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How Much Money Pat McAfee Has Given Away in 2025 ‘College GameDay’ Kicking Contest Through Week 13

Pat McAfee’s kicking contest has become a new staple of ESPN’s “College GameDay.”

Tyler Lauletta

The Utah edition of Pat McAfee’s kicking contest on ‘College GameDay’ was the most chaotic yet.
The Utah edition of Pat McAfee’s kicking contest on ‘College GameDay’ was the most chaotic yet. / via Pat McAfee Show on X
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Heading into the 2025 college football season, it was clear that it would be a year of transition for ESPN’s College GameDay.

Lee Corso, who had served as a commentator on the show for nearly four decades, was retiring after one final appearance in Week 1. While no one could replace Corso, it had been clear since last year that ESPN had positioned Pat McAfee to be the new heartbeat of the show, with his wrestling-style promos for the home team serving as a solid new anchor for the show in the wake of Corso’s mascot-head pick.

But beyond taking over the final pick of the weekend, McAfee’s impact on GameDay has been felt since he first started appearing on the show, most notably with his kicking contest, where he invites a student from the GameDay crowd to attempt a 33-yard field goal with big money on the line.

The kicking contest has become a staple of GameDay, with McAfee and the show giving away $1.7 million last year after successful kicks between offerings to the students that make the kicks and several charities.

“It’s truly all Pat’s money,” ESPN vice president of production Matthew Garrett told The Athletic before the start of the season. “He wanted it to be his. We are the beneficiaries of his generosity in making that moment happen.”

This year we’re tracking the results of each week’s kick on College GameDay, and the money that McAfee is giving out in the process.

Week 1—Texas at Ohio State

Money on the line: $250,000

Kick result: Make

2025 giveaway total: $250,000

The student kickers started off 2025 with a bang, with Logan, an Ohio State sophomore, splitting the uprights for $250,000. Despite the big money on the line—and the fact that Kirk Herbstreit’s dog took a poop just moments before his kick in what sure felt like an ill omen—Logan drilled his attempt to take home the cash. Bonus points for making it on what looked like a pretty terrible grass surface.

Week 2—Michigan at Oklahoma

Money on the line: $300,000 ($200,000 to student, $100,000 to charity)

Kick result: Make

2025 giveaway total: $550,000

It was Jack, a freshman accounting major at Oklahoma, who stepped up to the challenge in Week 2. A lefty who said he was keeping calm with the help of some Frank Ocean, Jack’s kick was perfect from the moment it left his foot while the crowd was chanting his name.

Week 3—Georgia at Tennessee

Money on the line: $600,000

Kick result: Miss

2025 giveaway total: $550,000

Week 3 was Gavin, a nuclear engineering major, who took his turn under the spotlight. Gavin assured McAfee that he had never kicked before in his life, which McAfee celebrated. McAfee initially volunteered $200,000 from himself and $200,000 more from Herbstreit, as well as a $100,000 donation to the Pat Summit foundation.

Gavin’s first kick went wide left, but after some egging on from the crowd, McAfee offered a second chance, adding another $100,000 to the pile. The second attempt was closer, but just a bit short of the crossbar.

Week 4—Florida at Miami

Money on the line: $500,000

Kick result: Miss

2025 giveaway total: $550,000

In the Miami heat, Henry, a finance major, tagged in his buddy Giovanni, who didn’t even attend school at the U, to take his kick. The duo said they were splitting the prize 50/50, planning to “give money to our hometown friends.” McAfee pushed his offer to $500,000, but Gio’s kick went way left.

He was also offered a second attempt, and while it was straight, he came up short.

Week 5—Oregon at Penn State

Money on the line: $300,000

Kick result: Make

2025 giveaway total: $850,000

William, a finance major from Virginia, won the raffle to serve as the student kicker when GameDay went to Happy Valley. Rather than take the kick himself, he made the bold call to put his trust in another from the crowd, Carson, who played soccer in high school.

McAfee said the kick was initially going to be worth $100,000, but when he was assured that the two would be splitting the prize evenly, he upped the giveaway to $300,000. Carson’s kick was perfect, and could’ve hit from much further out, sending both him and William home as winners.

Week 6—Vanderbilt at Alabama

Money on the line: $500,000

Kick result: Miss

2025 giveaway total: $850,000

Alabama senior Gabby, a chemical engineering major, won the raffle to kick when College GameDay in Tuscaloosa for the Crimson Tide’s game against Vanderbilt. Despite having zero kicking experience, Gabby said she wanted to attempt the kick herself rather than call in a ringer as some other lottery winners had done. McAfee put up $300,000 for the kick, with Herbstreit putting up another $200,000.

Gabby’s amazingly positive attitude was not enough to carry her kick through the uprights. But as Lee Corso would have once said... Not so fast my friends.

McAfee went to offer Gabby another chance at the kick, but instead decided to hand the ball over to Herbstreit, who would attempt to throw the ball through the uprights for Gabby with $300,000 on the line. A former quarterback, Herbie had no issue with the throw.

Money on the line: $300,000

Kick (Throw) Result: Make

2025 giveaway total: $1.15 million

Week 7—Indiana at Oregon

Money on the line: $250,000 and a car from Nick Saban

Kick result: Miss

2025 giveaway total: $1.15 million

Oregon freshman Luka stepped up to the challenge with College GameDay in Eugene. Luka brought a ton of energy to his kick, being sure to shout out the Bay on several occasions. He did not, however, have that great of a kick.

With Kirk Herbstreit already en route from GameDay to get down south and call the Red River Rivalry, Nick Saban was called upon to be the holder this time around. McAfee’s initial offer was for $250,000 and a car from Saban’s dealership, which is apparently a thing, I guess.

Luka barely made contact with the ball. After seeing the brutal attempt, McAfee upped his offer to $500,000 each from himself and Saban. Admirably, Luka was totally game, and to his credit, he made better contact with the ball this time around. But it was far from enough to kick it through the uprights.

Let this be a lesson to any potential GameDay kickers out there—be sure to wear the right footwear.

Also, I want to note that there appears to be a discrepency between our current count of McAfee’s giveaway and the one that ESPN shows on the graphic at the start of this video. I think that the ESPN is showing last year’s giveaway totals, but will be checking those numbers.

Week 8—Ole Miss at Georgia

Money on the line: $700,000 ($100,000 to student, $600,000 to charity)

Kick result: Second-chance make

2025 giveaway total: $1.85 million

College GameDay’s trip to Athens, Ga. was an eventful one for McAfee’s kicking contest. Psych major Ben was joined by guest picker Jelly Roll, who wanted to try his own luck at a field goal for some charity dollars.

Jelly Roll made good contact, but sent his initial attempt wide left. After getting the “One More Kick” treatment from the crowd, Jelly Roll called in former Bulldogs kicker “Hot Rod” Rodrigo Blankenship to take the kick for him. He drilled it right down the middle, sending $600,000 to Georgia charities.

Ben had a tough act to follow, and with $400,000 on the line, plenty of pressure. He went socks only for his kick, showing a bit of confidence in his ability. Apparently he had been practicing a bit in case the chance to kick for cash came up.

Unfortunately, Ben pushed his kick wide left despite making great contact.

While the show went to commercial break, apparently McAfee gave Ben a second shot at the uprights for $100,000, which he absolutely nailed.

So after all of that bouncing around, it was a $700,000 day for McAfee & Co.

You can see how the math can be hard to track sometimes with this event.

Week 9—Missouri at Vanderbilt

Money on the line: $750,000 ($500,000 to student, $250,000 to charity)

Kick result: Best make we’ve seen

2025 giveaway total: $2.6 million

Every student that steps up to the challenge of kicking a field goal with so much money on the line on national television is a hero in their own right, but among those heroes, a true champion emerged from College GameDay’s trip to Nashville.

That champion is Tyler Hwang.

A chemical engineering and econ major, Hwang boasted full confidence ahead of his kick, noting that he was a high school soccer player and had kicked for his high school football team his senior year as well. McAfee put the pressure on him, making the 33-yard kick worth $500,000 for him and another $250,000 for charity.

Hwang stepped off the kick and drilled what has to be the best field goal we’ve seen from a student in the history of the contest. This thing was good from 50.

Hwang took a victory lap around the kicking area, and then pulled out McAfee’s golf shot celebration from his NFL days to top the highlight off.

Vanderbilt’s kicking unit got props earlier this week for hosting a training session for students who hoped to win the raffle and be chosen as McAfee’s kicker for the day. As it turns out, Hwang probably could have helped lead the seminar.

Week 10—Cincinnati at Utah

Money on the line: $500,000 ($250,000 to two students, $250,000 to charity)

Kick result: Second-chance make

2025 giveaway total: $3.1 million

No GameDay kicking contest had the same number of moving parts as the Week 10 edition from Salt Lake City. Accounting major and avowed rock climber Garrett Morris won the draw, but as a non-kicker, he tabbed a ringer—fellow Utah student and former all-region high school kicker Jonah Knubel. With Knubel, and not Morris, kicking, McAfee brought out two “blockers,” a pair of young people holding up large arms to simulate 6’ 5” defensive linemen.

McAfee initially put $500,000 on the line to the two students, along with $250,000 to a local charity. After finding out that Knubel was just 3-for-5 as a kicker, however, he bumped it up to a full million—$750,000 to Morris and Knubel and the $250,000 to charity.

Knubel set to kick but McAfee iced him, saying that his Utah vs. Cincy pick would come down to the kick. When he finally put shoe to leather, Knubel’s kick had plenty of distance but sailed wide right, but after Morris called a timeout, McAfee honored it and granted the pair a second attempt, for $250,000 between them with the additional $250,000 to charity.

The kick snuck in past the right upright, and despite referee Stanford Steve ruling it no-good, replay showed that the kick was clearly a make.

With the make, McAfee has given money away in seven of 10 weeks so far (one of which was on a Kirk Herbstreit throw through the uprights after a miss by the Alabama contestant in Week 6).

Week 11—BYU at Texas Tech

Money on the line: $500,000 ($250,000 to student, $250,000 to charity)

Kick result: Second-chance make

2025 giveaway total: $3.6 million

Texas Tech biology major John Machtolff stepped up as the student to take on McAfee’s kicking challenge in Week 11. Machtolff had some unfinished business between himself and the football uprights—he told McAfee that he missed an extra point in his junior year of high school that lost his team the state championship and himself the kicking job in his senior year.

With the stage set, Machtolff took his shot, and curled his kick wide left. But McAfee, ever the showman, was egged on by the crowd as he always is for a second kick, and ultimately relented.

Machtolff’s second kick was true, earning him a nice little payday.

Week 12—Notre Dame at Pittsburgh

Money on the line: $1.5 million ($1 million to student, $500,000 to charity)

Kick result: Miss

2025 giveaway total: $3.6 million

Back in McAfee’s home town, it was a Pitt student named Max who won the raffle and stepped up to the kicking challenge. Max did not have previous experience as a kicker, and was not even a former soccer player as many contestants before him had been. Nevertheless, he borrowed cleats from another fan in the crowd and admirably attempted the kick on his own.

Max’s kick was a throwback to previous iterations of the kicking contest, when makes were much rarer and wide shots into the crowd far more common. His second attempt did not improve. It’s a tough break for Max, but huge credit to him for putting the ball on his own foot rather than trying to find a ringer in the crowd.

Week 13—USC at Oregon

Money on the line: $100,000

Kick result: Second-chance make

2025 giveaway total: $3.7 million

Computer science major Otto was up to kick when GameDay was in Eugene, Ore. ahead of the Ducks’ matchup against USC. Before his attempt, a member of the Oregon dance team, Riley, had the chance to increase the value of Otto’s kick. She came up just short, but gave it a valiant effort.

Otto missed his initial attempt for $250,000, but McAfee was once again guilt-tripped into giving him a second chance at the kick for $100,000, which Otto struck true while the show was in a commercial break. Good kicking from the Oregon students all around.

Week 14—Ohio State at Michigan

Money on the line: $1,000,000

Kick result: Second-chance miss

2025 giveaway total: $3.7 million

College GameDay closed out the regular season with a trip to The Big House as Michigan hosted Ohio State in the 2025 edition of The Game.

Stepping up to the kicking challenge was nuclear engineering major Grant, who admitted to having no kicking experience heading into the big moment. McAfee first put up $500,000 for the first kick, which Grant made solid contact on but hooked to the left.

For the second-chance attempt, McAfee doubled the offering, putting $1 million on the line for one final kick. Grant gave it an admirable effort in cold and windy conditions, and got good distance on the kick, but once again hooked it left.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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