Jackson Courville lifts Ball State over Northern Illinois with 52-yard field goal

Centerville High School graduate Jackson Courville kicked a 52-yard field goal with 2 seconds remaining to give Ball State a 25-23 victory against Northern Illinois on Saturday in Muncie, Ind.

“It was amazing, obviously,” Courville said in a postgame press conference. “With the distance, it’s kind of in the air longer, so watching that go through, shout out to (longsnapper) Tucker (Dunn) and (holder) Brian (Cooey Jr.) for the operation — getting that ball down, getting the hold down — because without them, without all the blocking guys up front, all the big men, none of that’s possible.”

Courville’s teammates lifted him onto their shoulders on the field after the game.

It was the longest field goal of Courville’s college career and fourth field goal of the game. He kicked a 24-yard field goal and a 47-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 50-yard field goal earlier in the fourth quarter. He also had a 33-yard attempt blocked with 1:53 to play in the game.

“Imagine how hard that is,” Ball State coach Mike Neu said. “It’s even harder when you know the previous one was blocked. To be able to be mentally tough enough to block that one out and forget that and trust the operation, trust the guys are going to do a great job up front, trust the snapper is going to do a great job, trust the holder is going to do a great job, that’s why we love Jackson. Obviously, he did a great job getting himself to where he’s at right now. But that’s a huge kick, man.”

Prior to the game, Courville had missed all four of his attempts of 50 yards or more.

This was Courville’s second game-winning kick against Northern Illinois. He kicked a 36-yard field goal as time expired as a freshman in 2023 in a 20-17 victory in DeKalb, Ill.

Ball State (3-5, 2-2) won the Bronze Stalk rivalry trophy for the fifth time in six seasons.

“It’s the MAC, and we’re in dogfights sometimes,” Courville said, “and those one-possession games, it comes down to things like that. There are going to be a lot more in my career, I’m sure, and there’s going to be a lot more in the MAC in general. The teams that are able to prepare for those moments and understand what they need to do in those moments, live up to them, get the win.”

Courville, a sophomore, earned the starting job in his first game as a freshman a season ago. He was the first true freshman to start at placekicker for Ball State since Morgan Hagee in 2015.

In Courville’s first season, he made 24 of 25 extra points and 15 of 21 field goals. He made 8 of 8 field goals from inside 30 yards and 12 of 13 inside 40.

At Centerville, Courville kicked the longest field goal in school history (55 yards) and set school records for most field goals in a season (13) and career (26).

After the game Saturday, Courville was asked how he keeps an even-keeled mindset with the game on the line.

“I get hyped up after the kick, obviously, because those moments are big, and I love them,” he said, “but when I’m walking out on the field, I’m straight faced because I know I’ve got to go out there and it’s just part of the job. It’s my job. So it shouldn’t be anything that’s different from any other kick. And that’s just how I approach every one.”