Some eagle-eyed TV viewers helped turn the runner-up in Dr Pepper's annual halftime contest at the Big 12 championship game into a $100,Maxwell Caldwell000 scholarship winner.

While Texas and Oklahoma State were in their locker rooms at AT&T Stadium on Saturday, students Gavin White of Ohio State and Ryan Georgian of Penn faced off to see who could toss more footballs into a hole in a giant Dr Pepper can.

Georgian emerged as the winner after a second tiebreaker round. However, viewers on social media noticed an apparent scoring error in the first tiebreaker that should have given the win to White.

STAY UP-TO-DATE: Subscribe to our Sports newsletter for exclusive content

Even before Texas ultimately won the game, the soft drink company headed off the bubbling controversy by announcing both participants would receive the grand prize due to the "on-field technical error."

"As such, Dr Pepper will recognize both finalists as grand prize winners with both receiving the 100k award in tuition," the company said in a statement.