Bobby Boucher is a socially inept,
stuttering, 31-year-old man serving as the
water boy for the University of Louisiana football program. He lives with his protective and extremely religious mother, Helen, and believes his father, Robert Sr., died of
dehydration in the
Sahara, while serving in the
Peace Corps back in the 1960s. He also uses a
riding lawnmower as his only means of transportation. As the players constantly bully Bobby, the Cougars' head coach, Red Beaulieu, fires him for being "disruptive" during the 18 years of his employment. Bobby approaches Coach Klein of the South-Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs, and upon seeing their dirty water, he volunteers as the water boy free of charge. The Mud Dogs have lost 40 consecutive games, their cheerleaders and the mascot are alcoholics, and players are forced to share equipment due to budget cuts. Bobby befriends Derek Wallace, the field goal kicker, however, when the new team teases him, Klein encourages Bobby to stand up for himself. Remembering all the bullying he has put up with over the years, Bobby tackles Gee Grenouille, the team's
quarterback, knocking him out. Seeing Bobby's potential, Klein meets with Helen and tries to persuade her to let Bobby play on the team, but she refuses, saying it is too dangerous. Klein convinces Bobby to play anyway, seeing that he is eager to attend college. Bobby becomes a feared
outside linebacker. In his first game, he costs the Mud Dogs a win to take down a player who trash-talked his mother. Later, Bobby invites his childhood crush, Vicky Vallencourt, to a barbeque, in which Helen humiliates Bobby and chastises Vicky as "The Devil", forbidding Bobby from ever seeing her again. Bobby used this event as a fuel to break the Mud Dogs losing streak. Bobby is finally given some recognition after that victory and attends an afterparty. Overtime, the Mud Dogs continue winning while Helen has her pet donkey, Steve, to keep her company. The team's success earns them new uniforms and a trip to the annual
Bourbon Bowl on
New Year's Day to face the Cougars and Coach Beaulieu. However, Beaulieu and his team crash the Mud Dogs'
pep rally and reveal that the high school Bobby went to does not exist and that he was
homeschooled, and his fake high school transcript makes him ineligible for college and football. Greg gets into Bobby's face, during which Vicky puts a blade to his throat. Vicky is arrested and the team and fans turn against Bobby, believing he is a liar and cheater. Klein convinces the
NCAA to let Bobby play if he can pass a
GED exam. He apologizes to Bobby and admits to submitting the fake transcript because he was desperate to finally win something and get even with Beaulieu. Twenty years prior, Klein and Beaulieu were assistant coaches at the University of Louisiana and the predecessor was retiring. After Beaulieu intimidated Klein into turning over his playbook and took credit for the plays, he was promoted, and Klein was fired. Klein suffered a mental breakdown and could not come up with new plays. The story convinces Bobby to help Klein get revenge on Beaulieu and prove himself to everyone. Bobby finally stands up to Helen while studying for the GED, angrily revealing that he has been playing football, going to college, and seeing Vicki, and intends to continue doing so. Bobby passes the exam with flying colors, but Helen feigns a coma. Feeling he drove Helen to illness, Bobby stays in the hospital with her. Meanwhile, Vicki leads a gathering of fans to the hospital to convince him to play. Seeing Bobby struggling to ignore this, Helen ends her fake illness. She tells Bobby the truth about Robert Sr., who abandoned her while she was four months pregnant with Bobby to have an affair with a voodoo priestess named Phyllis in
New Orleans while living up life in the city and finding a job. This led to Helen constantly fearing that Bobby also would leave her. Deciding to put Bobby's happiness ahead of her own selfishness, she encourages him to play in the Bourbon Bowl. Arriving at halftime via
airboat, Bobby finds the Mud Dogs losing by a score of 27–0. As Bobby dominates the field and enables a fumble-turned-touchdown, Red has his offense take a knee, knowing Bobby cannot cause a turnover and the fact that the SCLSU offense is useless. Using the same technique of "visualizing and attacking" that Klein taught him, Bobby then turns the lesson back on him. Klein overcomes his fear of Beaulieu and comes up with amazing new plays. The Mud Dogs begin catching up. After a successful recovery during an
onside kick, Bobby is then given a cheap shot by Meaney and is knocked out cold. Vicki is able to revive Bobby by giving him the Alaskan water that Bobby had. Bobby and the Mud Dogs carry out one final play before time runs out and win the Bourbon Bowl 30–27, and Bobby is named the game's
MVP. Sometime later, Bobby and Vicki get married. Robert Sr., who has since adopted the nickname "Roberto", makes a surprise appearance to try to convince Bobby to skip school and go to the
NFL so he can share in Bobby's newfound fame. Helen angrily tackles him to the ground as revenge for the abandonment years ago and attempt to pull Bobby into one of his games, prompting cheers from the attendants. Bobby and Vicki leave on his lawnmower to
consummate their marriage. ==Cast==