Utah Students Win Pat McAfee’s ‘College GameDay’ Kicking Contest Despite Blockers, Blown Call

The strike of the 11 a.m. ET hour brings the most popular new College GameDay segment—Pat McAfee’s kicking contest, in which a student (or students) from the host school has the chance to win hundreds of thousands of dollars—and occasionally even $1 million—along with donations to charity.

Saturday’s edition of the contest was by far the most chaotic yet, thanks to McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, a pair of people holding up 6’ 5” blockers trying to knock down a low kick and the questionable eyesight of Stanford Steve.

Garrett Morris won the contest, but the student—who considers himself a rock climber, not a kicker—called in a ringer, a move we’ve seen before. His friend Jonah Knubel, a former high school soccer player who kicked for his school’s football team as a senior and was an all-region honoree, stepped in for the attempt.

This week, McAfee was prepared for the ringer, and had a twist of his own—two people holding up 6’ 5” blockers simulating defensive linemen stationed eight yards from Knubel. Morris had the opportunity to take the kick without the blockers, but still went with Knubel for the attempt. McAfee initially put $500,000 on the line for the two students along with $250,000 for charity, but after hearing that Knubel was 3-for-5 during his senior season as a kicker, he bumped the share for the two students up to $750,000.

Knubel set to take the $1 million kick and... McAfee called a timeout to ice him, and conferred with Herbstreit about how his pick for the game would come down to Jonah’s attempt. After the brief pause, Knubel took his approach, put a boot into the ball and had the distance ... but the kick was wide right.

GOOD LUCK JONAH

FOR ONE MILLION DOLLARS

NO GOOD

HE CALLED A TIMEOUT #CollegeGameDay https://t.co/zPAPIiZ3md pic.twitter.com/5b2BtFvSuK
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 1, 2025

At this point, we know that McAfee is amenable to second chances. As Knubel’s kick sailed to the right, Morris jumped up to say he called a timeout, and after his icing attempt McAfee felt charitable and gave the duo a second chance for $250,000 between them and $250,000 to charity. Knubel again pushed the case, but it just snuck in through the uprights.

HERE WE GO JONAH

ONE MORE KICK

FOR $500,000 💰💰

IT'S GOOD #CollegeGameDay https://t.co/phIvhzrX0l pic.twitter.com/RNjtJ1NxjZ
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 1, 2025

ESPN producer/personality “Stanford Steve” Coughlin, who serves as referee for the kick each week, blew his call, but after the rest of the GameDay crew consulted instant replays from the truck, it was clear that Knubel made his second attempt and the Utah students cashed in during what was an incredibly eventful few minutes in Salt Lake City.