Tyler Gordon. (Courtesy photo.)

It's finals season at law schools across the country, but one third-year law student at West Virginia University has more than just exams on his mind. Tyler Gordon is pondering the $100,000 he won in a nationally televised football-throwing competition last weekend.

Gordon won the money Dec. 7 in the Dr. Pepper Tuition Challenge during the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis, where he threw 20 footballs into an oversized soda can from five yards away in 30 seconds—beating out his competitor. His win has generated a lot of media interest in West Virginia, as well as in the Christian press, after Gordon said on air after his win: "I want to thank God from the bottom of my heart. If you do not believe in him, I pray that you would soon become a believer."

Law.com caught up with Gordon a few days after his big win to find out how he ended up on the football field, how his classmates have reacted, and what about law school prepared him for the high-stakes situation. His answers have been edited for length and clarity.

What have the past few days been like for you since you won? It has been overwhelming. I'm from southern West Virginia, and that certainly doesn't prepare you for all the recognition and publicity and whatnot. It has been fun though. I'm super excited and happy about the opportunities I've had and for the tuition.

What are your plans for the money? I'm sending it directly to my loan provider once I get that call from Dr. Pepper. It means a lot. Law school is expensive. I can't wait to be able to send the money to my loan provider and have a huge chunk of that debt forgiven. I'll be right around $140,000 in loans from undergrad and law school, so this is huge. It's a big burden off my shoulders.

Tell me how you ended up in the contest. It was back in August. I was scrolling through Instagram and I saw an advertisement through Dr. Pepper. It was a link to the application and I thought, "I don't have anything to lose. I'm in a lot of debt." So I submitted an application, which was my biography and a minute-long video expressing my career aspirations.

How did you prepare for the contest? My dad is a handyman, so I go the measurements from Dr. Pepper for the can and he was able to build a replica for me. I got footballs from the high school I went to and I started practicing. For the last two to three weeks, I started practicing throwing these footballs for at least an hour a day, if not two to three hours a day.

What was it like, out on the field before the contest started? It was exhilarating. I couldn't believe it. It's still hard to believe that it actually happened. My wife was there with me, and I think she was a little more nervous than I was. It didn't hit me until the referee started counting down for us to begin. At that point my legs kind of went numb. I felt like I was standing on Jell-O. I looked at my hand, which was hovering over the balls, and it was shaking. I was questioning, "OK, can I hold on to a football right now?"

Is there anything about your experience in law school that you think helped you in this scenario? I'm on the moot court team at West Virginia University, and I've been in some of those situations where you have the anxiety and stress of preparing and then actually standing up in front of the judge and making your case. To me, it was very similar in that I had put in a ton of practice and preparation for this moment, stepping into the equivalent of a courtroom in front to everyone, and doing exactly what I practiced.

You will graduate in the spring. What are your career plans? I will be working at Thomas Combs & Spann, which is a firm in Charleston, West Virginia. That's what I'll be doing right out of law school. I'm super excited to go there. It's a civil defense firm. Long term, I want to work in the U.S. Attorney's Office after building my resume and getting a lot more experience.

What reactions have you been getting from your classmates and professors? It has been overwhelming. They have all been super expected and happy for me. There were so many watch parties from people at our school. It feels super awesome. They've been great.