On Versus Saturday, the NBC-run network will air two college football games, one involving the Ivy League and the other from the Pac-12 Conference. At 3:30 p.m. ET, Penn takes on winless Columbia at Wien Stadium in New York. Then at 4:30 p.m. PT, it’ll be the unbeaten Stanford Cardinal with Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Andrew Luck take on Washington State.
Randy Moss of NBC Sports/NFL Network will call the Penn-Columbia game with Ross Tucker and the lovely Carolyn Manno of Comcast SportsNet New England on the sidelines.
Then Ted Robinson, Glen Parker and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila will be in Pullman, WA to call the Stanford-Washington State. Here are the details from Versus for its college football doubleheader.
ANDREW LUCK LEADS #7 STANFORD AGAINST WASHINGTON STATE THIS SATURDAY AT 7:30 PM ET ON VERSUS
Ivy League match-up Penn at Columbia Begins at 3:30 p.m. ET
“This may prove to be the toughest obstacle of the season so far for the Cardinal.” – Roland Williams
“The Quakers are in the midst of one of the best winning streaks in Ivy League history.” – Ross TuckerNEW YORK – For the second consecutive week, VERSUS will feature Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, one of the leading Heisman Trophy candidates, as he leads the No. 7 Cardinal (5-0) against Washington State (3-2) this Saturday night in primetime at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game is the second in a NBC Sports Group doubleheader that kicks off on VERSUS at 3:30 p.m. ET when the Columbia Lions (0-4) host the Penn Quakers (2-2) at Wien Stadium in New York.
The undefeated Cardinal are on a tear after recently steamrolling Colorado 48-7 in last week’s game and will look to continue their winning streak against the Cougars, who recently lost a close game against UCLA. Columbia is still in search of their first win this season. After two initial losses, Pennsylvania has turned their season around with recent wins against Dartmouth and Fordham.
COMMENTATORS: Randy Moss will serve as the play-by-play announcer for all VERSUS Ivy League games and is joined in the booth by Ross Tucker as lead analyst. Carolyn Manno will serve as in-game reporter. Ted Robinson and Glenn Parker will lead VERSUS’ Pac-12 Conference coverage as play-by-play announcer and analyst, respectively. They will be joined by Akbar Gbaja-Biamila on the field as the sideline analyst. NBC and VERSUS will have an analyst reporting from the sidelines for all college football games to provide first-person analysis from the field and interact with the play-by-play and color announcers in the booth.
VERSUS will surround its college football game coverage this weekend with a pre-game studio show, as well as halftime reports and post-game coverage, from NBC’s Football Night in America studio (Studio 8G) at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The pre-game show begins this Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, and will be hosted by Liam McHugh with 1984 Heisman Trophy-winner Doug Flutie and Super Bowl champion and former NFL tight end Roland Williams serving as studio analysts.
WILLIAMS ON STANFORD: “This may prove to be the toughest obstacle of the season so far for the Cardinal.”
WILLIAMS ON WASHINGTON STATE: “The Cougars are significantly improved from a year ago, especially on their home field. They have a pretty good passing attack, which may help them exploit the Cardinal’s biggest weakness; pass defense.”
PARKER ON PAC-12: “Washington State’s offense will be a test for Stanford’s defense. We might see a shootout.”
TUCKER ON COLUMBIA: “Head Coach Norries Wilson has done a nice job rebuilding the Lions back to respectability in recent years but they have gotten off to a slow start this season. Defensively they have struggled against the run but their pass rush has been ferocious and is a real strength. Josh Martin leads the Lions from his outside linebacker spot.”
More later.
