Utah Students Win Big In Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest

SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah student Jonah Knubel may not be a household name. Still, his Pat McAfee Kicking Contest performance stole the College GameDay show for a moment on Saturday morning.

Kicking for a friend who confessed, “I can’t kick,” Knubel introduced himself to the national TV audience with a loud and proud, “Jonah!” into the mic when asked his name.

Knubel billed himself as a soccer player growing up, but was an all-region kicker his senior year of high school. When pressed for details, he confessed to making three of the five field goals he attempted, hardly a lengthy resume.

SCENES AT GAMEDAY‼️

🏈 Brought out dummies as obstacles
🏈 @PatMcAfeeShow and @KirkHerbstreit ice the kicker
🏈 First kick goes wide right
🏈 Second kick is good pic.twitter.com/Sy8PmSyVER

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 1, 2025

McAfee and Knubel bantered briefly before the former NFL punter offered $1 million if Knubel could make his first attempt.

After pushing the first kick right, McAfee offered $250,000 to charity and $125,000 to each student if he could make a second attempt. Knubel barely squeezed the next kick inside the right upright, much to the crowd’s enjoyment.

Utah Football Gameday Reading

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• Alex Smith To Return To Utah Campus As College GameDay Guest Picker

• Initial Availability Report For No. 17 Cincinnati Vs No. 24 Utah

• Utah Picks Up Big In-State Commitment Mataalii Benjamin

• New Hand-Painted Helmet For Utah Football Revealed

• Takeaways From Kyle Whittingham’s Cincinnati Week Press Conference

How To Watch Utah Vs. No. 17 Cincinnati

The Utes welcomed the ESPN College Gameday crew to town on Saturday, November 1, before hosting the Cincinnati Bearcats. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. MT.

Television

ESPN

Streaming

Fubo

YouTube TV

Sling TV

Radio

ESPN 700 AM / 92.1 FM

Mobile/Streaming Devices

ESPN app

KSL Sports Zone

The College Football Saturday pregame show will run on the KSL Sports Zone from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on gameday

Online

sports.ksl.com

Mobile

KSL Sports app

What Channel Is Utah Football On?

In the Salt Lake City market, ESPN appears on channel 402 on Xfinity, with additional HD feeds available on channels 711 and 1210.

On DirecTV, ESPN is carried nationally on channel 206.

Dish Network subscribers can find ESPN on channel 140.

Follow Utah football with KSL Sports

The Utes welcome the ESPN College Gameday crew to town on Saturday, November 1, before hosting the No. 17 Cincinnati Bearcats. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. MT.

Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.

You can find KSL Sports coverage of the Utes here.

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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24. 

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