ESPN’s production of the first cable-exclusive BCS National Championship Game between Auburn and Oregon was a mixed bag. The pictures and replays for the most part were quite good especially for Michael Dyer’s run late in the 4th quarter which set up the winning field goal for the Tigers. This showed that Dyer, although brought down, did not touch his knee to the ground and this allowed for Auburn to kick the winning score.
The game was sloppy and the expected offensive onslaught never materialized. That was mostly due to both teams not playing since December 3, but that’s a debate for another day and in another blog. For this, I’ll focus on ESPN and its efforts.
As mentioned, pictures and replays were done well. Camera angles including one that stood high over the goal line gave a good perspective of the action, especially when Oregon running back LaMichael James was tackled in the end zone for a safety. The technical side of ESPN’s production gets an A. Great work by the off-air crew.
As far as the on-air talent was concerned, that’s a different story. Brent Musburger did not have his best night. Brent is a legend and was recently honored by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. However, that honor did not help him call the BCS National Championship Game last night. Before the game, Brent was quoted as saying that he didn’t want to draw attention to himself and talk less during the contest, but he did exactly that throughout the night.
Brent wonders why he’s a target and the following examples display this. Just as Oregon was driving in the 3rd quarter last night, Brent prematurely called a touchdown. Thanks to the always productive @Bubbaprog for the video.
But it didn’t end there. Brent constantly referred to his partner, Kirk Herbstreit as “Herbie” to the point where it was extremely noticeable. It’s one thing to be friendly with your on-air partner, to show that you’re folksy and you get along, but not with every play, “So Herbie….,” “Herbie, let’s talk about….,” “So as you’re aware, Herbie,” “Herbie?,” “Herbie,” “Herbie!” Enough with the Herbie! How about Kirk? Or Kirkie? Or even Herb? It got out of hand.
However, the call that everyone is talking about is the now-infamous, “This is for all the Tostitos,” as Auburn kicker Wes Byrum was about to go for the winning field goal. Of course, Tostitos is the sponsor of the Fiesta Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game so Brent gave the brand a huge plug at a big moment.
Only Brent. And you notice the call of the field goal was quite anti-climactic. We might have needed Gus Johnson out of the bullpen to call that moment. Brent seemed spent by the time the game ended. But this is not the first time Brent has used that Tostitos line. He first unveiled it for Michigan-Ohio State in 2002.
The Tostitos line set Twitter afire and gave people a lot of online fodder.
As far as the other ESPN on-air talent was concerned, Kirk Herbstreit was quite solid on analysis. I prefer him on College Gameday, but he was on top of trends especially during the first quarter when the game unexpectedly began as a defensive struggle.
Erin Andrews is Erin Andrews. Very good on the sidelines and did well on the big stage.
Tom Rinaldi is well, Tom Rinaldi. He’s a great feature reporter, excellent writer, but his postgame interviews dragged.
Chris Fowler proved that he’s one of the best studio hosts on television. He did a great job on College Gameday and during the BCS National Championship pregame show, having to steer guest analysts Urban Meyer and Nick Saban. It’s not easy having to break in two new analysts, but Chris handled it well.
Speaking of Meyer, if he’s going to become an ESPN analyst, then his debut last night went swimmingly well. While he was stiff and showed little humor, Meyer did offer some very good analysis on Auburn and Cam Newton. Saban showed no humor, but then again, he’s an intense guy.
Lee Corso once again gave his mascot head prediction and went barefoot to wade in a little pool full of rubber duckies to show that he chose Oregon. There was speculation that it would be his last prediction on College Gameday, but I suspect he’ll be back for one more year. Corso’s a big part of College Gameday’s history, being the last of the originals on the show. I would think ESPN would want to give him a big sendoff before Lee takes his No. 2 pencils off the show for good.
And Desmond Howard is growing into a very good analyst. I like his perspective.
Overall, the on-air talent’s grade would be a B-minus, brought down mostly by Brent’s call. Without the heavy weight of Musburger’s failing grade, the crew would have received an A for the most part.
ESPN received the highest overnight rating for the BCS National Championship Game and its production was worthy of the game. It’s too bad Brent Musburger could not step up also.
