By Scott Dochterman, Joe Rexrode, Eric Single
The 2024 college football season is off to a fascinating, thrilling start, and the broadcast crews in charge of narrating the chaos for millions watching from home have risen to the occasion.
Expanded power conferences and expanded access to the College Football Playoff have made more games than ever feel nationally significant, which means consistently larger stages for broadcasters below the top of the marquee. But that doesn’t mean the profession’s biggest names haven’t risen to the moment, too.
After taking turns recapping the best and boldest broadcasts of the early season each weekend, we’ve reconvened at the season’s midpoint to hand out some superlatives before returning to our couches for another huge slate in Week 8.
Best call of a big moment
Perhaps to some, the Alabama–Georgia instant classic has been tarnished by the Tide’s ensuing loss at Vanderbilt, but it doesn’t take away from a vintage performance from Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit for ABC.
As Georgia took the lead for the first time in the final minutes and Alabama answered with an electrifying game-winning touchdown, both men in the booth met the moment with equal parts praise and bewilderment. At one point, Herbstreit broke the tension by asking Fowler, “Are you OK? You’ve had some big calls.” After Alabama’s Zabien Brown picked off Carson Beck in the end zone to seal the Tide’s 41-34 win, Herbstreit summed it all up with, “This game felt no different (than previous meetings) with the championships on the line. Every bit as hard-fought.” Maybe we’ll see a rematch in December or January. If so, I want Fowler and Herbstreit on that call again. — Dochterman
Best booth chemistry
Fox can’t compete with ESPN’s roster depth if only because it has so many fewer games to call on a given weekend than the Worldwide Leader, but whether by trick of showbiz or genuine affection, its top teams do a more consistent job of hammering home that they like each other.
Jason Benetti and Brock Huard have an elite feel for when and how to match their audience’s and each other’s excitement, keeping it authoritative yet fun with viewers across the wide cross-section of Big Ten and Big 12 action they call as Fox’s secondary crew. Benetti knows when to let Huard, a former Washington quarterback, ramp up into an extended ex-player’s appreciation of a clutch play. In return, Huard always gamely plays along when Benetti flashes the quick wit that makes him one of the Internet’s favorite play-by-play voices. — Single
“It’s just a bunch of angry highlighters running at you.” @jasonbenetti on @oregonfootball‘s defense this first half 😅#B1GFootball on FOX 📺 pic.twitter.com/KOBjfGHZpn
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 5, 2024
Best on-field interview
Sideline reporters rarely receive enough credit for gathering and disseminating immediate information, and they’re often put in uncomfortable spots with end-of-quarter interviews. Well, ESPN’s Taylor McGregor put together a master class on how to do both in the Arkansas-Texas A&M game at Arlington, Texas.
Before the second quarter, she smartly got out of the way and let Arkansas coach Sam Pittman riff about his team’s issues. It was detailed and honest. Then she reported about a heated argument on the Arkansas sidelines broken up by quarterback Taylen Green. Entering the second half, she detailed Pittman’s message to a “rattled” Green was “poise under pressure.” McGregor’s postgame interview with Texas A&M coach Mike Elko also was outstanding. — Dochterman
Biggest on-screen annoyance
The “two-minute timeout” thing is just infuriating. I’ve heard it called “two-minute stoppage” and “two-minute break” as well, but it’s time for a fearless play-by-play announcer to throw “two-minute warning” to the wind and live with the consequences. I mean, seriously, how does the NCAA manage to waste the time of this many people with so many things that are so meaningless?
At least when the unbearable term “student-athlete” was coined in the 1950s, the NCAA had a reason — trying to squirm out of worker’s compensation lawsuits from injured athletes. The Athletic’s Chris Vannini dug deep on the reasoning, and this comes off as a needless tinker to differentiate the college game from the NFL. Well, guess what? This is pro sports too. We say “two-minute warning” in America. And we’re not going to take “two-minute timeouts” anymore. — Rexrode
“There is a new two-minute timeout. We’ve been asked not to call it a warning.” – Rece Davis 🏈🎙️ pic.twitter.com/URmtnhJM0I
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 2, 2024
Booth on the rise
Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers, Cole Cubelic, SEC Network/ESPN. Hart and Rodgers have terrific chemistry and manage to let the audience in on their jokes. Although naturally funny, Hart delivers in big moments and should be getting opportunities higher on the food chain. Cubelic is not afraid to take risks as a sideline reporter — he asks blunt questions and often digs into football schematics. Overall, he’s a refreshing change of pace. — Rexrode
Best all-around broadcast team
It simply must be Fowler and Herbstreit, with Rowe working the sideline, for their work shepherding ESPN/ABC’s biggest game each weekend. The only crew with more than one appearance in the top spot of our weekly broadcast rankings, this group has done nothing to leave the door open for debate that anyone might be better on the sport’s biggest stages. Fowler and Herbstreit haven’t even gotten an incredibly fortunate set of assignments so far, with Tennessee’s wins over NC State and Oklahoma and last weekend’s Red River rivalry coming up short on drama. — Single
Our top broadcast teams of first half
Single: 1) Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, ABC/ESPN: The gold standard. 2) Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson, CBS: This duo has brought the magic of 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS to the Big Ten’s biggest games almost seamlessly. 3) Hart/Rodgers/Cubelic, ESPN/SECN: No one keeps it more fun. Good on Rodgers for getting the call-up to some ABC broadcasts in recent weeks and shining in those opportunities.
Dochterman: 1) Fowler and Herbstreit, ABC/ESPN: No college football analyst ever is as polished, nuanced or professional as Herbstreit. That’s not hyperbole, that’s a fact. 2) Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt, Fox: Johnson is an acquired taste, but few are better in big moments. Klatt is as well-researched as any analyst in the game. 3) Jason Benetti and Brock Huard, Fox. Benetti has the perfect voice and pace, while Huard is the sport’s most underrated analyst.
Rexrode: 1) Fowler and Herbstreit, ABC/ESPN: Herbstreit sets the standard with his analysis, micro and macro, built on deep knowledge of these programs, coaches and rosters. 2) Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy, ABC/ESPN: McDonough is the most versatile play-by-play announcer in American sports, and McElroy is not afraid to criticize poor play and coaching mistakes. 3) Johnson and Klatt, Fox: These two can struggle when a game falls off the rails, but when it’s a big one that delivers as hoped? Let them at it.
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Gregory Shamus, Erica Denhoff / Icon Sportswire; Nick Tre. Smith / Icon Sportswire; Kevin Langley / Icon Sportswire via USA Today, Marc Piscotty / Getty Images)
