Cal Kicker Dario Longhetto Suggests He Could Make 62-Yard Field Goal

Bears' place kicks will be from eight yards behind the line instead of seven after two kicks were blocked last year

Cal kicker Dario Longhetto booted a 52-yard field goal last season, but he suggested that’s not his limit.

“I could definitely go beyond that,” he said Monday (video above) after Cal’s fourth preseason practice. “If the coaches trust me to go out there, I definitely think I can hit anything from 62.”

Uh, 62 yards?

Well, we’ll see because Longhetto is expected to be the Bears’ kicker again this year.

In any case he will have to do it from one yard further back, since Cal holder Jamieson Sheahan will be putting the ball down eight yards behind the line of scrimmage instead of seven, as was the case most of last year.

The reason for the change is obvious. Longhetto had two kicks blocked against Stanford last year, the more significant one being the extra-point attempt that Stanford blocked with 1:51 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Cardinal a 24-23 victory.

Cal special teams coach Charlie Ragle, annoyed by the two blocked kicks, did a thorough study of all Power Five Conference teams to see how far back teams placed the ball for place kicks.

Some were at seven yards, some at seven-and-a-half and some at eight. And Ragle said most teams kick from eight yards behind the line of scrimmage.

And what will Cal do this season?

“We’ll be at eight,” Ragle said

Special team coordinator Charlie Ragle discusses the research he did.

That fine for Longhetto, who is looking ahead to a possible pro career.

“It’s what most of the NFL guys do,” said Longhetto in the video below, “so it’s nice to get a step ahead of where we would have been if we stayed at seven yards. So when we look to go to the next level we have that in our bag.”

Longhetto’s chief focus is not the possible 62-yard field goal but the ones 45 yards or less. Those are the ones kickers are expected to make.

Longhetto made four of his five field-goal attempts in 2020, the only miss being the 32-yard attempt against Stanford that was blocked. So he was perfect on kicks that got past the line of scrimmage. Maybe that extra yards will be the difference.

Longhetto insists that he tries to execute every kick the same, applying the same amount of force to an extra points as he would to a field goal from 62 yards. It’s one of the many mental issues kickers face, as Longhetto discusses in the video below.

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NOTES: Grad transfer quarterback Ryan Glover was again present at practice Monday, but again he wore neither pads nor a helmet and did not participate in any of the drills.

---Starting offensive tackle Will Craig did not participate in practice after limping off the field during Sunday’s practice. However, Craig was on the sidelines doing conditioning drills.

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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