Florida State's Gabe Panikowski Now 5-for-5 on Field Goals This Season
The short version
- Gabe Panikowski made a 44-yard field goal vs. Virginia and is 5-for-5 on field goals this season
- His college stops: Sacramento State (2022), Riverside City College (2023), Idaho State (2024), Oklahoma State (2025)
- At Idaho State he went 15-for-15, earned FCS All-American honors and won the Fred Mitchell Award
- His 56-yard field goal at Idaho State was the third-longest in FCS history at the time
- FSU (2-2) plays at Louisville on Friday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. on ESPN
The Seminoles kicker has yet to miss in 2026 after college stops at Sacramento State, a California junior college, Idaho State and Oklahoma State.
Gabe Panikowski sent a 44-yard field goal through the uprights in the second quarter of Florida State's Saturday home game against Virginia at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, pushing the Seminoles in front 17-7. The successful try ran the kicker's mark this fall to five conversions without a miss.
For a Florida State team looking to solidify the position, Panikowski has delivered. His clean sheet in 2026 caps a college career with four previous stops, one that ran from junior college to the FCS and on to the FBS. If the accuracy holds, he could rank among the Seminoles' most useful assets the rest of the way.
Kickoff Saturday was set for 3:30 p.m., with ESPN2 and the ACC Network carrying the broadcast. Live updates from the game tracked a 31-7 Florida State advantage entering the fourth quarter.
Panikowski's collegiate résumé began at Sacramento State in 2022, when his duties centered almost entirely on kickoffs. He logged 17 touchbacks that season, and his kickoffs averaged 62.7 yards.
Riverside City College, a junior college, was his 2023 home. He got on the field for all 13 of the team's games and made 15 field goals on 21 attempts, production that generated a fresh opportunity at a four-year program.
The 2024 season at Idaho State was the turning point. Panikowski was true on all 15 of his field-goal tries, earning FCS All-American recognition plus the Fred Mitchell Award, presented each year to the finest kicker outside the FBS. His longest career make, a 56-yarder that season, stood third on the FCS's all-time list when he hit it.
Oklahoma State brought him aboard for 2025, but no game appearances followed, and he later surfaced at Florida State. Before college, the San Diego product prepped at Torrey Pines High School, developing into one of the area's premier special-teams players and being named Avocado League Kicker of the Year in 2020.
The Seminoles carried a 2-2 record into Saturday's ACC contest. Wins came against New Mexico State (34-17 on Aug. 29) and Central Arkansas (34-7 on Sept. 26), while losses to SMU (27-24 on Sept. 7) and at Alabama (50-36 on Sept. 19) sandwiched a Sept. 13 open date.
A Friday night visit to Louisville on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. on ESPN opens the remainder of the schedule. Florida State then travels to Miami on Oct. 17, sits out Oct. 24, hosts Clemson on Oct. 31, visits Boston College on Nov. 7, plays at Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. on ESPN, welcomes NC State on Nov. 21 and closes the regular season against Florida on Friday, Nov. 27 at 3:30 p.m. on ABC. Times and TV assignments for the other remaining games were still listed as to be determined.
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