Ohio State student misses two field goals in Pat McAfee contest after Peter interferes

As one Ohio State student learned Saturday morning (and as Pat McAfee has insisted for years), successfully throwing a football is a little harder than it looks.

Carson Baer, ​​an Ohio State freshman finance major from suburban Pittsburgh, missed two 33-yard field goals Saturday on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” which aired outside Ohio Stadium before the Buckeyes’ highly anticipated game against Indiana.

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For the past two seasons, the popular pregame show featured a student from the host school attempting to make a $150,000 field goal while McAfee, a former NFL and college player, hosted the proceedings.

Carson, through some negotiations before his firing, was able to increase the potential payout to $500,000, with $250,000 going to him and $250,000 to BuckeyeThon, a Columbus-based nonprofit that raises awareness and funds to help children with cancer.

Carson hit the target but missed his first shot before missing badly on his second attempt, which barely left the ground and hooked hard to the left. Despite the cold and humidity around him, he decided to play without shoes.

He wasn’t just dealing with the pressure of kicking in front of large crowds and a national television audience. Kirk Herbstreit’s golden retriever, Peter, continued to interfere with the kick while his owner acted as holder, although Herbstreit, an Ohio native and former Buckeyes safety, was eventually able to distract him by throwing him the ball.

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This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State student misses two field goals for $500,000 on ‘College GameDay’