Former Indianapolis Colts punter and current ESPN podcaster and broadcaster Pat McAfee gave a shout-out to Notre Dame Fighting Irish kicker Mitch Jeter after he supplied the winning points in a stunning come-from-behind win over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night.
Pat McAfee Praises Mitch Jeter On ESPN2 Telecast of Orange Bowl
McAfee certainly loves his kickers. He runs a piece on ESPN GameDay every week where he offers regular university students money for field goals made on television. The former West Virginia Mountaineer had an alternative broadcast on ESPN2 Thursday night and was very excited to see Jeter score the game-winning field goal.
McAfee’s call on the kick will live in infamy.
MITCH JETER TO TAKE THE LEAD
IT’S GOOD
IT’S GOOD
WHAT A CLASSIC HERE AT THE ORANGE BOWL#PMSCFPESPN2 #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/oyhd5eEkHh
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 10, 2025
“Mitch Jeter, to take the lead. It’s good. It’s good,” McAfee yelled. “What a classic here at the Orange Bowl.”
Jeter was confident after the game when interviewed at his locker.
“Every kick is different, right? So next week I’m going to go out and go through my same process as I did last week, as I’ve done every single week this season,” Jeter said. “It’s nice to go out there and make kicks and have confidence, but every kick is different. I’m going to go out there and prepare the same way for every single one.”
Jeter has not always enjoyed success. There have been moments for the Notre Dame kicker where he did not taste success.
It’s been an injury-impacted season for Jeter, while in a Week 2 defeat to the Northern Illinois Huskies, the Fighting Irish’s only blemish on the season, he missed both his field goal attempts that would have turned the tide of a 16-14 defeat at the hands of their MAC opponent.
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The veteran kicker looked at that game as a basis for greater success later in the season.
“Coach Freeman talks a lot about delayed gratification. He’s been talking like that all the way back to Week 2, when the NIU game happened,” Jeter said. “So it’s kind of been my mindset going through an injury, having the delayed gratification now to be able to come out with and give our team a chance to go win a national championship.”
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