Tennessee football: Vols top 30 players since 1998 national championship

Through four years, nobody was more reliable as a kicker than James Wilhoit. Making First-Team All-SEC his senior year, Wilhoit was reliable from the start. He hit 72 percent of his field goals and went 32-of-41 his final two years on Rocky Top, while nailing field goals beyond 50 yards three different times in his career. Also, Wilhoit made 148 of 150 extra points.

But a missed extra point setting up a 50-yarder is the most famous kick he ever made. The kick heard round the world is enough to put Wilhoit on this list. It’s like he missed the extra point on purpose to set up that kick. In case you’re wondering, we’re talking about the most famous made field goal in Tennessee football history.

Throughout their history, the Vols have actually won quite a few games on field goals. Jeff Hall is most known for doing it against the Syracuse Orange. He also had a famous win in UT’s greatest win ever over the Florida Gators. But that was in 1998. Post-1998, Wilhoit managed to have the most famous field goal and greatest one against Florida in UT history.

In 2004, the Vols scored a touchdown late against Florida to make the score 28-27, but Wilhoit missed the game-tying extra point. Florida got the ball back and ran as much clock as possible. UT still managed to get the ball back. We will admit, a terrible personal foul call helped in spotting them an extra 15 yards and more time with a clock stoppage.

Freshman Erik Ainge used that advantage to get his team into field goal range. Wilhoit, with seconds left, drilled a 50-yard field goal from the right hash mark right after missing the game-tying extra point. Neyland Stadium erupted. This would be the Vols’ last win over Florida for 12 years, but it was a memorable one at the time. That play, plus his consistency puts him on here.