During Purdue’s season opener against Indiana State, student Zachary Spangler won a kicking competition called “Kicks for Cash,” and it looked like he was the proud owner of a two-year lease on a car.
However, it was not to be.
The competition, which was sponsored by nearby Rohrman Automotive, had participants kick 20-, 30-, and 40-yard field goals. Spangler had completed the challenge, but was informed last week he wouldn’t be receiving the prize of a car with a two-year lease.
According to Purdue’s student newspaper The Exponent, Spangler stated he received an email from the car dealership saying that video of the challenge was reviewed, and his 40-yard field goal was not kicked in time by five one-hundredths of a second. As a result, Spangler wasn’t going to earn the two-year lease, according to Bob Rohrman Honda director of operations Trey Rohrman.
In a video that the dealership sent to Spangler, four different angles show him kicking with a 30-second timer at the bottom of the screen. The video reportedly shows the holder placing the ball down with an estimated 1.5 seconds remaining on the timer, but Spangler didn’t connect with the ball until after the clock was at zero.
When it comes to football at any level, the kick would count as long as it’s snapped before the clock hits zero.
“I have a car here that runs just fine,” Spangler told The Exponent. “I’m just more upset about how I hit the 40-yarder and they’re saying I didn’t because it came off my foot five-hundredths of a second late.”
