The $1.2 Million Kick Heard Around College Football: A Hoosier UT Freshman Drills 33-Yarder on College GameDay

The $1.2 Million Kick Heard Around College Football: Hoosier from Zionsville, IN, in Texas Comes Through -- Score it and get him a jersey!

AUSTIN, Texas — Most college freshmen worry about finding their classrooms, passing midterms and whether there is enough money left on the meal plan. Connor Kaceu-Merrell may need a financial adviser before he needs a tutor.

The University of Texas freshman from Zionsville, Indiana, became an instant College GameDay sensation Saturday morning when he stepped up for Pat McAfee’s “Kicking Is Easy” challenge and drilled a 33-yard field goal left-footed. With a national television audience watching and an enormous amount of money riding on one swing of his leg, the Hoosier in Texas came through.

The result was staggering: $1.2 million, split with $600,000 going to Kaceu-Merrell and another $600,000 going to charity, according to College GameDay. Not bad for a freshman who started Saturday morning as another face in the crowd.

There was plenty of Indiana flavor to the moment. Kaceu-Merrell grew up in Zionsville, while Pat McAfee became an Indianapolis sports institution during his years punting for the Colts before building one of the biggest personalities and brands in sports media.

McAfee’s kicking challenge has become one of College GameDay’s most entertaining traditions. Students selected from the crowd attempt a 33-yard field goal with increasingly enormous sums of money on the line. The contest has also generated millions of dollars in prizes and charitable contributions.

Saturday morning, the Indiana kid didn’t buckle under the pressure. Kaceu-Merrell stepped up and knocked the ball through the uprights with his left foot, setting off a wild celebration and instantly changing his financial situation.

At 18 or 19 years old, most freshmen who suddenly have $600,000 might be tempted to start shopping. HE has some free advice for this particular freshman: call Mom and Dad, then find a good CPA and financial adviser. The tutor can wait until Monday.

Then there is the obvious question in today’s college-football world: Can this kid kick for Texas?

Obviously, making one field goal in a television contest doesn’t make someone a Division I kicker. But there are scholarship kickers around the country who would happily take a 33-yarder straight down the middle while $1.2 million is riding on it.

College football is now swimming in NIL money, and specialists are getting their share. So don’t be surprised if somebody jokingly checks the transfer portal this weekend for Connor Kaceu-Merrell, K, Zionsville, Indiana. His résumé is short but impressive: one nationally televised pressure kick, one make, zero misses and $600,000 in earnings.

That works out to roughly $600,000 per successful field goal, which should at least get somebody in the Texas athletic department to return his call.

Kaceu-Merrell wasn’t finished creating television. During the celebration, the freshman appeared to accidentally leave Texas superfan and Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey hanging on a high-five. It was another funny moment in the chaos, although perhaps understandable when you have just made more money with one kick than many Americans earn over several years.

McConaughey will probably recover. More importantly, the charitable side of McAfee’s contest shouldn’t get lost in the fun. Another $600,000 was designated for charity, meaning Kaceu-Merrell’s left foot didn’t merely change his own college experience. It produced a substantial charitable contribution as well.

There is something wonderfully Hoosier about the entire episode. Take an Indiana kid, send him more than 1,000 miles from home to Texas, put him on national television, hand him a football and tell him there is $1.2 million riding on what happens next. The Hoosier came through.

For Zionsville, Kaceu-Merrell now has one of those hometown stories that will be told for years. For College GameDay, it was terrific live television. For charity, it meant $600,000. And for one University of Texas freshman from Indiana, Saturday morning produced an entirely different kind of college financial-aid package.

Connor Kaceu-Merrell doesn’t need an NIL deal to become the newest $600,000 kicker in college football. He already earned the money the old-fashioned Hoosier way: when his number was called, he came through.

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