ORONO, Maine — In a close football game, it may all come down to a kick.
The pressure on a field goal kicker is enormous.
You can be the hero who is carried off the field on the shoulders of your jubilant teammates after making a game-winning field goal or extra point. Or you can be the goat who is comforted by your teammates after missing one.
The University of Maine’s football team has played in eight games decided by three points or fewer over the previous four seasons, and head coach Jordan Stevens knows if they are in any close ones again this season, they have a proven commodity in kicker Samuel Tremblay.
Tremblay is a Phil Steele preseason Football Championship Subdivision fourth team All-American after coming off a season in which he missed just one field goal and one extra point. He was a finalist for the Fred Mitchell Award, which goes to the nation’s best kicker in the five divisions below the Football Bowl Subdivision. UMaine is in the Football Championship Subdivision.
He is also an All-Coastal Athletic Association preseason honorable mention.
Tremblay connected on nine of his 10 field goal attempts in 2025 and 35 of his 36 extra-point tries and led the team in scoring with 62 points.
Over UMaine’s previous 20 seasons, the Black Bears’ average field goal percentage was just 63.1 percent (185-for-293). Tremblay’s 90 percent rate was tops among all the kickers over that span.
“It always feels good knowing once you get to a certain yard marker, you’ve got automatic points on the board,” said UMaine All-CAA offensive tackle and co-captain Anthony Iliano. “It’s always a good sense of security. It’s good to have that.”
Tremblay, a Quebec City native, began kicking in sixth grade.
“I played soccer growing up. But my older brother [William] was a big inspiration for me, and I saw him playing football. They were kicking in practice, and I thought I’d like to try that,” explained Tremblay, who eventually became the No. 1-ranked kicker in Canada in 2019.
He connected on 19 of 20 field goals from inside the 35-yard line and, as a punter, placed 54 punts inside the 20-yard line.
He came to UMaine in 2024 and hit his two PATs and averaged 37.5 yards per punt on his 10 punts. Joey Bryson was the field goal kicker that year and went 9-for-13. Aidan Cadogan was the No. 1 punter and averaged 40.96 yards per punt.
He was happy with his 2025 season but said that’s behind him now.
“It was a great season, but everything has to be done again this year. Nothing is given. I’m taking it day by day, kick by kick,” Tremblay said. “I’ve been working on my consistency. I want to stay consistent. That’s always something you can always improve.”
Stevens said he and the coaching staff challenged Tremblay to increase his leg strength in the offseason and “he’s done that.”
“All winter, I focused on building my leg strength in the weight room,” said Tremblay, who has a career-long 45-yard field goal, which he hit in a 20-13 victory over Merrimack.
With a stronger leg, he expects to expand his range.
“He has a great work ethic,” said redshirt junior defensive end and co-captain Kye Pressley. “He’s always in the locker room early, getting extra kicks in and focusing on his leg strength. He is somebody who wants to win.”
There is a lot of pressure on kickers, but Tremblay takes it in stride.
“You have to stay in the game. Whenever your name is called, you’ve got to try to execute to the best of your ability,” Tremblay said. “You build your preparation throughout the week, like practicing, watching tape and visualizing.
“It’s a big mental game. But, at the end of the day, it’s a game and you just try to have fun and execute to the best of your ability.”
Tremblay’s excellence on the field is matched by his prowess in the classroom.
The graduate student was named the Outstanding Graduating International Student for the Maine Business School last spring. He is working towards his master’s degree.
He is a tutor, a mentor and an ambassador for the business school while has also been the president of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. He has also been a representative for the student athlete advisory committee.
“I really love it here. I like to get involved in different stuff on campus, outside of football,” said Tremblay, who wants to be known as more than just a football player.
“He has really maximized his opportunities here, not only as a player but also as a student,” Stevens said. “He is involved in things all over campus. He is somebody who is really driven to excel in whatever he does.”
Tremblay is looking forward to the season and the opener at Towson University in Maryland on Thursday, Aug. 27.
“I like our team,” Tremblay said. “It is a really close group, and championship teams are really close. I’m excited to see what we can do next Thursday and moving forward with the season.”