Football is Back in Session: ESPN Solidifies Game Assignments and Production Features for Five-Day, 50+ Game Kickoff Week

• Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Maria Taylor Call ABC’s Saturday Night Football 11 Oregon vs. No. 16 Auburn; Trio Also Calls ESPN’s Labor Day Night Game Featuring No. 9 Notre Dame at Louisville 
• Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe Call ABC’s Fourth Annual Kickoff Weekend Sunday Night Prime-time Special: No. 4 Oklahoma Hosting Houston 
• Matt Hasselbeck, Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick Begin New College Football Roles; Ryan Leaf and Pat McAfee Debut in New Analyst Roles 
• No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Oklahoma on ESPN’s Networks; The Crimson Tide vs. Duke in ESPN CFB150 Showcase Game of the Week 
• Innovation and Technology Front and Center: Multiple New Cameras Provide Dynamic Views; BlimpCast Returns for Labor Day Night

ESPN has solidified its game assignments for the network’s annual College Football Kickoff Weekend featuring more than 50 games, including more than half of the ranked teams’ season openers, across Labor Day weekend (Aug. 29 – Sept. 2). Today’s announcement comes just days after ESPN’s College Football 150 multi-platform initiative was fully launched and hours before the network’s Week 0 action, which includes the return of College GameDay Built by The Home Depot, the first ESPN CFB 150 Showcase Game featuring Miami and No. 8 Florida in the Camping World Kickoff and the airing of Football is US: The College Game.

Fowler, Herbstreit & Taylor Front and Center for Two Prime-time Games
Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Maria Taylor will be front and center for the season debut of ABC’s Saturday Night Football featuring No. 11 Oregon vs. No. 16 Auburn (7:30 p.m. ET) from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Pac-12 – SEC showdown will mark the start of the trio’s third season together.

Fowler, Herbstreit and Taylor will then call ESPN’s annual Labor Day game, featuring No. 9 Notre Dame at Louisville (8 p.m.). The game will cap a 10-day, three-game stretch for ESPN’s lead commentating group, which will begin with the aforementioned Hurricanes-Gators showdown on Saturday, August 24, on ESPN (7 p.m.).

McDonough, Blackledge and Rowe Onsite for Fourth Annual Kickoff Weekend ABC Sunday Night Special
Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe begin their second tour together in Norman, Okla., as No. 4 Oklahoma hosts Houston in ABC’s fourth annual Kickoff Weekend Sunday night special (7:30 p.m.). The game is the only prime-time game of the day and is expected to feature the Sooners debut of quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Levy, Griese, McShay and McGrath Call ESPN CFB150 Showcase Game of the Week Featuring No. 2 Alabama
Leading into Saturday Night Football, Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay and Molly McGrath will call ESPN CFB150 Showcase Game of the Week between Duke vs. No. 2 Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on ABC (3:30 p.m.).  Starting ABC’s Saturday tripleheader, Mark Jones, Dusty Dvoracek and Olivia Dekker will call Ole Miss at Memphis (noon).

On ESPN, Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy, and Tom Luginbill will call ESPN’s prime-time game, as Boise State plays Florida State in Jacksonville, Fla., (7 p.m.). Leading into the non-conference matchup, Dan Orlovsky begins his first year with Bob Wischusen and Allison Williams as they call South Carolina vs. North Carolina in the 2019 Belk Kickoff (3:30 p.m.) from Charlotte, N.C. Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht and Rocky Boiman begin the day with South Alabama at Nebraska (noon).

New Season, New Faces
ESPN welcomes new additions to its roster, with each beginning their new, regular roles as college football game analysts:

• Thursday Night: Pat McAfee and Matt Hasselbeck join Adam Amin and Molly McGrath for UCLA at Cincinnati on ESPN (7 p.m.) – August 29
• Friday Night: Louis Riddick will be with Dave Flemming and Paul Carcaterra for No. 19 Wisconsin at South Florida (7 p.m.) – August 30
• Saturday: Ryan Leaf will be with Clay Matvick for Georgia State at Tennessee on ESPNU (3:30 p.m.)

ACC Network Featuring No. 1 Clemson, SEC Network with No. 3 Georgia, and Longhorn Network with No. 10 Texas Begin Game Slates

• ACC Network’s Primetime Football team of Dave O’Brien, Tim Hasselbeck and Katie George will make their debut when they call the first live football game on the network: Georgia Tech at No. 1 Clemson on Thursday, Aug. 29 (8 p.m.)

• SEC Network’s SEC Saturday Night team of Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic will call No. 3 Georgia at Vanderbilt (7:30 p.m.)

• Longhorn Network’s Lowell Galindo, Ahmad Brooks, and Taylor Davis will call No. 10 Texas’ season opener, as the Longhorns host Louisiana Tech (8 p.m.).

Innovation and Technology Key Themes to Industry Leading Coverage
ESPN’s innovation and technology will be on display throughout the five-day stretch, highlighted by the following features:

• BlimpCast will be live on Labor Day night, as the Goodyear Blimp flies high above Cardinal Stadium with Marty Smith and Ryan McGee onboard, reacting in real time to the action 1,000 feet below them. The unique, alternative view will be available on ESPN3 and the ESPN App. The Goodyear Blimp, an honorary member of the College Football Hall of Fame, has provided aerial coverage for more than 2,000 college football games dating back to 1955. For ESPN and Goodyear, Labor Day night will mark the second BlimpCast, following its debut at last season’s College Football Playoff National Championship.
• ABC’s Saturday Night Football marks the college football regular season debut of three dynamic cameras: ‘Enhanced Line to Gain Pylon Cam’; a ‘Marker Cam’, which has pan, tilt and zoom optics within the systems; and All Cam. Each will be standard technologies used on most ABC Saturday Night Football games this season. More on the technologies can be found here.
• In addition to BlimpCast, ESPN will activate multiple alternate presentations throughout Kickoff Weekend:
  • SkyCam on ESPN3 and ESPN APP:
    • 11 Oregon vs. No. 16 Auburn
    • Houston at No. 4 Oklahoma
    • 9 Notre Dame vs. Louisville
  • Command Center on ESPN3 and ESPN APP:
    • 11 Oregon vs. No. 16 Auburn
  • ACC Network will have alternative viewing options for the Labor Day Night game between the Fighting Irish and Cardinals, mimicking their approach for Week 0. More info on ACC Network plans here

New Studio Teams Make Their Debut
Kickoff Week will also mark the first week of ESPN’s studio teams, which includes the debut of Mark Sanchez on ABC and Matt Barrie on ESPN. Kevin Connors will make his ESPN2 debut in Week 2.

All Games referenced are Saturday, August 31, unless noted

College Football Slate for ESPN’s Networks

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Kickoff Week

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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner