After 38 straight years of watching Lee Corso carry us through the best games of the college football season, last year was the first without him. Pat McAfee and the others did their best to fill the gap. But the void would always be too big to be completely filled. Even though Corso is never going to be back on the show, he still has the strength to do some outlandish things at his grand old age, especially if it was for an old friend.

Kirk Herbstreit spent Thursday evening in Orlando, at a Florida Citrus Sports event, talking college football with On3’s Andy Staples. The event was sold out, marking Herbstreit’s return to Central Florida ahead of another busy college football season. But the most memorable part of the evening happened after Herbstreit arrived.

A familiar face wanted to see him. The Ohio State alum offered to arrange a ride, thinking that would be the sensible thing to do. Instead, his long-time former colleague and mentor decided he could handle the trip himself. That was the legendary Lee Corso. Herbstreit shared the story on X, posting a picture with Corso on August 13, calling him the “Sunshine Scooter.”

“Coach wanted to come say hello when I landed,” Herbstreit wrote on X. “‘I said, ‘Of course, Coach, I would love to see ya—can I get ya a ride over?'” He said, ‘Forget about it—I’m driving over.’ I said, ‘Coach, cmon man, no way you’re 91; you’re not drivin over.'” Needless to say, I lost that battle.”

The relationship between Corso and Herbstreit goes back nearly three decades, long before Herbstreit became one of ESPN’s most recognizable college football analysts. Corso joined College GameDay when the show began in 1987, while Herbstreit joined the program in 1996. He has previously described Corso as a mentor and a father figure.

Corso’s headgear picks became the signature of the show. For years, millions of viewers waited for him to put on a mascot head and make his prediction for the day’s biggest game. The catchphrase, “Not so fast, my friend,” became almost as recognizable as the man himself. ESPN credited Corso with helping drive the growth of College GameDay and college football’s television culture when he retired last year.

The former Indiana head coach has always carried a sort of unwavering reverence in Herbstreit’s mind. In his book Out of the Pocket, the ESPN analyst has extensively discussed their relationship since he started appearing on GameDay. When Herbstreit auditioned for the show in 1996, Corso was the one who walked him through the whole process and helped him settle down.

There was also a serious moment that showed just how close the two had become. In May 2009, Corso suffered a significant stroke. Herbstreit later wrote about receiving the news from GameDay producer Lee Fitting. Despite the health setback, Corso continued to appear on the program for years, with ESPN colleagues adapting around him as he kept doing what he loved. That relationship is the reason Corso didn’t think twice about driving through the thunderstorm to meet Herbstreit, even as he is 91 and retired last year.

“He drove over through a thunderstorm, and we spent some time together,” Herbstreit wrote. “Was so good to see him and share a few laughs and get some advice that he can only provide. He looks and sounds amazing! Love ya LC!!”

For Herbstreit, the evening was probably a reminder of how much Corso has meant to his career. The younger analyst who once leaned on Corso before his GameDay audition has now become one of ESPN’s leading voices. Yet the relationship has never really changed.

McAfee’s many methods to keep the magic alive

The fans have missed him and his replacements are trying a lot of new things to keep the show’s magic intact. Pat McAfee has sort of taken the mantle of providing out of the box activities to get the crowd engaged.

First is the field goal kicking contest. This has emerged as the definitive modern successor to Lee Corso’s mascot headgear pick. Funded out of McAfee’s own pocket, a student is selected from the crowd to attempt a 33-yard field goal, which is the distance of an NFL extra point.

The prize money routinely skyrockets. Kicks regularly feature stakes ranging from $150,000 to upwards of $1 million to $2 million for the student and associated charities.

McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit frequently “ice” the student kickers by calling mock timeouts. If a student has zero kicking experience, McAfee dynamically changes the rules, allowing them to bring in soccer-playing substitutes or letting Herbstreit throw a football through the uprights.

There are also stadium-style sing-alongs and chants right from the stage to maximize crowd volume. McAfee leans heavily into local culture, shouting hyper-specific, inside-joke town phrases that occasionally shock the standard ESPN production truck when the crowd aggressively chants back.

McAfee also leverages his background as a WWE enthusiast to pull off chaotic visual gags. For example, during a stop at the University of Miami, he stripped completely out of his formal suit on-air to perform a pencil dive into a nearby pool right after picking the Hurricanes. He also treats legendary, straight-faced coach Nick Saban like a straight-man comedic foil, frequently goading him into humorous, out-of-character interactions.

Whether these will be enough to replace Lee Corso is yet to be seen. But at least in the short term, it seems to be working. Yet despite all of the new games and action involved, there is something still missing. A sort of simple spirit of the game that only a long term veteran like Corso could bring.