Pat McAfee braves the cold, a kicker steps up and more scenes from ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ in Salt Lake City

For the sixth time in the program’s 33 years of hosting shows on college campuses, ESPN’s “College GameDay” travelled to Salt Lake City, this time ahead of Saturday night’s game between No. 24 Utah and No. 17 Cincinnati.

The event featured the return of legendary Ute quarterback Alex Smith, members of the red-hot Utah Mammoth, a chaotic field goal contest and the many antics of ESPN commentator and former NFL punter Pat McAfee.

In the opening minutes of the live show, which started at 7 a.m. MT, Utah students chanted “take it off,” directed towards McAfee. Without much resistance, McAfee stood on his chair and took his gray blazer and short-sleeved shirt off in the 39-degree weather.

McAfee proceeded to do the opening block shirtless, and fireworks went off in the dark, early morning sky.

Most of the students who were there to witness the opening scenes on Saturday morning camped out in the cold, Halloween air just to get a front-row seat to the ESPN action. The most diehard fans skipped out on any Halloween parties in Salt Lake City the night prior.

“I canceled out on my girlfriend for this,” Utah student Zack Newman said. “She is very upset, but it’s worth it.”

Sophomore Molly Berlin noted that between the holiday, “College GameDay ”and the onslaught of midterms, her life had been more hectic than she would like to admit. She lined up with her friends at 2:45 p.m. on Friday and camped overnight for the show.

“I would have come to this no matter what,” Berlin said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

One senior finance student, Jonah Knubel, found himself camping out for a chance to win Pat McAfee’s “Kicking is Easy Challenge.” The former high school kicker ended up nailing a 33-yard field goal on his second and final try to win $250,00, which will be split between him and Garrett Morris, the student who was originally selected to kick the field goal.

“I’m really thankful to Pat that he gave me a second chance,” Knubel said after he missed his first attempt. “After the first one, the nerves were kind of gone, and I was like, ‘I just got to rip it,’ and I did.”

McAfee will also give $250,000 to a local charity in addition to the $250,000 dollars he gave to Knubel and Morris.

The Utes were not the only team from the Beehive State that got airtime on Saturday. Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther of the Utah Mammoth made an appearance alongside the Mammoth’s new mascot, Tusky. Cooley was asked about the Utah fans and his decision to sign a new eight-year extension.

“The support of the fans, it’s so fun to come to the rink and play in front of the best fans in the league,” Cooley said. “I love it here and I am definitely here to stay.”

Ute head coach Kyle Whittingham also made an appearance, wearing black shorts in the frigid morning temperature. It was a stark contrast to the fancy suits worn by ESPN commentators Desmond Howard and Nick Saban.

While most would have liked him to do his best McAfee impression and take his shirt off, the coach kept it modest and discussed his team and his hobbies with ESPN’s panel. They marveled at the fact that Whittingham is still a talented skier, even at age 65.

As the show came to an end, former NFL No. 1 draft pick Alex Smith returned to his alma mater, where he was the quarterback from 2002-2004, to be the week’s guest picker.

When it came time to make a pick, Smith showed love to the Utah faithful in attendance.

“Brandon Sorsby [Cincinnati quarterback] is gonna find out that the best student section in the entire country, the MUSS, is gonna set the tone tonight,” Smith said. “The Utes win big.”

The rest of ESPN’s panel also picked Utah, except for Kirk Herbstreit, who put his vote of confidence in the Bearcats.

The show ended with none other than McAfee selecting the Utes, and subsequently taking his shirt off for the second time Saturday morning.

Multiple fans told The Salt Lake Tribune that they planned to take a long nap before returning for Saturday night’s tailgate and then inside Rice-Eccles stadium for the 8:15 p.m. kickoff time.