal in years at the end of the first half on Saturday.

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

The kick is the longest made field goal at the top level of college football since 2008 when UTEP’s Jose Martinez hit a 64-yard field goal 16 years ago. It’s also the longest kick in the history of Lincoln Financial Field in either 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 without a tee. Former NFL and Kansas State kicker Martin Gramatica holds the record with a 65-yard field goal that he made in 1998. The longest field goal in NCAA history is a 69-yard kick by Ove Johansson of Abilene Christian in 1976, but kickers were able to kick off 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 through the first two weeks of the season as kickers across the league have hit 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 second-half points. The victory is the Owls' first of the season after they started 0-3.