Cal Student Wins $100K For Kicking Winning Field Goal

BERKELEY, CA — It’s amazing how far a pair of Vans and a donut can take you.

Daniel Villasenor, a sophomore at UC Berkeley majoring in civil engineering who graduated from Livermore High School, became a national celebrity Friday when he kicked a $100,000 field goal at ESPN’s College GameDay, which came to Berkeley for the first time. Villasenor’s last-minute victory also helped generate $600,000 for Hurricane Helene relief.

Villasenor, who played soccer in Livermore, entered into a raffle to kick a field goal for a shot at $75,000 the day before the Golden Bears played the Miami Hurricanes, according to several reports. To his surprise, he was selected. The odds weren’t great: Villasenor told the Bay Area News Group that he had only kicked a football a few times before, he had been camped out for hours and hadn’t slept, he had eaten only a donut, and he was wearing a pair of checkered Vans shoes.

On his first shot, the Vans and donuts weren’t quite enough: he kicked the ball too far to the right. Host Pat McAfee decided to give him another shot, and upped the prize money to $100,000, and $600,000 for hurricane relief.

“I re-did my steps, and I was super locked in and focused, and I was able to make it,” Villasenor told NBC Bay Area. As the viral clip below shows, the crowd erupted as the ball went in, and McAfee shouted, “Damn, Daniel!”

“It was amazing,” he told the Bay Area News Group. “It was just an incredible moment. As soon as I saw it had a chance of going through, I went crazy.”

Villasenor told NBC he’s not sure what he plans to do with the prize money but it will likely include a lot of fast food, some tuition fees, and helping his family.