ESPN Images selects from previous GameDay trips to Texas

• College football’s premier pregame show heads to Austin, Texas, for a full ‘ESPN Texas Takeover’ weekend and top-5 SEC matchup
• Week 7 Special Guests: Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, Longhorns legend Vince Young, Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe; World No. 1 golfer and Texas Ex Scottie Scheffler joins as the Week 8 guest picker
• Fans arriving early will have the chance to win prizes including exclusive t-shirts, free breakfast, photo opportunities with a custom Texas-wrapped Formula 1 car and the chance to enter to be picked for Pat McAfee’s kicking contest for the opportunity to win $90,000 of Pat’s money

ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will be live from Austin, Texas, ahead of one of the most anticipated matchups of the season as No. 1 Texas hosts new SEC rival, No. 5 Georgia. The premier college football pregame show will be at its third AP Top-5 matchup this season and will originate from South Mall on campus from 9 a.m. – noon ET on ESPN & ESPNU.

The GameDay visit adds to a full ‘ESPN Texas Takeover’ weekend along with the top-5 college football showdown on Saturday evening and the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on Sunday. Additional ESPN and ABC programming, as well as event activations, will be in Austin throughout the action-packed weekend.

Host Rece Davis, at the helm for his 10th season, is joined at the desk by GameDay analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban. College football insider Pete Thamel, college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin and reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims round out the GameDay cast.

Following the pregame show, the lead game team of Chris Fowler, Herbstreit and Holly Rowe, joined by Katie George, will be on the call on ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC, ESPN+).

At the midway point of the college football regular season, College GameDay remains on pace for its best season ever averaging 2.2 million viewers, a 9% increase over the 2023 season. Week 7’s trip to Oregon marked the best October episode since the show expanded to three hours and the second-best October episode of all time.

On Site in Austin
The first 200 fans will receive free breakfast tacos to start the morning and will have the chance to win prizes including exclusive GameDay t-shirts and a chance to win a photo at the iconic desk with the show’s analysts.

Additional offerings this week include an opportunity to take photos with a custom Texas-wrapped Formula 1 car and play ‘Pitch-a-Fit’ for additional prizes.

Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest – Returning for its second season, GameDay will offer an exclusive contest during the live show, Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest. Fans who arrive early will have a chance to be chosen from the ‘pit’ onsite with the opportunity to attempt a 33-yard field goal. If the contestant successfully completes the kick, they will be awarded $90,000 from McAfee. Full details, including official rules, can be found here.

The show and offerings are free for fans and early arrival is encouraged for these exclusive offers.

For onsite information, please visit College GameDay’s Hub HERE.

Show Highlights & Guests

• Coaches & Players on GameDay – Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will visit the GameDay set during the show ahead of the Longhorns’ game. The show will feature a look into Indiana’s prep ahead of their matchup with Nebraska with Hoosier’s linebacker Aiden Fisher wired for sound earlier this week.
• Coach’s Film Room – Saban takes fans inside his film room to break down the new-look offense for undefeated Navy.
• Texas Takeover Crossover – Sims chats with F1 drivers ahead of the show and tests their knowledge of American college football, while Saban takes a hot lap at the Circuit of the Americas where Sunday’s Formula 1 race will be held.
• Special Guests – Texas football legend Vince Young makes a stop at GameDay this week. The former quarterback is one of the most decorated QBs in Longhorn history and was the third overall pick in the NFL Draft following his collegiate career. Highly decorated Olympic track and field medalist Gabby Thomas also joins the pregame show this week. The Austin local earned three gold medals this summer at the Paris Olympics. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe will make an appearance on the show, joining McAfee for his Kicking Contest this week.
• Guest picker – World No. 1 golfer and Texas Ex Scottie Scheffler returns to Austin to join College GameDay as the Week 8 celebrity guest picker. Scheffler is coming off an historic seven-win season on the PGA TOUR which included a successful title defense at THE PLAYERS Championship and a season-capping TOUR Championship victory which secured the title as the PGA TOUR’s 2024 FedExCup Champion. Other career-defining wins this season include his second title at the Masters Tournament, a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris and was on the victorious U.S. Team at the Presidents Cup.

Additional guests will be announced ahead of Saturday’s show on ESPN PR’s Twitter and College GameDay’s Twitter.

Corso’s Count

• Coach Corso will be making his 419th mascot headgear selection this week at Texas. So far this season, his picks have gone a perfect 5-0.
• This will be the Longhorns’ 10th time hosting GameDay, and the 24th time Texas will appear on the show. Corso is 9-6 in the previous 15 times he’s chosen Texas, including a win earlier this season in Week 2 against Michigan.
• The Bulldogs will be making their 37th appearance on the pregame show, with Corso picking Georgia headgear 13 times for an 8-5 record in those games.

Features:

• Texas Fight – Since his freshman year, Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks has started every game for the Longhorns, but for most of those games, his mother wasn’t in the stands. For two years, Monica Banks was plagued with health issues that baffled doctors and robbed her of the ability to walk and talk. Thanks to her husband’s determination and a chance conversation, Monica is on the road to recovery – in a burnt orange jersey and cheering for her son. Jen Lada reports.
• Tennessee Tradition – “Papaw Carroll” was as big a Tennessee football fan as they come and there was nothing he took more seriously than the Volunteers’ rivalry with the Alabama Crimson Tide. After his passing, his grandson Josh began a tradition to keep their bond over the Vols alive with a special tribute at Papaw’s gravesite that continues to this day— and especially on the Third Saturday in October.
• Fall Wedding 101 – There are only so many Saturdays in the fall when the rest of the world falls away and it’s just you and the day of college football ahead. But what happens when one of those Saturdays is suddenly no longer yours because…“you’ve been cordially invited.” Marty Smith and Ryan McGee weigh in on how to survive Fall Wedding Season when the couple’s special day is in your football watching way.
• Hope At the Half – As we approach the halfway point of an already unbelievable college football season, fans have experienced all-time memorable moments, enormous upsets and weekly displays of greatness. But there is one thing that many teams are experiencing that is unfamiliar this far into the season…hope. Ryan McGee reports.

ESPN’s Expansive Digital Coverage

ESPN’s social and digital pre-pregame show, Countdown to GameDay Presented by Dr Pepper, will be live from Austin with hosts Christine Williamson, Harry Douglas and Harry Lyles Jr. for the Week 8 show. Lifetime Longhorn linebacker Brian Orakpo will join the show as a special guest at the start of the show, Douglas will do a film breakdown on Georgia’s offense and ‘Stanford Steve’ will join the trio to discuss the top college football matchups of the week. The show is available across ESPN on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App at 8:20 a.m. weekly.

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Media Contact:
Julie McKay, ESPN Communications – [email protected], @McKay_Julie