“You never know what can happen,” she said. “Just show up, be open, and have fun because you might walk away with more than you ever imagined.”
-Gabrielle Mathis
As an engineering major and content creator for Handshake, Mathis came to the GameDay setup ready to record her experience, not expecting to be the star of it. “I was just documenting everything the energy, the fans and then they called my number,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Mathis had never kicked a football before, but that didn’t stop her from stepping up when asked to make a field goal for the massive cash prize. “I wasn’t too nervous because I had no experience,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t have any reason to think I couldn’t do it.”
Still, the moment was surreal. “When they upped the prize to half a million dollars if I made it, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, girl, you better make this kick,’” she said. “It was just insane.”
Even before her name was called, Mathis and her friend had been camped out for hours joining students who had lined up as early as Thursday evening to secure a front-row spot. “People were really determined,” she said. “By the time night fell, the line just kept getting longer. We didn’t eat or drink much because we didn’t want to lose our place.”
Her perseverance paid off twice. Not only did she win the $300,000 prize, but she also snagged one of the coveted College GameDay hard hats handed out to fans in the pit. “That was actually my first goal,” Mathis joked. “I told my friend, ‘I’m getting a hard hat no matter what.’ I even lost my AirPods out there, but I kept up with that hard hat.”
Since the big moment, Mathis has been reflecting on how much the experience has meant to her both personally and professionally. “It still hasn’t fully hit me,” she admitted. “Usually, giveaways are maybe $5,000 or $10,000. But $300,000? You just don’t see that kind of generosity. I’m beyond grateful to Pat and Kirk for giving students like me that kind of opportunity.”
For Mathis, the biggest lesson she’s taken away from her GameDay win is simple: don’t be afraid to live in the moment. “It’s okay to just have fun,” she said. “You don’t always need a plan or a reason sometimes you just have to go for it and see what happens.”
As she looks ahead to graduation, Mathis says she hopes her story encourages other students to take chances and enjoy college life to the fullest. “You never know what can happen,” she said. “Just show up, be open, and have fun because you might walk away with more than you ever imagined.”
