Cal Football: Dario Longhetto Says He'd Be Confident Trying a Field Goal From 60 Yards

The Bears senior kicker was floored when told about the longest in college history.

Cal coach Justin Wilcox asks placekicker Dario Longhetto the same two questions before each game the Bears play:

How do you feel?

From what distance are you confident trying a field goal?

Longhetto, the fifth-year senior from Newbury Park in southern California, said wind and weather factor significantly into his response. But he has told Wilcox he’s OK as far out as 55 or 60 yards.

“Personally, I’m comfortable going on the field anytime coach puts me out there,” he says in the video at the top of this story. “Whether that’s from 65 (yards) or a PAT, I’m going to go out there with the same mindset and go be successful.”

Dario Longhetto connects vs. USC last season.

Photo by John Hefti, USA Today

Longhetto’s career-long field goal is 52 yards, which he converted at Oregon State in 2020. A week ago, during Cal’s final public scrimmage, he easily booted one through from 55 yards.

While practicing in high school one day he successfully delivered from 63 yards.

“It’s probably better than that now,” he said. “I’m more focused on being 100 percent on the kicks I’m going to get the majority of them from . Within 45, I want to be 100 percent. That’s where I spend most of my time training.”

Longhetto was 11 for 14 on field goal tries last season -- missing just once inside 48 yards -- and is 15 for 20 during his Cal career. He believes he should make ‘em all, as he did vs. Colorado last season, going 4-for-4, including kicks from 49 and 51 yards.

But he was blown when we shared the story about the longest field goal ever made in a college game.

It was in 1976, and Ove Johansson, a former soccer player from Sweden, kicked a 69-yard field goal for Abilene Christian against East Texas State. According to published reports, officials say it would been good from 75 yards.

“That’s a big kick,” Longhetto acknowledges in the video above. “Props to him.”

Think about it: 69-yard field goal is booted from the kicker’s 41-yard line.

The previous college record was 65 yards by Texas A&M’s Tony Franklin and was set — believe it or not —on the same day,  just 10 minutes before Johansson connected on his monster kick.

“That is mind-blowing,” Longhetto said of Johansson's effort. “We haven’t even seen that in professional football yet. It’s impressive.”

He’s right. The NFL record was a 66-yard game-winning by the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Tucker against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 26, 2021.

Would Longhetto even dare to try a practice kick as long as 69 yards?

“I’d 100 percent try it,” he said. “I’d try an 80-yard field goal if they asked me to.”

.In the video above, Longhetto talks his preparation for this season, and how his mother, Loretto Longhetto, a former multi-sport athlete, has helped him sharpen his mental approach to kicking.

Cover photo of Cal placekicker Dario Longhetto

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo