Utah

21-year-old University of Utah student wins $125K in ESPN kicking contest

Published

3 weeks ago

November 1, 2025

21-year-old University of Utah student wins 5K in ESPN kicking contest

SALT LAKE CITY — A 21-year-old University of Utah senior is $125,000 richer after kicking a 33-yard field goal for Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest during ESPN’s “College GameDay” Saturday.

The challenge is part of the “College GameDay” experience that has taken over many college campuses in anticipation of big games, like the one Saturday night against the Cincinnati Bearcats. The challenge itself was started by former NFL punter Pat McAfee to prove that scoring a field goal is much harder than it looks. Upward of $1 million is put on the line, much of it going to charity, and another portion going to the kickers themselves.

Jonah Knubel was among the hundreds of people who camped overnight, hoping that his ticket would be drawn. As chance would have it, his ticket was not drawn. But, as circumstance would have it, he would be the one to perform the challenge.

“My ticket was not called for the contest, but the guy who won the raffle looked over and said, ‘I’m not kicking this. I’m way too nervous. I don’t know how to kick,” Knuble recalled. “I said, ‘Hello! I’ll kick it for you, because I have experience kicking.’”

Knubel’s experience came from playing on the Jordan High School football team as a kicker his senior year, where he earned All-Region honors.

After speaking with the powers that be, it was agreed that Knubel would attempt the 33-yard kick, but the $1 million prize money would be split between him and the ticket holder. Added to the wager was a prediction by McAfee himself, who said that if Knubel made it, Utah would be the sure winner of tonight’s game.

“It kind of felt like a fever dream,” Knubel said. “Getting to high-five everyone, being on TV and getting to meet everyone was honestly so amazing. And when the kick finally came and I missed the first attempt, I was absolutely crushed because I knew I could make it pretty easily.”

In a clutch move, a timeout was called, and Knubel was awarded another kick. This time, the prize money was $500,000, where he would split $250,000 with the ticket holder and the other $250,000 going to a local charity.

His high school kicking experience kicked in, and he scored big. Not only that, but Knubel became the second to win the challenge this year out of 10 challenges, and one of seven who have won since it began in 2023.

After a lot of thought (and a nap), Knubel, a finance major, told KSL.com that he plans on “wisely” spending his winnings.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah

OKC Thunder Dominate With Scorching Hot Shooting in Utah

Published

13 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

OKC Thunder Dominate With Scorching Hot Shooting in Utah

Oklahoma City is proving it might not have any weaknesses this season.

On Friday night, the Thunder secured a dominant 144-112 victory against the Utah Jazz in their second NBA Cup game to further take control of the race for the top spot in the West. Despite the Thunder trailing by as much as 18 in the first half, they always seemed in control en route to a 50-point turnaround.

After a slow start from beyond the arc this season, the Thunder had begun to round into form from outside, and that was as clear as ever on Friday. While the Thunder’s absurd defense deservedly stole the headlines for holding the Jazz without a field goal for over half of the third quarter, their 3-point shooting was unstoppable all night.

Against the Jazz, the Thunder shot 23-of-37 from deep, their most makes in a game this season. While their 62.2% mark from beyond the arc will be nearly impossible to replicate this season, it was the fourth time in the past six games the Thunder had nailed at least 40% of their threes.

Although the Thunder are unlikely to nail nearly two-thirds of their threes again this season, their outside shooting display once again showed just how dangerous they can be when shots are falling. While the Thunder have shown again and again that they can grind out tight games with their defense when shots aren’t falling, they’ve also shown that they are virtually unbeatable when those shots are going down.

After Friday night’s action, the Thunder are up to 18th in 3-point shooting after spending most of the first couple of weeks at the bottom of the league. Sure, the Thunder still have some room to grow to get where they want to be in that category, but they’ve clearly proven that they have the ability to nail a plethora of threes on any given night.

Perhaps most importantly for the Thunder, they’re getting those contributions from deep from just about everywhere. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went 3-of-3, Jaylin Williams nailed a career-best five threes and Lu Dort continued his bounce-back from deep, nailing 3-of-4.

It won’t be easy for the Thunder to keep up their hot shooting, but knowing they’re capable of outbursts like this from beyond the arc might be enough to scare the rest of the league even more. After not being able to hit from outside to start the year, the Thunder might have solved their lone weakness as they’ve streaked to 16-1.

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Utah

Utah football’s keys to victory vs. Kansas State

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

Utah football’s keys to victory vs. Kansas State

Utah can keep its Big 12 championship game and College Football Playoff hopes intact with a win over Kansas State Saturday in the Utes’ final home game at Rice-Eccles Stadium this season.

The pivotal matchup from Salt Lake City is set to get underway at 2 p.m. MT on ESPN2. The Utes (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) enter the contest having won five of their last six in blowout fashion, while the Wildcats (5-5, 4-3 Big 12) seek to become bowl eligible for the fifth consecutive season with their sixth win of 2025.

Here’s three keys to victory for Utah as it strives to keep its postseason aspirations alive.

Maintaining a balanced offensive approach is a goal many teams strive to achieve. Leaning on either the run or pass too heavily would be seen as living one dimensionally, giving the opponent a better chance at devising a neutralizing game plan.

The thing is, no one’s been able to stop Utah’s potent rushing attack — no matter how predictable it might seem.

Behind a stout offensive line that features two potential first round NFL draft picks, the Utes run the ball 44.9 times for 278.4 yards per game, the second-highest average in the Football Bowl Subdivision behind Navy (308.2 yards per game). Four Utah players with at least 35 attempts on the season gain 5.3 yards per carry or better, including the team’s top rusher, Wayshawn Parker, who sits at an impressive 7.2 average on 102 attempts.

Devon Dampier’s multi-faceted skillset garners a lot of attention from opponents and the national viewing audience, but Parker’s really picked up steam over the last few weeks too. The Washington State transfer has crossed the 100-yard threshold and rushed for a touchdown in each of his last three games, averaging an incredible 9.0 yards per carry on 42 attempts during that span.

Utah’s especially effective on outside run plays; according to Pro Football Focus, the Utes pick up 7.1 yards on average when running off-tackle plays, trailing only Arkansas and Oregon in that category.

Meanwhile, Kansas State allows 5.3 yards per carry on those same designs, checking in at No. 95 among FBS defenses. The Wildcats have have been solid defending the run lately, with their last five opponents averaging just 3.8 yards per carry, but only two of those teams rank in the top 10 of the Big 12 in rushing yards per game.

Utah’s physicality in the trenches poses an entirely different challenge for defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman to scheme against. Expect the Utes to pound the rock until the Wildcats start to show any signs of being able to stop them.

This season has been quite a roller coaster ride for Kansas State, though not all the ups and downs should be put on Avery Johnson’s shoulders. The 6-foot-3 junior is on pace to complete a higher percentage of his passes, throw fewer interceptions and post an eerily similar quarterback rating to the one he recorded last season while helming a 9-4 Wildcats squad.

Johnson hasn’t been as efficient on the ground in comparison to his 2024 self, but that’s hardly the reason behind Kansas State’s topsy-turvy 2025 campaign. Utah will still need to be aware of his ability to extend plays with his legs, which could come down to how impactful the Utes’ pass rush is against the Wildcats’ offensive line.

Applying pressure will be key to bottling up the Kansas State offense. Per PFF, Johnson’s grade when kept clean ranks No. 22 in the country, while his under-pressure mark checks in at No. 139. If John Henry Daley and company can get home at a consistent rate, Utah’s man-to-man secondary won’t be put under as much pressure to not only stick to Kansas State’s wide receivers, but also defend Johnson when he decides to leave the pocket.

The Wildcats’ front line is giving up only 1.0 sacks per game. But as Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby has found out, Utah’s front seven can be disruptive even when its not bringing down the quarterback. Still expect an array of uniquely-designed blitzes from Morgan Scalley.

Utah can’t afford many self-inflicted mistakes because that’s just not in Kansas State’s character. The Wildcats have committed the fourth fewest penalties per game (3.5) and given up the ninth fewest penalty yards on average (33.4).

Kansas State is also No. 4 in the FBS with 24 turnovers forced on the season, trailing only SMU, Southern Mississippi and Texas Tech. Klanderman’s unit has forced at least 2 turnovers in each of its last seven games heading into Saturday’s matchup, with Army being the only team on the schedule that didn’t commit at least one.

That said, the Utes will have to value their possessions and remain disciplined on both sides of the ball if they’re to take care of business at home and keep their Big 12 title game and College Football Playoff aspirations alive going into Week 14.

The best way to accomplish that is continue to excel at what’s been working this season: running the football and sending relentless pressure on the opposing quarterback on defense.

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Utah

Former state senator Derek Kitchen announces congressional campaign

Published

2 days ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

Former state senator Derek Kitchen announces congressional campaign

Even though the government shutdown is officially over, United Way of Northern Utah says that increased demands for services (including access to food) will likely remain high through January, if not February. To help with that, the organization is working with others to collect turkeys and coats to help families in the area that may need it most.

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