But here we are in Week 10, or whatever week it is, and the Bulldogs are 5-3 and sinking fast. They've lost to Hawaii by committing six turnovers. They've lost to Wisconsin by missing field goals. They just lost to a Louisiana Tech team that ran right over the top of them, and it's never, never, never good when La. Tech is running over you. Hill's team has three tough games left and people in grocery store lines are talking about the Bulldogs possibly missing a bowl game.

This is Fresno State kicker Kevin Goessling. We'll get to him in a moment.

So it's time to find some positive, try not to drown in the downward spiral. Quarterback Tom Brandstater, for instance, had 296 yards passing and four touchdowns against La. Tech. At times, he has looked like the experienced senior quarterback people hoped he would be. But he's still getting too many passes batted down, mostly because he finds his receiver of choice and doesn't look away, doesn't pump-fake, locks on like a scene from "Top Gun" and fires away. Still, though, his stats aren't bad (143-230, 62.2%, 1,790 yards, 15 TD, 6 int.) considering the patchwork quilt of receivers he's played with. Marlon Moore, Chastin West, Darren Newborne and Jason Crawley* have 28 catches. Total. Those were supposed to be four of the top five receivers. Tight end Bear Pascoe's been hurt. So have the top two running backs. And keep in mind, we're talking about the offense, the good side of the ball.

*If the name doesn't register, please refer to your 2008 Fresno State Guide to Preseason Potential. He's tall ... skinny .... You remember, right? Junior wide receiver. Goatee. Smiles a lot. Seriously, though, we probably shouldn't kid because it's been tough on Crawley. He was ready to come back midseason, finally going to play after a hamstring injury, then pulls a hamstring at the walk-through the day before the game. Really, who gets injured at a walk-through? It seems partly logical, though, reaggrevating a hamstring? Well not in this case. It was the OTHER hamstring.

You might say Brandstater's kind of a microcosm of the whole offense. The Bulldogs didn't need good. They needed great. They needed an old WAC, shoot-em-up, trouncing, break-the-scoreboard kind of attack to cover up for whatever defensive inequities would surely occur. They needed a horrifying offense and instead they're just kinda scary*. They're punchy, not robust. They're prosperous, but not a powerhouse. They're ... OK, I'll stop. (Love thesaurus.com, by the way.) You might be thinking, "Well, why don't they just fix the defense and then they wouldn't have to score 50 points a game to win?" Good idea. And then as soon as we're done fixing the Fresno State defense, it's on to the Middle East and then world hunger. Together, we can overcome!

*Sorry, still thinking about Halloween. I was a monk again this year. I realize a true connoisseur of the holiday would never dress in the same costume as a previous year, but I was in a different state, and I've been told there's loopholes about that sort of thing. I was a hit in Illinois.

But we're getting too far from the positive. One glaring good thing, and really the glaring positive that I've been leading up to here, was the game-winning field goal against Utah State. It's still in my head because, well, it was freakish, and because I didn't go to the La. Tech game last weekend, it's the last college football play I saw in person. You might notice that in my previous blog, I actually made a crack about the Fresno State field goal kicking, which has been fairly sporatic. ("Lacks direction," I believe I wrote in a column a while back.) That was halftime. Then Kevin Goessling makes a 58-yarder as time expired to win the game. This blog is the un-jinx, apparently.

This is a picture I snapped with my handy-dandy blog camera from the sideline, right before Goessling's kick. You might have noticed there have been almost no pictures of this field goal or the ensuing Fresno State field-storming. That's because there were no Fresno photographers there (from the Bee or Fresno State) and the local photographers were all aimed at the Utah State bench, getting ready for the inevitable miss and Aggie celebration. No one thought Goessling was going to make it from 58. No one. The only reason I got this shot of them lining up was because I was testing some different camera settings. I should have kept snapping, but I think I dropped the camera in shock.

It was so surprising that day that I hadn't written a single word about Goessling, or really about Fresno State winning, come to think of it. That column, of course, was about him, and I tried to put some perspective on it in. It was a school record. It was the second-longest field goal in the NCAA this year. No NFL kicker has made one that long this season. Yada yada.

But I got to thinking about it ... (Hey, what else do I have to do?) ... and decided to put together a list of the longest college kicks of all time. How many could really be longer than 58, right? A couple dozen? Twenty-five? Thirty? As I would find out, there are several problems with doing a list like this. When it comes to field goal kicking, there have been so many changes in the rules. The goal posts have been moved behind the end zones. The posts have been widened, then narrowed. The hash marks have been pushed toward the middle of the field. Before 1989, kickers could use a 2-inch tee for field goals, which, as you can imagine, was an enormous help.

The best I could come up with was to just unload the entire dumptruck, include every college kick I could find that happened in a regular season game. We can try to find some perspective after that. So here it is, the longest field goals in the history of college football, all divisions. Is this a complete list? No way. It's cobbled together from hours of web surfing, but it's the best I could do for now.

Longest college field goals ...
69 yards - Ove Johansson, Abilene Christian (NAIA) vs. E. Texas State, (Final: 17-0), Oct. 16, 1976
67 - Russell Erxleben, Texas (Div. I) vs. Rice, (72-15), Oct. 1, 1977
67 - Steve Little, Arkansas (Div. I) vs. Texas, (9-13), Oct. 15, 1977
67 - Tom Odle, Fort Hays St. (Div. II) vs. Washburn, (22-14), Nov. 5, 1988
67 - Joe Williams, Wichita St. (Div. I) vs. Southern Illinois, (33-7), Oct. 21, 1978
65 - Tony Franklin, Texas A&M (Div. I) vs. Baylor, (24-0), Oct. 16, 1976
65 - Martin Gramatica, Kansas St. (Div. I) vs. Northern Illinois, (73-7), Sept. 12, 1998
64 - Russell Erxleben, Texas (Div. I) vs. Oklahoma, (13-6), Oct. 8, 1977
64 - Tony Franklin, Texas A&M (Div. I) vs. Baylor, (24-0) Oct. 16, 1976
64 - Jose Martinez, UTEP (Div. I) vs. UCF, (58-13), Sept. 27, 2008
63 - Morten Andersen, Michigan St. (Div. I) vs. Ohio St., (13-27), Sept. 18, 1981
63 - Joe Duren, Arkansas St. (Div. II) vs. McNeese St., (22-20), Nov. 23, 1974
63 - Tim Foley, Ga. Southern (Div. I-AA) vs. James Madison, Nov. 7, 1987
63 - Bill Gramatica, South Fla. (Div. I-AA) vs. Austin Peay, Nov. 18, 2000
63 - Clark Kemble, Colorado St. (Div. I) vs. Arizona, (9-31), Nov. 15, 1975
63 - Scott Roper, Arkansas St. (Div. I-AA) vs. North Texas, (27-20), Nov. 7, 1987
62 - Dom Antonini, Rowan College (Div. III) vs. Salisbury State, Sept. 18, 1976
62 - Dan Christopulos, Wyoming (Div. I) vs. Colorado St., (29-13), Oct. 29, 1977
62 - Billy Cundiff, Drake (Div. I-AA) vs. San Diego, (52-12), Sept. 3, 2000
62 - John Diettrich, Ball St. (Div. I) vs. Ohio (30-9), Oct. 11, 1986
62 - Derek Doerfler, Baker Univ. (NAIA) vs. William Jewell College, (15-13), Oct. 5, 2007
62 - Mike Flater, Colorado Mines (Div. II) vs. Western St., 1973
62 - Tony Franklin, Texas A&M (Div. I) vs. Florida, (37-14) Jan. 2, 1977
62 - Jason Hanson, Washington St. (Div. I) vs. UNLV, (40-13), Sept. 28, 1991
62 - Paul Hickert, Murray St. (Div. I-AA) vs. E. Kentucky, (31-24), Oct. 29, 1986
62 - Iseed Khoury, North Texas (Div. I) vs. Richmond, (47-14) Oct. 1, 1977
62 - Terance Kitchens, Texas A&M (Div. I) vs. Southern Miss., (23-6), Sept. 28, 1999
62 - Dave Lawson, Air Force (Div. I) vs. Iowa St., Sept. 20, 1975
62 - Chip Lohmiller, Minnesota (Div. I) vs. Iowa, (27-30), Nov. 22, 1986
62 - Chester Marcol, Hillsdale College (NAIA), Fairmont State, (20-13), Oct. 19, 1969
62 - Doc Proctor, Ferris St. (Div. II) vs. Michigan Tech, (66-7), Oct. 23, 1999
62 - Larry Scruggs, Grambling (NAIA) vs. Hawaii, (W 20-6), Sept. 20, 1975
62 - Tom Whelihan, Missouri (Div. I) vs. (Colorado), (12-17), Oct. 11, 1986
61 - Kyle Bryant, Texas A&M, (Div. I) v Southern Mississippi, (44-7), Sept. 28,1994
61 - Kyle Chilton, Pikesville College (NAIA) vs. West Virginia Tech, (19-8) Nov. 11, 2006
61 - Garrett Courtney, North Texas (Div. IAA) vs. Idaho, (23-41), Nov. 3, 1998
61 - Dan Eichloff, Kansas (Div. I) vs. Ball State, (62-10), Sept. 12, 1992
61 - Ray Guy, Southern Miss. (Div. I) vs. Utah State, (21-27) Nov. 18, 1972
61 - Wayne Latimer, Virginia Tech (Div. I) vs. Florida State, (13-10) Oct. 11, 1975
61 - Steve Little, Arkansas (Div. I) vs. Tulsa, (3-9), Sept. 25, 1976
61 - Ralf Mojsiejenko, Michigan State (Div. I) vs. Illinois, (16-23), Sept. 11, 1982
61 - Mark Porter, Kansas State (Div. I) vs. Nebraska, (3-48), Oct. 22, 1988
61 - Jeremy Seeton, East Texas Baptist (Div. III) vs. Mississippi College, (29-28), Nov. 5, 2005
61 - Bill Shear, Cortland State (Div. II) vs. Hobart College, (15-8), Oct. 15, 1966.
60 - Terry Belden, Northern Arizona vs. Cal State Northridge, Sept. 18, 1993
60 - Rick Brand, Alma College (Div. III) vs. Franklin, (44-7), 1998
60 - Kevin Butler, Georgia (Div. I) vs. Clemson, (26-23), Sept. 22, 1984
60 - Gary Cismesia, Florida State (Div. I) vs Florida, (12-45), 2007
60 - David Cool, Georgia Southern vs. James Madison, Nov. 5, 1988
60 - Mason Crosby, Colorado (Div. I) vs. Iowa State, 2004
60 - Tony DiRienzo, Oklahoma (Div. I) vs. Minnesota, (48-20), Nov. 17, 1973
60 - Russell Erxleben, Texas (Div. I) vs. Texas Tech, (26-0), Oct. 29, 1977
60 - Pete Garces, Idaho State vs. Cal State Northridge, 1998
60 - John Hall, Wisconsin (Div. I) vs. Minnesota, (3-27), Nov. 11/1995
60 - Bubba Hicks, Baylor (Div. I) vs. Rice, (25-7), Nov. 29, 1975
60 - Dave Lawson, Air Force (Div. I) vs. Colorado, (27-28), Oct. 4, 1974
60 - Bill McClard, Arkansas (Div. I) vs. SMU, (36-3), Nov. 14, 1970
60 - Joe Nedney, San Jose State (Div. I) vs. Wyoming, (26-24), Oct. 3, 1992
60 - Chris Perkins, Florida (Div. I) vs. Tulane, (63-21) Sept. 15, 1984
60 - Fuad Reveiz, Tennessee (Div. I) vs. Georgia Tech, (21-31), Oct. 23, 1982
60 - Derek Schorejis, Bowling Green (Div. I) vs. Toledo, (16-35), Oct. 21, 1995
60 - Don Shafer, USC (Div. I) vs. Notre Dame, (37-38), Nov. 29, 1986
60 - Kevin Shipley, Pittsburgh State (NAIA) vs. Nebraska-Kearney, Oct. 1, 1977
59 - Cloyce Hinton, Ole Miss (Div. I) vs. Georgia, Oct. 11, 1969
59 - Joe Petrone, Idaho State vs. Portland State, (53-32), 1968
59 - Jared Siegel, Oregon (Div. I) vs. UCLA , 2002
59 - Jan Stenerud, Montana State vs. Montana, 1964
58 - Jon Bacon, Cincinnati (Div. I) vs. Miami-Ohio, (17-17), 1994
58 - Mason Crosby, Colorado (Div. I) vs. Miami, (23-3), 2005
58 - Kevin Goessling, Fresno State (Div. I) vs. Utah State, (30-28), Oct. 25, 2008

First off, yeah, I know, it's ridiculously long. Seriously long. And so Ray Guy's great aunt, or someone, doesn't call to say, "Why did you put the kid from East Texas Baptist ahead of Ray, don't you know Ray's 61-yarder was in a snowstorm?!" I've listed them by distance and alphabetical* order. You will not find this list anywhere else in the world, nor would you want to. Is it perfect? Of course not. I still need to look up some of the scores and dates and what division Portland State was in in 1968, but it's not bad. As far as I can tell, the only major flaws are that I don't seem to have any junior college listings, and obviously we're missing a bunch of 58 and 59-yard field goals, because one of the major lists I went by, only went to 60. I'm quite positive there were more than four 59-yarders in the history of college football.

*Do you ever notice that no matter how old you get, when you go to alphabetize something, you always have to go back to the song? Isn't that strange? The alphabet only has 26 letters. We use them every single day. You'd think we could remember their order without having to use a song from kindergarten, but you'd be wrong.

Can you believe that, though? There are at least 69 kicks as long or longer than Goessling's. Ray Guy's imaginary great aunt is right. His was indeed in a snowstorm in Logan, Utah, the same place Goessling kicked his. Chip Lohmiller's kick in the Metrodome was the longest indoors. Martin Gramatica's was the longest since tees were banned after 1988. I also found several 60-plus-yard kicks from the late 1800s with notations about how they were drop-kicked. Now I'm not a person who usually doubts things I read in books and random, unconfirmed web sites, but I saw Doug Flutie dropkick that ball in the NFL a few years ago, and I would have to be on some serious, Nancy-Reagan-to-the-rescue drugs to believe someone did that from 64 yards. Sorry, it probably happened. It's just not making the list.

Another thing: It's tough to keep all the divisions straight since some schools have changed several times. Kansas State, for instance, is always a difficult one to classify, since for many decades the Wildcats were only signed up for Division I football, not actually playing it. (Ha! That's my little K-State joke. You might recall I went to the University of Kansas, and Kansas State would be our No. 1 rival, you know, if the Wildcats were actually good at sports.) Really, though, there have been so many changes that it's tough to get a historical perspective on Goessling's kick.

Here's the best we can do: Of the 69 kicks, only 25 were made after 1988 when the tee was banned. That's a pretty small number when you consider how many more field goals are attempted these day. Used to be, field goals were for wimps. Real men pounded the ball up the middle on 4th-and-whatever. Now, they're still for wimps. There's just no shame in it. As for how much the 2-inch tee helped, the best comparison I can come up with is golf. Imagine having to hit your driver without the use of a tee. It's a major disadvantage.

So there's that. And you also have to consider -- and really, I think this is what makes Goessling's kick one for the ages -- that it was a game-winner. Even more than that, there was no next play. That was it. Huge pressure. No time left. On the road. It's hard to explain exactly how much having the game on the line affects a person, even one whose job description is to kick footballs with the game on the line, but it makes an enormous difference. The reason I included as many of the scores as I could was so you could see that only six of the kicks could have possibly been game-winners. Only SIX! And chances are, some of those weren't game-winners, and even if they were, there could have been time left on the clock.

All this to say the following: Ryan Goessling kicked one of the most incredibly clutch field goals in the history of college football. And this blog was there to see it. Technically, to poke fun at him at halftime, right before he did it. Glad we could help.

I will keep looking for a few of these scores and dates and try to make some even more wild field-goal-kicking conjecture in the future. If you see a score or a name or division that is incorrect, if you have corrections to the list of any kind, keep them to yourself. No one likes a showoff. Unless, of course, it's from 58 with the game on the line.