The One that Should be Talked About: Lucas Carneiro and His 2025 Success

Special teams is often an overlooked position, but its vital to the success, which was seen throughout the success of the 2025 season.

Ole Miss football kicker Lucas Carneiro broke records, pushed the Rebels to the finish line, and decided to return to the Rebels for the 2026 season.

Who is Lucas Carneiro?

Mississippi Rebels place kicker Lucas Carneiro prepares to kick the ball against the Georgia Bulldogs in the second half during the 2025 Sugar Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff at Caesars Superdome. | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Carneiro is an upcoming Senior from Cornelius, North Carolina. He transferred this past season from Western Kentucky to be a Rebel, coming in January of his sophomore year to begin competing in spring drills.

He proved his place as the portal’s top transfer kicker in the 2025 round. Keeping him at Ole Miss was crucial to the success, yet there were many threats to acquiring the kicker, as well as the NFL as an option.

Let’s Talk Stats

In the 2025 College Playoffs, Carneiro went nine for ten field goal attempts and in the season went 31 for 35, giving him a field goal percentage of 88.6%. Carneiro is only topped by a few players with above 20 attempts, Kansei Matsuzawa from Hawaii taking the cake with a 93.1%, with six fewer kicks, going 27 for 29 attempts.

Despite the percentage, Carneiro is ranked the no. one kicker in all conferences, followed by two other SEC kickers in the top ten. Damian Ramos from LSU and Tate Sandell from OU are tied for fifth with only 24 field goals made.

Taking a look into the long game, he was 5 for 7 on field for kicks 50 plus yards, bringing down his percentage to 71%, which for distance that As for points after touchdowns, he had a perfect 56 for 56 extra points.

Sure Was Sweet to Have Him as a Rebel in the Sugar Bowl

In the first quarter of the Sugar Bowl against longtime rival, the Georgia Bulldogs, Carneiro broke the Sugar Bowl record, not once, but twice. In the first quarter of the game, he obtained a 55-yard field goal, his career long and a Sugar Bowl Record. Out kicking, Oklahoma’s John Carroll’s 1972 53-yard kick.

Without a touchdown in sight, Carneiro broke his own record and made a 56-yarder with 2:13 left in the first quarter, placing another three on the board, taking the lead to 6-0. The Rebels took the lead from there, allowing Carneiro to finish off the game 2-2 for extra points.

When the last seconds of the game turned out tied, the Rebels turned to Carneiro, who nailed another field goal, taking the Rebels to Arizona with 47 yards of pure accuracy. The Rebels tasted sweet victory, 39-34, to defeat the Bulldogs.

What to Expect for the 2026 Season for Carniero

Carneiro is not looking to build from the past season, but to start over and find new success. This spring has been full of continuous process and dialing down what is necessary.

His main goal is to always be ready.

"When it's season time and PG throws me out there for a kick, I'm ready to go no matter what the situation is” said Carneiro to 247 Sports.

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