Every once in a while, you can feel a record starting to wobble before it actually falls.
College football’s longest‑made field goal, made by Ove Johansson’s 69‑yard bomb for Abilene Christian in 1976, has held on for half a century. It has survived rule changes, stronger athletes, better training, and a generation of specialists who grew up kicking year‑round.
But if you’re looking for the program most likely to finally take that record down, look in Oxford.
Ole Miss has not one, but two kickers who have already shown they can hit distances most players wouldn’t even attempt.
And within the next five years, it’s hard not to see the Rebels owning the longest field goal in college football history.
Lucas Carneiro has the leg and the temperament to do it. He isn’t just a preseason All‑American. He’s the Sugar Bowl hero who drilled two 50‑plus yarders last season and hit a 47‑yard game‑winner to beat Georgia in the CFP quarterfinal. He’s already proven he can make pressure kicks in the biggest moments.
And now he’s saying his range is even deeper.
“I hit one from 62 in camp last week,” Carneiro said. He joked earlier this summer about maybe having 65‑yard range, but camp wasn’t a joke. He actually hit 62.
What makes Carneiro dangerous isn’t just the leg strength. It’s the way he approaches long kicks. He doesn’t try to muscle them. He doesn’t tense up. He treats a 62‑yarder the same way he treats a 32‑yarder.
“The one I had in camp last week, I just told myself to swing smooth,” he said. “Usually, when I swing as hard as I can in golf, my ball goes straight right. I try to keep the same swing.”
That composure is what separates kickers who can hit long kicks from kickers who will hit long kicks. Carneiro has both.
If Ole Miss ever finds itself in a late‑half situation, ball near midfield, nothing to lose, Carneiro is the kind of kicker who could walk out there and make history.
But here’s the twist.
He might not even be the best bet.
Peter McStravick arrived at Ole Miss with a Gaelic football background, a Saints kicker as his mentor, and a video online of him casually hitting a 78‑yard field goal.
Let that sink in. A 78-yard made field goal.
That’s nine yards beyond the current NCAA record. That’s not a trick shot. That’s not a wind‑aided miracle. That’s a real kick from a real athlete who is still learning American football.
His career‑long is 78. His ceiling is unknown.
McStravick is modest about it, but the numbers aren’t modest at all. Once he becomes Ole Miss’ primary field‑goal kicker (whether that’s next year or the year after) the record is going to be in danger every time the Rebels cross midfield.
The Rebels aren’t chasing the record. They’re simply built in a way where the record might fall naturally.
Carneiro has already hit 62 in camp. McStravick has already hit 78 on video. The only thing missing is the moment, the right game, the right situation, the right decision from the sideline.
And in college football, those moments always come.
