Tennessee football: Vols 10 most memorable field goals in school history

4. 1968: Karl Kremser, 54-yard field goal

Tennessee beats Alabama 10-9

We go way back in history for this one. Tennessee football was in its peak with Doug Dickey as defending SEC Champions from 1967, a year that would retroactively become a national championship season for them.

The Vols were 3-0-1 and set to host an Alabama Crimson Tide team that was 3-1 and had only suffered a close loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. Bear Bryant’s team traveled to Knoxville for a defensive slugfest, and that’s what it became.

With the score 7-3 heading into the fourth quarter, Karl Kremser kicked a 54-yard field goal to give the Vols a 10-3 lead. Alabama later scored a touchdown, and Bryant went for the win and failed. As a result, this field goal was the difference for the Vols.

On top of being the difference, it secured Tennessee football a win over Alabama, which is always good, and it came in the fourth quarter. But above all else, it was the longest kick in SEC history at the time. So while it wasn’t a lead-changing kick, and while it didn’t come late in the fourth, it still mattered.

That alone was enough for us to put Kremser’s kick on the list. He did a heck of a job and deserves recognition for delivering the Vols a major win over Alabama, their second straight in the series at the time. The win allowed UT to go 8-2-1 on the year, and the kick allowed the win. So it belongs here.