Steve Smith Sr. announced as College GameDay celebrity guest picker on Pat McAfee Show
As ESPN’s College GameDay prepares to be on hand for a clash between the Oregon Ducks and Utah Utes in the latter’s stadium, many wondered who the Celebrity Guest Picker would be.
A myriad of names came to mind, but Pat McAfee spilled the beans during his show on Friday. Evidently, NFL legend and former Utes star Steve Smith Sr. will be doing the job for Saturday’s show.
“I think we could make the big announcement, Celebrity Guest Picker tomorrow on College GamDay,” McAfee revealed, pointing at Smith as the crowd erupted with cheers. “That’s going to be awesome. I got so excited when I heard about that. Obviously, we’ve had incredible guest pickers all season, but with you coming on? I have a feeling you’re going to go clean slate. You’re picking perfect tomorrow, across the whole board.
“With that big brain, in this great state, hell yeah Steve. I think you’re going perfect tomorrow. I think it’s a great day.”
During his time at Utah back in the day, Steve Smith Sr. amassed 78 receptions for 1,608 yards and 12 touchdowns, with another 1,365 return yards and 4 touchdowns on special teams. Afterwards, he had an illustrious NFL career, making his mark mainly with the Carolina Panthers.
Now, he’ll look to show up and show out on College GameDay tomorrow morning, as his boisterous personality will be welcomed on the show.
Oregon’s Dan Lanning on Utah, CGD: ‘I think it’ll be a great environment’
Meanwhile, Dan Lanning believes it’ll be a wonderful environment in Utah when the Utes and Ducks square off, as he shared that because of the job both teams have done this season, he’s preparing for a loud environment in Salt Lake City.
“I think it’ll be a great environment,” Lanning added. “You know, I know that they get loud there. I know that they love their team. So, it should be a lot of fun for us. I think that speaks you know, obviously, to the job that Utah has done this year and the job that we’ve done this year to put ourselves in that position to have GameDay there.”
Continuing, this will actually be Lanning’s first time coaching on the road against Utah since getting to Oregon. However, the Ducks did play the Utes last season in Eugene, winning a close game 20-17. It’s expected to be a great game, with ESPN’s College GameDay in town for the key Pac-12 game.
Up until this point, Utah has had a phenomenal season, despite dealing with several major injuries. That ability to handle injuries is something that Dan Lanning is incredibly impressed with.
“The amount of injuries that they’ve dealt with, and for him to be able to utilize defensive personnel on offense and shuffle positions and utilize offensive linemen at tight end and I think it’s just really impressive,” Lanning stated. “You know, everyone’s always known that he’s a great coach, but the way that he’s been able and his staff has been able to utilize the people they have, you know, I know the beginning the year he spoke about the depth of his team, it’s starting to really show up.
“He has good depth, but they’re utilizing people in different ways than they anticipated when the year started and he’s done a great job coaching that group.”
It’s going to be a battle between Oregon and Utah on Saturday, and we can’t wait to see who comes out on top.
On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this article.