college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
on ESPN. In the past, the presenting sponsors have been
Polaroid
Polaroid may refer to:
* Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras
* Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation
* Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs
* Polar ...
Hilton
Hilton or Hylton may refer to:
Companies
* Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name
** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...
. The current presenting sponsor is
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
. The game telecast airs every Saturday night at 7:45pm ET during the
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
regular season. The game is preceded by a 45-minute-long ''
College Football Scoreboard
''College Football Scoreboard'' is a program on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC that provides up-to-the-minute scores, highlights, pre-game and post-game interviews, and check-ins of games of interest through 'bonus coverage' during the college football sea ...
'' with
Matt Barrie Matt Barrie may refer to:
* Matt Barrie (businessman) (born 1973), Australian technology entrepreneur
*Matt Barrie (sportscaster)
Matt Barrie is a sportscaster for ESPN's ''SportsCenter''. He joined the show in March 2013.
Prior to joining E ...
,
Joey Galloway
Joseph Scott Galloway (born November 20, 1971) is an American former professional football player who is an analyst with ESPN. He was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Galloway was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with the ...
and
Jesse Palmer
Jesse James Palmer (born October 5, 1978) is a Canadian television personality, sports commentator, actor, and former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons in the early 2000s. ...
, all of whom also appear on the halftime report. This game telecast is also presented in high-definition on ESPN HD.
History
Since debuting in 1979, it has broadcast games from numerous conferences including the
ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
, Big Ten and the Big East Conference. In recent years, it has primarily featured the SEC as the second-choice game to CBS' national coverage earlier in the day. Games from the other conferences typically could air either on ESPN/ESPN2 or ABC, but the SEC does not offer such flexibility. This game is often seen as the ESPN ''Game of the Week'' along with the Thursday night telecast.
Some notable voices of ''ESPN College Football Primetime'' over the years have been
Ron Franklin
Ronald Franklin (February 2, 1942January 18, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was employed by ESPN from 1987 to 2011. He was fired by ESPN on January 4, 2011, after making sexist comments to a colleague.Mike Gottfried and Adrian Karsten, but all have gone on to different assignments, except for Karsten, who died in 2005. Currently, the primary commentators for the ESPN version are Sean McDonough on play-by-play, Todd Blackledge as analyst and Molly McGrath as field reporter. The secondary commentators are
Chris Fowler
Chris Fowler (born ) is an American sports broadcaster for ESPN, who serves as the play-by-play announcer for '' Saturday Night Football'' on ABC and ESPN’s tennis coverage. He is also known for his work on '' College GameDay'', which he h ...
on play-by-play, Kirk Herbstreit as analyst and Holly Rowe as field reporter, all of whom also serve as the primary commentating team for ABC's ''Saturday Night Football''.
On October 14, 2006, ''ESPN College Football Primetime'' aired on five different networks as part of ''ESPN Full Circle''. The networks included ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN360 and Mobile ESPN.
Franklin-Rowe Incident
On October 1, 2005, in a game that
Ron Franklin
Ronald Franklin (February 2, 1942January 18, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was employed by ESPN from 1987 to 2011. He was fired by ESPN on January 4, 2011, after making sexist comments to a colleague.Holly Rowe called out Purdue University, Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack for using all three timeouts on defense despite trailing by four touchdowns late in the game. "If the coaches are giving up," Rowe added, "what does that say to the players?" Franklin responded: "Holly, it's not giving up. It's 49-21, sweetheart."
In response to that, Mo Davenport, senior coordinating producer for college football said, "It was an inappropriate comment, and we've communicated that to Ron. There's never a reason to say something so mean-spirited. Ron apologized. We dealt with it internally."
*Erin Andrews: (field reporter, 2004, 2009)
*Bob Davie (American football), Bob Davie: (analyst, 2005; also commentator for the August 30, 2008 game)
*
Ron Franklin
Ronald Franklin (February 2, 1942January 18, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was employed by ESPN from 1987 to 2011. He was fired by ESPN on January 4, 2011, after making sexist comments to a colleague.Mike Gottfried: (analyst, 1990–2004)
* Adrian Karsten: (field reporter, 1990–2003) (D)
*Brad Nessler: (play-by-play, 2009–2015)
*Mike Patrick: (play-by-play, 2006–2008)
*Joe Tessitore: (play-by-play, 2016–2017)
* Holly Rowe: (field reporter, 2005–2008, 2010–2019)
By year
Game features
*Starting Lineups: The starting lineups are presented during the first possession of each team's offense and defense.
*Chick-fil-A Impact Players: Following the starting lineups, McDonough and Blackledge run down the top two or three impact players on each teams side of the ball.
*Halftime Report: The ''College Football Final'' crew of
Matt Barrie Matt Barrie may refer to:
* Matt Barrie (businessman) (born 1973), Australian technology entrepreneur
*Matt Barrie (sportscaster)
Matt Barrie is a sportscaster for ESPN's ''SportsCenter''. He joined the show in March 2013.
Prior to joining E ...
,
Joey Galloway
Joseph Scott Galloway (born November 20, 1971) is an American former professional football player who is an analyst with ESPN. He was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Galloway was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with the ...
and
Jesse Palmer
Jesse James Palmer (born October 5, 1978) is a Canadian television personality, sports commentator, actor, and former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons in the early 2000s. ...
present the halftime report, which features analysis of the first half, highlights of earlier games and a look at other happenings in the sports world.
*Studio Update: This segment appears during various time in the game, when
Matt Barrie Matt Barrie may refer to:
* Matt Barrie (businessman) (born 1973), Australian technology entrepreneur
*Matt Barrie (sportscaster)
Matt Barrie is a sportscaster for ESPN's ''SportsCenter''. He joined the show in March 2013.
Prior to joining E ...
gives up to the minute highlights when something big happens in another game.
*Primetime Pulse: Two or three times during the game,
Matt Barrie Matt Barrie may refer to:
* Matt Barrie (businessman) (born 1973), Australian technology entrepreneur
*Matt Barrie (sportscaster)
Matt Barrie is a sportscaster for ESPN's ''SportsCenter''. He joined the show in March 2013.
Prior to joining E ...
shows a screen with live coverage of the Saturday Night Football, ABC primetime game, the ESPN primetime game and the ESPN2 primetime game.
*Todd's Taste of the Town: Usually shown in the second or third quarter, game analyst Todd Blackledge highlights a local eatery.
See also
*''College GameDay (football), College GameDay''
*''
College Football Scoreboard
''College Football Scoreboard'' is a program on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC that provides up-to-the-minute scores, highlights, pre-game and post-game interviews, and check-ins of games of interest through 'bonus coverage' during the college football sea ...
''
*''College Football Final''
*''ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime''
*''ESPN2 College Football Saturday Primetime''
*''Saturday Night Football''
References
*
{{College football on television
1984 American television series debuts
1990s American television series
2000s American television series
2010s American television series
ESPN original programming
American sports television series
ESPN College Football Primetime, Saturday