Have you seen the viral video of ESPN’s College GameDay field goal at Penn State University? If so, you’ve seen Carson Albright.

Albright is an 18-year-old freshman at Penn State studying architectural engineering. Now, he’s famous at Penn State for kicking the football at College GameDay. Many people want to know more about this young college student and how he was able to kick the field goal for William Shang-Simpson, so we sat him down to hear all about it!

Onward State: How did you meet William?

Carson Albright: I think I got there, like, maybe 8 or 9 pm, a bit after my classes. We were camping out and William was right behind us. We just started talking to him, and joking around, like, if one of us got picked, I told him I could kick! We just hung out with him, got into the pit the next morning, and he happened to stay right next to us.

OS: When William was picked, how did you talk him into letting you kick it for him?

CA:  We talked about it the night before, which is crazy to think about. I just told him my background, I told him about soccer and what I do now for women’s soccer, and he was on board at night, and then when he got picked, everybody was starstruck. My best friends just grabbed him was like, “He’s got you, he’ll hit it for you.” He pointed at me, and I was like, yeah, I think I can do it.

OS: Did you know you were gonna be able to kick it?

CA: That was the first ever football I ever kicked. But I’ve hit so many long balls in soccer, just from playing soccer my entire life. I was very confident in my kicking ability, but the nerves definitely were the thing that I was thinking about the most. My words that I told my friends were that I was ‘confident enough.’

OS: How did your family and friends react?

CA: My closest friends were at GameDay with me. My parents were at a hotel because they were coming to White Out, so they were packing up the tailgate. But even my brother and his friends were at GameDay. It was cool to have everybody close to me around me. When I knew that I was going to be kicking, I texted my parents and my friends. And they told me after that they were feeling, like so nervous for me. It was a crazy moment for everybody. I love seeing the videos that they all took of me kicking, it’s just funny to see everybody go crazy.

OS: How was celebrating with Pat and Kirk?

Carson: I grew up watching GameDay. I grew up, waiting for Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit to pick a team. That’s why the second I hit it, I saw Kirk, dude, this is my hero! I sprinted to him, hugged him, love that guy, and then Pat McAfee is just such a cool and amazing guy, like the energy he brings! They’re both just such great individuals.

OS: What are you doing with the money you won?

CA: I’m trying not to touch it. My parents talked to me about it, and they pretty much told me that you gotta treat it like you didn’t even get it. I wanna use it long-term instead of just purchasing everything.

OS: Have people been coming up to you since then?

CA: I never expected that making a field goal would do anything, but my followers on everything just skyrocketed. I walked into an exam on Monday everybody just looked at me. I’ve taken a couple pictures with people that have come up and asked.

OS: Are you and William best friends now?

CA: 100%. Will goes to Altoona, and I texted him today asking if he’s coming to the game Saturday, which he is. He and I are definitely going to try and meet up on Saturday.

OS: What advice would you give to future kickers?

CA: If they have a soccer background, I’d say just hit it like a long ball, take your steps, get the ball out to the side of you a little bit.  For anybody, just take your deep breaths, just be thankful for the moment. Good or bad, it’s just such a cool experience. Don’t let the nerves take away the fun and the amazing moment that you’re given.

I was completely blank. My stomach hurt the entire time. I was so locked in and focused. I tried to think through it in my head that it was a big penalty kick, just trying to connect it with soccer. Honestly, the whole walk back, the two steps back to the side and the deep breath, I’ve been doing that since I was 8 years old for big moments, so I just went back to my roots, just did what I’ve always done.

OS: If you were a dinosaur, what dinosaur would you be?

CA: 100% a Triceratops. When I was little, I was one of those dinosaur kids, so I loved Triceratops. I mean, perfect question, love it.