Kirk Herbstreit made an admission on the air Monday after Ohio State won the national championship.
The Ohio State Buckeyes dominated Notre Dame for most of the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., on Monday night. After falling behind 7-0, Ohio State responded with 31 straight points. The Fighting Irish challenged at the end, but Ohio State still prevailed 34-23.
The Buckeyes became the first champion of the 12-team College Football Playoff format, and Herbstreit couldn’t hide his happiness.
The former Ohio State quarterback dropped his objectivity during a postgame conversation with Scott Van Pelt on ESPN. Herbstreit, who announced the game for ESPN along with Chris Fowler, got emotional and admitted he was happy.
“I’m a little emotional. I’m just fired up for these guys,” Herbstreit admitted. “When I call these games, I’m incredibly objective. I love all these Ohio State teams, but this team, because of what they went through to get to this point, you’re just happy.”
Kirk Herbstreit gets emotional on the postgame show.
"When I call these games I'm incredibly objective. I love all of these Ohio State teams, but this team because of what they went through to get to this point, you're just happy." pic.twitter.com/BylD7WBQ3N
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 21, 2025
This Ohio State team lost to Oregon and then Michigan during the regular season. The defeat at home to the rival Wolverines led to tremendous criticism and embarrassment for the team’s players and coaches. But thanks to the 12-team playoff, they got a shot at redemption and made the most of it by going 4-0 in the playoffs.
That’s what Kirk Herbstreit is referring to when he talks about what Ohio State went through.
“They went to hell and back,” Herbstreit said.
Herbstreit maintains his objectivity when calling games, but after it ended, he turned into a fan and didn’t hide it.
