Indiana football fan suffers brutal knee injury before ‘College Gameday’ $100K kicking challenge

Double the pressure and none of the money. An Indiana University football fan ruined his chances at winning $100,000 when he tore his ACL warming up for Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest on “College GameDay” Saturday morning. Jake, the amped-up Hoosier fanatic, was showing off for part of the crowd before his national television spotlight when catastrophe struck, McAfee said on the broadcast. Footage posted on social media captured Jake warming up behind the iconic orange Home Depot stage with an imaginary field goal, running up to the invisible ball and giving it his all. Jake’s momentum caused him to slip backward onto the grass as his leg bent under his body. Jake ultimately blew out his knee and was taken to the hospital, McAfee said. The challenge chooses participants through a raffle to fans that arrive at “the Pit” for “College GameDay.” They are randomly selected, can not be a current or former college athlete, and are given only one shot at the 33-yard field goal. The contest’s rules have required “alternatives” to be selected in case of an emergency situation. Jeram Salles was the “alternate” selected to replace Jake in the 33-yard kick as he got a pep talk from the former NFL player. “The first kicker, Jake, tore his ACL warming up behind the stage,” McAfee explained to Salles. “You’re the second pick, if you make this kick both you and Jake will make $100,000.” “So it’s not just for you, it’s for a knee that was blown out earlier,” he quipped before stepping out of the way as Kirk Herbstreit held the ball for Salles. The freshman, finance major went with a short approach to the kick, and when he booted it the ball sailed wide left and into the crowd of hundreds of Hoosier fans. McAfee agreed to allow Salles one more kick — even upping the ante. “For $150,000. For you and for Jake with the blown-out knee, and for the entire world to know that Hoo Hoo Hoosiers show up in the big moment,” McAfee told the nervous undergrad. With all the motivation and pumping “The Pat McAfee Show” puta little too much faith into Salles, as again the ball was shanked wide left of the field goal. “Alright Jeram you can go on to great things, but you suck at kicking,” he told the student. “And that’s a beautiful thing.” Salles’ kick Saturday may not have been the worst since McFee started the challenge, as a student at the University of South Carolina dramatically shanked his attempt with $122,000 on the line. “Worst kick of all time,” McAfee said in the immediate aftermath. “This kid sucks.”