“Who Needs Coffee, America Runs on (Pat) McAfee”: ESPN’s Savior Wins the Internet With CFB GameDay Opening

Leaving a lucrative broadcasting job with the WWE for College Football GameDay broadcasting meant only one thing — Pat McAfee loves football more than anything. He knows the game and its fans inside and out, so it was no surprise that he had the entire Oregon Ducks fanbase in the palm of his hand during his GameDay intro today.

At 6:30 AM, you have to be extremely proficient with your communication and speech to get a reaction out of your crowd. And oh boy, was McAfee proficient.

The former Colts punter has mastered the art of hosting, as he cleverly riled up the home crowd by giving a touch of praise to their opponent of the week — the Buckeyes.

“Look at Ohio State. Is that the best roster money can buy in the history of college ball? Potentially, they’ve been a wagon, a buzzsaw literally since the jump,” McAfee said, leading to a chorus of boos from the crowd.

Now that McAfee got the crowd fired up, he went on to address the Ducks.

Exuding enthusiasm, he built up a narrative slowly by noting how the opening few games were a bit iffy for Oregon, but it all changed in Week 3 when the program pummeled rivals Oregon State. The crowd was at its loudest at this point. He even jokingly referred to the Ducks’ opponent from last week, the Oregon State Beavers, as “stupid,” eliciting an even louder reaction.

McAfee then proceeded to hype the upcoming game by labeling it as a battle of the two “Buzzsaws,” and rightfully so.

The highlight of McAfee’s opening speech, however, came at the end when he literally screamed the Oregon Ducks’ chant, followed by singing “Shout” by Otis Day, a tradition at the university.

The moment was made even more special as the jam-packed crowd matched his energy by repeating it right after the CFB host.

The whole intro speech made for a compelling visual and has already found a place in netizens’ hearts. From calling McAfee America’s coffee substitute for his unmatched energy to begging ESPN to give the leading analyst a lifetime contract, fans flocked to the comments to show their appreciation.

As netizens said, Pat McAfee is undeniably the best thing that has happened to ESPN’s College Football coverage. It’s passionate broadcasting like this that gets new and lost users tuned in to the product! Keep it up, Pat!