Berkeley

Cal student nails field goal to win $100,000 on ESPN's ‘College GameDay'

In addition to the Cal student's $100,000 field goal prize, "College GameDay” host Pat McAfee made a $600,000 donation for Hurricane Helene relief efforts.

NBC Universal, Inc.

One Cal student had a huge moment as ESPN's "College GameDay" broadcasted from the UC Berkeley campus on Saturday.

During Saturday's broadcast, Cal sophomore Daniel Villasenor nailed a 33-yard field goal in front of thousands of fans to win $100,000. Villasenor, who is studying civil engineering, did two field goal attempts during the field goal challenge segment.

During the first field goal attempt, in which the prize was worth $75,000, Villasenor missed it, but his kick impressed “College GameDay” hosts Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit that they decided to give him another chance. The hosts also talked about Villasenor's shoes as he wore some laceless Vans during the field goal attempts.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute!" McAfee said after Villasenor's first field goal attempt. "Just like everything this morning, that was a surprise."

The second chance was all Villasenor needed as he made the field goal to win the $100,000 prize and McAfee added a $600,000 donation for Hurricane Helene relief efforts. The large crowd chanted "One more shot" and "Daniel" before Villasenor made the kick.

"Damn Daniel! Damn Daniel!" McAfee said after Villasenor made the memorable kick.

"Are you kidding me?" Herbstreit reacted to the kick as well.

Villasenor told McAfee and Herbstreit that he played soccer and had kicked footballs before, but he never kicked a football from a long distance. Villasenor added that he had been on campus for the College GameDay set since 11:40 p.m. Friday.

This was the first time ESPN's "College GameDay" broadcasted from the Cal campus as the Bears are set to take on the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday night.

Contact Us