- College football’s premier pregame show travels to Durham, N.C., ahead of top-25 matchup between No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 17 Duke
- GameDay’s first visit to Duke marks the 81st school to host the show; six Autonomy 5 schools remain
- Duke head coach Mike Elko joins the set while Kentucky HC Mike Stoops will join live from Lexington; Duke alum and famed actor, comedian and producer Ken Jeong set for Week 5 guest picker
ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot travels to Durham, N.C., for the first time this weekend, ahead of the Week 5 matchup between the No. 17-ranked Blue Devils and No. 11 Notre Dame. The show will be live from Adele Quad on Duke’s campus from 9 a.m. to noon ET (ESPN, ESPNU) ahead of ABC Saturday Night Football at 7:30 p.m.
Host Rece Davis will be joined at the desk by GameDay analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee with college football insider Pete Thamel, reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims and college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin.
The visit to Durham marks the 81st school to host GameDay and leaving only six Autonomy 5 schools that have yet to host the show – Cal, Illinois, Maryland, Rutgers, Syracuse and Virginia.
For onsite information, please visit College GameDay’s Hub HERE.
GameDay is coming off its second-straight week of hitting more than 2.2 million average viewers during the three-hour show live from Notre Dame and marked a 16% increase over 2022’s Week 4. The final hour surged with 3.1 million viewers – three times the competition during the Saturday morning block.
Show Highlights & Guests
- Duke head coach Mike Elko will visit the GameDay desk live during Saturday’s show along with Kentucky head coach Mike Stoops, who will join live from Kroger Field ahead of the Wildcats’ matchup against No. 22 Florida.
- GameDay will have an exclusive look from Syracuse head coach Dino Babers’ Friday night speech as the team prepares to host Clemson at noon on Saturday (ESPN).
- Guest Picker – Actor, comedian and producer Ken Jeong will join the desk live from Durham as this week’s guest picker. The notable Duke alum will make his second appearance on GameDay following a 2021 visit.
- Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest – In its third week, GameDay will offer an exclusive contest during the live show, Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest. One fan will be chosen from the ‘pit’ onsite with the opportunity to attempt a 33-yard field goal. If the contestant successfully completes the kick, he/she will be awarded $37,500 from McAfee. Full details including official rules can be found here.
Additional guests will be announced ahead of Saturday’s show on ESPN PR’s Twitter and College GameDay’s Twitter.
Features:
- Finding Purpose in The Pain – Football coaches expect their resilience and toughness to be tested. But the tragedy that Utah State head coach Blake Anderson has experienced in recent years had him asking, “how much can one man take?” Why his decision to openly navigate his grief with his team proved to be the catalyst for necessary change in his program. Jen Lada reports.
- Caleb Williams Convo – Pete Thamel sits down with the reigning Heisman Trophy winner to talk about his goals for the season – which include a national championship and a second Heisman, facing off against Shedeur Sanders, and the advice he received from Denzel Washington.
- “You Suck” – Duke Quarterback Riley Leonard reads a simple two-word phrase that is sent to his phone before each game – “you suck.” The source of the ego-check text is none other than his mother. How the simple tradition and reverse motivation has kept the upstart quarterback grounded and focused on the field, and in check off it. Andrea Adelson reports in conjunction with ACC Network.
- Duke Football 101 – Duke’s football stadium was once described as the most beautiful place to watch bad football. Before the Blue Devils welcome the Fighting Irish, Ryan McGee reflects on the history and reputation of Duke football and the beautiful ball its team is playing now.
ESPN’s Expanded Digital Coverage
ESPN’s social and digital pre-pregame show, Countdown to GameDay Presented by Dr Pepper, will be live from Durham for Week 5. Hosts Christine Williamson, Harry Douglas and Harry Lyles Jr., will talk the big matchups of the week and welcome notable Duke alums to the show. Douglas and Lyles Jr. continue the ‘One-Minute Drill,’ segment with a dunk contest with Duke fans. Douglas currently leads the season-long challenge 2-1-2.
The show is available across ESPN on YouTube, X/Twitter, Facebook and the ESPN App at 8:30 a.m. weekly.
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