NCAA Division I FBS field goal leaders

The NCAA Division I FBS field goal leaders are career, single-season, and single-game leaders in field goal kicking.[1] These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:

  • Since 1955, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length.
  • The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play varsity football until 1972 (with the exception of the World War II years), allowing players to have four-year careers.
  • Bowl games only began counting toward single-season and career statistics in 2002.[2] Players who have played since then often have an extra game each year to accumulate statistics.
  • In recent decades, starting with the Southeastern Conference in 1992, FBS conferences have introduced their own championship games, which have always counted fully toward single-season and career statistics.
  • The NCAA ruled that the 2020 season, heavily disrupted by COVID-19, would not count against the athletic eligibility of any football player. This gave every player active in that season the opportunity for five years of eligibility instead of the normal four.
  • Since 2018, players have been allowed to participate in as many as four games in a redshirt season; previously, playing in even one game "burned" the redshirt.[3] Since 2024, postseason games have not counted against the four-game limit.[4] These changes to redshirt rules have given very recent players the opportunity for several extra games to accumulate statistics.
  • Only seasons in which a team was considered to be a part of the Football Bowl Subdivision are included in these lists. In particular, Cole Tracy kicked 97 field goals across his career, which would be tied for the career record, but 68 of them were at Division III Assumption, and only 29 in the FBS.
Legend
Active FBS Player
Statistics accurate as of January 15, 2025.

Field goals

Career

Single season

Under NCAA rules in 1984, bowl game statistics were not counted toward a player's season totals. John Lee, the placekicker for the 1984 UCLA Bruins, finished that season with 29 field goals in the regular season. He then kicked three field goals in the 1985 Fiesta Bowl, but those were excluded from his official total. If his Fiesta Bowl performance were included under modern NCAA statistical rules, Lee's 32 field goals would make him the outright single-season FBS field goal leader.[5]

Single game

References and notes

  1. ^ "Career Leaders and Records" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "NCAA changes policy on football stats". ESPN.com. AP. August 28, 2002. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  3. ^ "DI football to offer more participation opportunities" (Press release). NCAA. June 13, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  4. ^ "DI football oversight committees propose one transfer window" (Press release). NCAA. August 27, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  5. ^ "John Lee – Hall of Fame". UCLA Bruins. University of California, Los Angeles Athletics. Retrieved January 15, 2026.

"Career Leaders and Records for Passing Yards" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved December 23, 2021.