FOX’s announcers for Saturday’s huge Michigan-Ohio State game did a poor job keeping viewers informed amid some confusing situations before halftime.
Michigan and Ohio State traded punts a few times before halftime. The Wolverines got the ball back with just over a minute left in the second quarter and had a 3rd-and-2 at their 41. J.J. McCarthy scrambled for a first down and got his team near field goal range with around 9 seconds left. Next thing you knew, 17 seconds were left on the clock, and Michigan was back at their 41 for 3rd-and-2.
On 3rd & 2, JJ McCarthy 19-yd rush .. 1st Down with 0:09 left in the half#Wolverines 17 #Buckeyes 20 2nd pic.twitter.com/KjQR0AOugT
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) November 26, 2022
The Wolverines were then pushed back five yards for a false start to make it 3rd-and-7, and they were called again for a false start to make it 3rd-and-12.
The problem is that FOX’s announcers spent all this time talking about McCarthy’s run and whether Michigan would call timeout to stop the clock. They really left viewers in the dark about why Michigan went from having the ball near field goal range to being back at their 41.
Analyst Joel Klatt mentioned in one sentence that Ohio State had called timeout before McCarthy’s run. That was it. Klatt and Gus Johnson spent all this time talking about the run and a late hit and just glossed over that the play didn’t count — and the reason why.
As a viewer, I had to rewind a few times to finally figure out what was going on.
Michigan went from being close to field goal range to being moved back to their 31 in a span of minutes, and FOX’s announcers did a poor job explaining to viewers what was happening.
The announcers did a good job getting viewers excited when big plays occurred in the game, but they were really lost when their guidance was needed most.
Many viewers noticed the same issue:
Everybody supposedly loves Gus but could he at least follow the game and tell us why it’s third down again after that run by McCarthy. Fox completely missed what happened there (Ohio State called timeout before the snap.)
— Jay Posner (@JayPosnerSD) November 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/RPGThirtyNine/status/1596579986345197568
I’m so confused. Michigan got the ball down into Ohio State territory but then said they gave the timeout to Ohio State? So how was that hit not unnecessary roughness at the end of the dead ball play?
— Andrew Pasquini (@pasquiniandrew) November 26, 2022
Though the Fox crew has zero idea what’s happening in the Michigan-Ohio State game… That was a really smart timeout by Ohio State. Michigan had a perfect look/play call and OSU caught them a ton of time taken off the clock. Game within the game.
— Dillon Gaudet (@GaudetWeather) November 26, 2022
Klatt also harped on how much time Michigan was wasting by huddling up and not using a hurry-up offense before the half. Not once did he consider whether that was by intention so that they wouldn’t leave any time left for the Buckeyes.
It was a poor job by the announcers and the telecast during some big moments in a massive game.
