To no one’s surprise, ESPN’s college football broadcast A-team of Chris Fowler (pxp), Kirk Herbstreit (color) and Holly Rowe (sideline) will be on the call for this season’s Rose Bowl Game between Penn State and Utah.
Fowler and Herbstreit are familiar with Penn State football, the Rose Bowl and, in one instance, both overlapping.
The two were on the call for Penn State’s last Rose Bowl appearance, which came against USC at the end of the 2016 season.
Fowler and, especially, Herbstreit, have pleased Penn State fans with compliments they’ve made about the program in the past. Earlier this season, Fowler said Penn State had the Big Ten’s top home-field advantage. Before the season, Herbstreit picked Penn State as his “sleeper team” for the 2022 season. That prediction ended up being a good one. Penn State improved its regular-season record from 7-5 in 2021 to 10-2 this season, and has a chance to win 11 games for the fourth time in the past seven seasons by beating Utah in the Rose Bowl.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Herbstreit’s most famous praise of Penn State happened in the fall of 2005. At halftime of Penn State’s game against Ohio State at Beaver Stadium, Herbstreit, a former Buckeye quarterback, said Penn State had “the best student section in the country” and affectionately referred to it as “crazy.” Penn State ended up beating Ohio State, 17-10, in one of the most famous wins in school history.
This will be the first time since October 2021 that Fowler and Herbstreit have announced a Penn State game. The two called the Penn State-Ohio State game last season, a 33-24 Ohio State win.
The 109th Rose Bowl Game is scheduled to kickoff at 5 ET on ESPN Jan. 2.
