Penn first-year wins $100,000 scholarship at Big 12 Championship halftime show

While most of his classmates were on campus gearing up for finals, first-year Ryan Georgian was busy securing the $100,000 Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway scholarship at Saturday’s Big 12 Championship college football game between Texas and Oklahoma State.

For the past 30 years, Dr. Pepper has sponsored this giveaway contest, inviting college students from across the country to apply for a chance to compete in a football-throwing challenge during the halftime shows of five conference championship games. The first-place winner at each game takes home $100,000 in tuition scholarships, with the second and third place runners-up receiving $25,000 and $2,500, respectively.

After submitting a minute-long video explaining how the scholarship money would allow him to pursue his long-term ambitions, Georgian was selected as one of two finalists, along with Ohio State junior Gavin White. The competition, which involved throwing footballs into giant Dr. Pepper cans, went to double overtime. White missed the first throw of the head-to-head tiebreaker, allowing Georgian to win the contest.

But the drama didn’t end there. A video review of the first overtime period revealed that Georgian’s score was tallied incorrectly, keeping him in the running despite scoring fewer points than White. In response to this, Dr. Pepper issued a statement acknowledging the error. As a result, both Georgian and White were named co-winners and each took home the $100,000 prize.

In his short application video, Georgian, a behavioral economics major, emphasized his aspirations to help low-income employees struggling with limited access to education. 

“I hope to use the tuition giveaway to continue developing the skill set of a social entrepreneur,” Georgian said. “It would allow me to move away from my time-intensive job, even in the face of my parents looking to retire while simultaneously funding my sister’s tuition.”