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A Livermore High School graduate now studying at the University of California at Berkeley became a viral sports sensation on Saturday morning when he kicked a 33-yard field goal on ESPN’s “College GameDay” to win $100,000 for himself and $600,000 for Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
Daniel Villasenor was picked for the promotional “Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest” segment on the pregame television show, which aired live from the Cal campus before the day’s college football slate.
Wearing slip-on checkered Vans, which elicited a couple of comments from hosts McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit, Villasenor pushed the first attempt for $75,000 wide right, but it had the distance.
McAfee upped the ante for a second and final attempt, telling Villasenor not only would he receive $100,000 if he made the kick but they would match with another $100,000 on top of the $500,000 the show already committed to Hurricane Helene relief in the eastern U.S.
With Herbstreit on the hold, Villasenor stood down the pressure of the TV cameras and scores of live fans to drill a low-flight kick through the uprights and win the prize. The crowd erupted, as did the winner and hosts.
The clip of Villasenor’s successful field goal became a top sports trend on social media for most of the morning.
“College GameDay”, which travels around the country for a different filming location each Saturday of the football season, picked Cal for its location for the first time this week.
Villasenor told the hosts in a quick pre-kick interview that he’d been camping out since 11:40 the night before at the spot on campus where the TV show was being filmed. “It was packed. Everyone was lined up behind trying to get into the grass. It was crazy, a lot of fun,” he said.
While the morning would be euphoric for the civil engineering sophomore, the night would bring heartbreak for the underdog Bears that Villasenor cheers on. Cal blew a 25-point lead in the second half to fall 39-38 to the No. 9-ranked Miami Hurricanes.
