After more than 17 years, ESPN GameDay is heading to Vanderbilt University as they host #15 Missouri for an epic SEC showdown. With GameDay comes Pat McAfee’s famous field goal challenge. Since 2023, the students participating have won hundreds of dollars. To help the Commodores students, kicker Brock Taylor and punter Nick Haberer hosted a mini practice session for the students, which one of them is somewhat regretting.

Pat McAfee is looking for students who could attempt a 33-yard kick. So, who better than Taylor and Haberer to teach and monitor close to 100 students who turned up at the Alumni Lawn on Wednesday. The practice session went so well that now Taylor’s fearing that all of his teammates might take up his job soon. On X, he wrote about the experience of teaching others, tagging the former Colts punter, wrote, “My classmates have me worried about the future of my job. @PatMcAfeeShow.” Well, it looks like even McAfee might lose millions on campus this week.

Even though Brock Taylor may have hinted at other students posing a threat to him, he is humbly downplaying his own records. 74 for 76 on extra points and 24 for 27 on field goal tries in the last two seasons. Plus, Taylor has connected on six of seven tries from outside of 50 yards, and his career best was the 57-yard kick. Joining him to motivate others was the punter Haberer, who came in from Washington State. The Australian native averaged 40.1 yards per punt on 14 punts for 561 yards in 2024. An extra boost for the program students to earn their checks.

Pat McAfee, since the beginning of the competition, has shelled out $1.7 million in prize money. Another $1.25 million has been donated to charity. The first fan to win it in 2023 took home $30,000, and now there will be a whopping $300,000 on the line. Another generous thing is that the former Colts star puts his own money on the line week after week. Not just entertainment, but truly helping the students.

 This season, McAfee allowed substitutes to kick in for the students who don’t even have any kicking experience. Even Kirk Herbstreit helped an Alabama senior win $300,000 with a successful field goal. Singer Jelly Roll and kicker Rodrigo Blankenship teamed up to kick for $600,000 and gave it all to Alabama charity donations. The Vandy students will hope for the same to go big after sessions with Taylor, who was quick to praise their ability. Speaking about ability, their QB also has another agenda when he puts on his cleats.

Diego Pavia’s Heisman hopes get a push

Well, Vanderbilt is yet to have its first Heisman winner. This season, there’s a chance that Diego Pavia might be the one. The home team is #10 in the AP poll, which is their first time since 1947 after coming up strong against the LSU Tigers last week. The program even hyped their star QB, with a social media post, “Heisman mode ACTIVATED.” This shows that even Vandy thinks he might be the finalist and end up winning it.

Since last year, Pavia has been taking his team to new heights; it’s either breaking their 40-year drought against Alabama last year by winning against them or taking them to 7 wins. He made sure Vanderbilt always moves forward. With that, he passed for 2,293 yards with 20 TDs and just 4 interceptions last year. This year, he’s already at 1,569 yards with 15 touchdowns and 438 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground. Now, with those numbers, the Heisman slate might be in the cards for him.

Against LSU, Diego Pavia struck a Heisman pose, giving tribute to Johnny Manziel. Clearly signifying that the most prestigious accolade is definitely on his mind. If they win against Missouri, it will only solidify. Let’s wait and see how this game turns out for them.