Vanderbilt Kickers Help Fellow Students Prepare for Pat McAfee's Field Goal Challenge

ESPN's "College GameDay" is heading to Vanderbilt this week.

Vanderbilt students prepare for Pat McAfee's field goal challenge before College GameDay comes to campus. / Dylan Tovitz/X.

For the first time since 2008, ESPN's College GameDay is heading to Vanderbilt as the No. 10 Commodores prepare to host No. 15 Missouri. Vanderbilt is not taking the opportunity for granted.

Every week on College Gameday, analyst Pat McAfee hosts a kicking contest and invites a student from the crowd to attempt a 33-yard field goal. If the field goal is successful, the student has a chance at making hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So far this season, an Ohio State sophomore, Oklahoma freshman, Penn State student and Georgia student have all successfully made field goals and cashed in. Additionally, Kirk Herbstreit won an Alabama senior $300,000 by throwing the ball through the uprights, while country singer Jelly Roll enlisted kicker Rodrigo Blankenship to make the field goal and donate $600,000 to Alabama charities. Through eight weeks in the 2025 season, a combined $1.85 million has been doled out to these students and charities.

Vanderbilt is also looking to see one of their students cash in on the challenge. Per The Athletic, the school's student newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler, came up with the idea of having the football team's kickers help students try to prepare for a field goal attempt. Their plan was put into action on Thursday, when kicker Brock Taylor and punter Nick Haberer held a clinic for students to better their chances at making the field goal and winning the prize.

👀 https://t.co/ErEokHazCs

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 22, 2025

We'll see Saturday if the efforts end up helping a Vanderbilt student walk away with a significant prize.

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