Pat McAfee kept the “College GameDay” kicking contest at its usual $1 million mark in Salt Lake City on Saturday, a week after the prize swelled to $3 million for a BYU student thanks to outside money.
The latest contestant was Utah junior Morgan Boring, a chemical engineering major and swimmer who said before her attempt that she had never kicked a football. When she asked McAfee about the bigger payout from the previous week, she put it plainly: “Wait, wait, wait.
The BYU guy got $3 million,” she said. Her kick barely got off the ground.
Boring showed up at President’s Circle wearing a hat that said “Listen to Morgan.” She explained that the idea came from country singer Morgan Wallen, first-year Utah coach Morgan Scalley and Utes running back Wayshawn Parker.
“Wayshawn Parker had this hat, and I was like, ‘I need it. I need something like this,’” Boring said.
McAfee asked about her kicking experience, and Boring made it clear she had other strengths. “No, I’m a swimmer,” she said.
“Let’s swim over there. I’ll do a swimming competition.”
Before the kick, McAfee addressed questions about how contestants are chosen. “There’s been a lot of discussion about how we choose the kickers,” he said. “Remember, it is a raffle.”
Kirk Herbstreit then asked if those concerns had been sorted out, and McAfee explained the process again. “Three hundred people get a raffle ticket every single Saturday morning, and then it is randomly selected.”
The $1 million prize is the standard 2026 amount for the contest, split between McAfee and Home Depot, which matches his weekly pledge. Last week in Provo, Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and his business partner Ryan Sweeney each added $1 million, helping push BYU freshman Carter Smith’s second attempt to $3 million.
McAfee pointed to that donor boost when Boring brought up the BYU total. “Yeah, there were two billionaires on the side,” he said. Later, he added, “If you find another billionaire out here that is able to give, we will certainly put their money up.”
Herbstreit described Boring as “going Lou Groza style” as she lined up. McAfee liked the setup, too: “Toe kick.
I think she has a chance,” he said. “She’s a swimmer.
She’s an athlete.”
Rece Davis introduced the segment by noting, “More than $14 million handed out by Pat McAfee in the Kicking Is Easy contest,”
This season’s winners have included Texas freshman Connor Kacena-Merrell, whose Week 2 kick was worth $1.2 million, and Tennessee sophomore Colby Lamb, whose Week 4 make paid $1 million plus $500,000 for charity. Smith’s $3 million kick in Week 7 remains the contest record.
Boring became the second woman this season to miss a seven-figure attempt, following Iowa freshman Finley Banfig in Week 5 in Iowa City.
No. 10 Utah (6-0) is set to host No.
14 Houston (6-1) at Rice-Eccles Stadium at 10:15 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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