College Gameday, a college football pregame show that has been traveling around the country since 1987, made its way to the Hoosier state. The Indiana Hoosiers, who are 7-0 for the first time since 1967, were facing the 3-4 Washington Huskies.
Indiana fans were camping outside the stadium since the night before, patiently waiting for the crew to visit Indiana for the first time.This also marked the return of legendary Indiana coach Lee Corso, who was with the Hoosier’s head coach for nine years. Also at the sports desk were Rece Davis, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee.
While college students were eager to be part of the festivities, so were Titans and people from all over the state.
“It was electric,” junior Ryan Spink said.
Kyle Shwarber was the guest picker for this week’s show. Of course he picked Indiana to win as did Saban, McAfee and Corso. Howard and Herbstreit picked the Huskies.
Each week former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat Mcafee picks one student from the respective school, and that person can win $100,000 of McAfee’s money if the individual is able to score a college extra point, which is 33 yards. The original contestant hurt himself warming up for the kick, allegedly tearing his ACL. So, Jerram Salles, an IU freshman from Chicago, took his place. Salles’ first kick was left and had no chance of going in. He was given another chance from McAfee, but this time there was $150,000 on the line. The second kick ended just the same, left of the goal post. On the other hand, Gibson Southern junior Colin Scherer nailed a field goal before the event, and the video gained more than one million views on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Bloomington’s Mayor Kerry Thomson declared October 26 as Lee Corso day to celebrate his long career with the Hoosiers. Later on in the show, Corso met his 1979 Holiday Bowl winning team, a reunion of the team that brought Indiana its first bowl game win.
The football game itself ended in an Indiana victory. Despite starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke being injured, backup Tayven Jackson finished the job. The final score was 31 -17, and Indiana moved to 8-0 for the first time since 1967, being ranked over the Alabama Crimson Tide, who have eight national championships. While Indiana off to their best start since 1967 , on the other hand their biggest rivals Purdue were off to a 1-6 start.
“It disgusts me,“ said long time Purdue football fan Collin Higginbotham.
The Hoosiers will face the Michigan Wolverines this Saturday, looking to continue their undefeated streak.
