The Loop

It turns out, college football's craziest field goal of all time shouldn't have counted

September 18, 2017

What if we told you the craziest college football play from Saturday wasn't Florida beating Tennessee on a Hail Mary at the buzzer? You might believe us until we also told you that it actually involved a Division III game. More specifically, a first-half field goal attempt in a Division III game.

But hear us out, because it was the craziest college football play from Saturday. And it's going to be tough to top this season. On the unusual play, the kicker for Texas Lutheran, Tyler Hopkins, had his 18-yard attempt blocked, but then managed to kick the bouncing ball through the uprights to the surprise of everyone. Even crazier? The refs counted the field goal. Check it out:

SB Nation did a nice job of breaking down why the double-kick (different from a drop-kick) shouldn't have counted. As you can imagine, it has to do with Hopkins kicking a live ball, although there is nothing in the NCAA rulebook that specifically addresses this situation (Golf's rules call for a penalty for a double-hit), because no one ever imagined this situation ever happening. Fortunately, it didn't matter as the Bulldogs defeated Belhaven, 37-0.

So again, congrats to the Gators, but we've all seen Hail Marys work before. We've never seen a double-kick field goal, though, and we likely never will again.