Saturday night’s Big 12 Championship game between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma State Cowboys was a controversy-filled affair, with thousands of college football fans packing stadiums and visiting sports bars every weekend. He urged them to crowd.
But the real competition isn’t between the football teams (Texas won lopsidedly, 49-21), but between two college students who compete in the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway Challenge at halftime, a college football tradition. It turned out that there was.
Each student had to throw as many footballs as possible into a Dr. Pepper branded trash can five yards away within the allotted time.
Penn State freshman Ryan Georgian and Ohio State junior Gavin White were tied at 10 points each at the end of regulation, forcing overtime.
Both players had an additional 15 seconds to win.
When the whistle blew, they dipped into their hidden soccer balls and threw the ball at chest height into the trash can opening. Each miss bounced off the target like corn bursting in a kettle.
In the final moments, Georgia was tied at 16, forcing a sudden-death shootout in the second overtime.
Georgia would go on to win, but fans were quick to point out that there was a problem.
Fans complained, and Dr. Pepper later acknowledged, that the game should not have gone into double overtime.
A review of the video showed the Georgian only added five points to his tally in the first period. He scored six goals, which was enough to tie the game.
Online, the college football world was abuzz. Fans voiced their condemnation and demanded that the soft drink giant do the following: To serve “Gavin’s Justice.”
Shortly thereafter, Dr. Pepper said it would improve the situation.
“During the dramatic double OT Dr. Pepper tuition giveaway during the Big 12 Conference Championship Game, an on-field technical error resulted in inaccurate calculations of the double tiebreaker,” the company said. In the statement, There was no detailed explanation of what went wrong.
“As such, Dr. Pepper will recognize both finalists as Grand Prize winners, and both will receive a tuition stipend of 100,000,” the statement continued.
Mr. White directed questions to Dr. Pepper’s public relations team, but Mr. Georgian could not be reached.
In a video proposal submitted to Dr. Pepper, students made their case for the opportunity to compete for scholarships.
Judges selected contestants using a rubric that assessed goals and financial need based on submitted videos.
Georgian, who is majoring in business administration, said the tuition will help her achieve her goal of becoming a social entrepreneur and will also cover her sister’s tuition and treatment for a rare blood disease.
Meanwhile, White, an aspiring meteorologist, used weather graphics to paint a bleak picture of college debt, including rising out-of-state tuition costs, onerous loans, and high interest rates.
“This scholarship could bring a ray of sunshine to help us get through some of this bad weather,” he said.
Fans online praised what they considered a just result, with some taking credit for putting the pressure on Dr. Pepper.
“All kidding aside, I think our tweet forced Dr. Pepper’s hand,” one fan wrote. “Thank you to everyone who contributed and spread the word.”
Jack Begg contributed to the research.