- No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Penn State Also on ESPN’s Networks; 18 Ranked Teams Overall
- Number of Games Changes Due Hurricane Irma
College football fans will have multiple prime time options on ESPN’s networks on Saturday, Sept. 9, as ABC’s Saturday Night Football Presented by Wells Fargo will air No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 2 Ohio State (7:30 p.m. ET) and ESPN will televise No. 3 Clemson hosting No. 13 Auburn (7 p.m.). The two high-stakes games highlight the networks’ week 2 schedule which also features No. 1 Alabama at home vs. Fresno State (ESPN2) and No. 4 Penn State hosting Pitt (ABC), both at 3:30 p.m. ET. Overall, ESPN’s networks will showcase 18 ranked teams in the sport’s second week, which includes all the aforementioned top 5 teams.
**Game Updates Due to Hurricane Irma**
Hurricane Irma has impacted a number of games this weekend across ESPN’s networks. Changes are:
- No. 16 Miami at Arkansas State has been canceled; Indiana at Virginia will now air on ESPNU in its place on Saturday, Sept. 9 (3:30 p.m.).
- Louisiana-Monroe at No. 10 Florida State has been moved to noon, remaining on Saturday, Sept. 9. It will be a non-exclusive game on ACC Network Extra.
- No. 21 South Florida at UConn has moved to 10:30 a.m. and remains on Saturday, Sept. 9 on ESPNEWS
- Memphis at UCF has been moved to Friday, Sept. 8, starting at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game will now air on ESPNU.
- Northern Colorado at No. 22 Florida has been moved to noon, remaining on Saturday, Sept. 9. The game will be streamed exclusively on SEC Network +. Chattanooga at No. 12 LSU moves from SEC Network Alternate to SEC Network
- New Hampshire at Georgia Southern moves to 4 p.m., remaining on Saturday, Set. 9. The game will be played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., remains on ESPN3.
**********************************************************************
ABC’s Saturday Night Football Features Top 5 Matchup for Second Consecutive Week
ABC’s Saturday Night Football telecast of the Sooners-Buckeyes will be the second consecutive top 5 matchup for ESPN’s networks signature franchise as the opening week’s Florida State-Alabama telecast set numerous records. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Maria Taylor will be in Columbus for the Big 12-Big Ten Showdown, as the two schools meet for just the fourth time ever, with Ohio State winning the last two matchups (1983, 2016). It will be Oklahoma’s first trip to Columbus in 40 years, when the Sooners beat Ohio State 29-28. College GameDay Built By The Home Depot (9 a.m. on ESPN) will be onsite to set the scene early in the day.
No. 3 Clemson Hosts Long Time Rival, No. 13 Auburn Under the Lights
The College Football Playoff National Champion and No. 3 Clemson Tigers play their first game of the season under the lights in Death Valley when they host No. 13 Auburn. The two rivals have a storied history, first playing in 1902 and meeting 50 times overall. Auburn holds the upper hand with 34 wins in the series and two ties; however, they haven’t won in Memorial Stadium since 1970. Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Todd McShay will have the call.
Additional ESPN/ABC Week 2 Highlights:
- The Battle of Pennsylvania: Penn State and Pittsburgh play for the 98th time in the schools’ histories; however, the Panthers travel to State College, Pa., for the first-time since 1999. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series with 50 wins, 43 losses and four ties, but the Panthers have won the last two meetings, including delivering the Nittany Lions one of their two losses last season. Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe will be in Happy Valley for the telecast.
- Non-Conference Showdowns: 8 Michigan’s home opener vs. Cincinnati (noon on ABC), Iowa at Iowa State (Noon on ESPN2) and Boise State at No. 20 Washington State (10:30 p.m. on ESPN) are among ESPN’s additional non-conference games. Full commentator list is below.
- Battle in the Beehive State:One of the sport’s best rivalries is renewed when Utah travels to face BYU (10:15 p.m. on ESPN2). The Utes have won the last six meetings between the two schools separated by approximately 50 miles and 56 of their 91 overall meetings. Mike Patrick, Tommy Tuberville and Paul Carcaterra will call the game.
- Lamar Jackson, Louisville Begin ACC Schedule: Lamar Jackson and the No. 17 Louisville Cardinals will travel to North Carolina (noon) as the two teams open their ACC schedule. Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy, and Tom Luginbill will call the game.
- Longhorn Network Airs First of Two Texas Games
Longhorn Network will televise the first of its two Texas games this week when the Longhorns host San Jose State (3:30 p.m.). More details on LHN’s production can be found here. - SEC Network and SEC Network Alternate
SEC Network will carry six games this weekend, including the aforementioned No. 22 Florida Gators hosting Northern Colorado on SEC Network + and two games on SEC Network Alternate. A full schedule is below and for assistance finding SEC Network Alternate, please visit secnetwork.com/channel.
ESPN’s Networks Week 2 Schedule as of 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Thur, Sept. 7 | 7:30 p.m. | Sam Houston State at Prairie View A&M Eric Clemons, Jay Walker |
ESPNU |
| Fri, Sept. 8 | 6:30 p.m. | Memphis at UCF | ESPNU |
| 8 p.m. | No. 11 Oklahoma State at South Alabama Adam Amin, Dusty Dvoracek, Molly McGrath |
ESPN2 | |
| Sat, Sept. 9 | 10:30 a.m. | No. 21 South Florida at UConn Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia |
ESPNEWS |
| Noon | Cincinnati at No. 8 Michigan Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, Allison Williams |
ABC | |
| No. 17 Louisville at North Carolina Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy, Tom Luginbill |
ESPN | ||
| Iowa at Iowa State Jason Benetti, Kelly Stouffer, Julia Stewart-Binks |
ESPN2 | ||
| Northwestern at Duke Mike Couzens, John Congemi |
ESPNU | ||
| Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky Taylor Zarzour, Andre Ware, Olivia Harlan |
SEC Network | ||
| Tennessee-Martin at Ole Miss Mike Morgan, Barrett Jones, Richard Cross |
SEC Network Alternate | ||
| Northern Colorado at No. 22 Florida Joel Meyers, Brian Kinchen, |
SEC Network + | ||
| Louisiana-Monroe at No. 10 Florida State | ACC Network Extra | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | Jacksonville at Georgia Tech | ACC Network Extra | |
| 1 p.m. | Wake Forest at Boston College Robert Lee, Matt Chatham |
ACC Network Extra | |
| 3 p.m. | UAB at Ball State Jim Barbar, Hutson Mason |
ESPN3 | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Pittsburgh at No. 4 Penn State Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe |
ABC | |
| Fresno State at No. 1 Alabama Adam Amin, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman |
ESPN2 | ||
| Indiana at Virginia Dave Weekley, John Gregory |
ESPNU | ||
| San Jose State at Texas Lowell Galindo, Ahmad Brooks, Kris Budden |
Longhorn Network | ||
| Howard at Kent State Michael Reghi, Jerod Cherry |
ESPN3 | ||
| Eastern Illinois at Northern Illinois Jordan Bernfield, Marcus Ray |
ESPN3 | ||
| Savannah State at Appalachian State Brock Bowling, Stan Lewter |
ESPN3 | ||
| Austin Peay at Miami (Ohio) Jeff McCarrigher, Bobby Carpenter |
ESPN3 | ||
| Villanova at Temple Greg Mescall, Tyoka Jackson |
ESPN3 | ||
| Middle Tennessee at Syracuse Doug Sherman, Doug Graber |
ACC Network Extra | ||
| Delaware at Virginia Tech Drew Fellios, Forrest Conoly |
ACC Network Extra | ||
| 4 p.m. | Indiana State vs. No. 25 Tennessee David Neal, Matt Stinchcomb, Dawn Davenport |
SEC Network | |
| Alabama A&M vs. Vanderbilt Mark Neely, Jay Walker, Desmond Purnell |
SEC Network Alternate | ||
| Louisiana at Tulsa David Saltzman, George Wrighster |
ESPN3 | ||
| New Hampshire at Georgia Southern Matt Stewart, Wayne Gandy |
ESPN3 | ||
| 6 p.m. | South Dakota at Bowling Green Dan Dutowsky, Watson Brown |
ESPN3 | |
| Alabama State at Troy Tiffany Greene, Rene Nadeau |
ESPN3 | ||
| Marshall at NC State Kevin Fitzgerald, Dustin Fox |
ACC Network Extra | ||
| 6:30 p.m. | Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Akron David Wilson, Travis Tannahill |
ESPN3 | |
| 7 p.m. | No. 13 Auburn at No. 3 Clemson Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay |
ESPN | |
| South Carolina at Missouri Anish Shroff, Mike Golic, Jr, Roddy Jones |
ESPN2 | ||
| Nicholls at Texas A&M Roy Philpott, Tom Ramsey |
ESPNU | ||
| North Texas at SMU David Raymond, Stanford Routt |
ESPN3 | ||
| Toledo at Nevada Trey Bender, Jay Taylor |
ESPN3 | ||
| 7:30 p.m. | No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 2 Ohio State TV: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Maria Taylor Radio: Bill Rosinski, Dusty Dvoracek, Ian Fitzsimmons |
ABC and ESPN Radio | |
| Chattanooga vs. No. 12 LSU Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers, Cole Cubelic |
SEC Network | ||
| 8:30 p.m. | No. 14 Stanford at No. 6 USC Marc Kestecher, David Norrie |
ESPN Radio | |
| 9 p.m. | UNLV at Idaho | ESPN3 | |
| 10:15 p.m. | Utah at BYU Mike Patrick, Tommy Tuberville, Paul Carcaterra |
ESPN2 | |
| 10:30 p.m. | Boise State at No. 20 Washington State Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich |
ESPN, | |
| Houston at Arizona Clay Matvick, Kirk Morrison |
ESPNU |
-30-
Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; Derek.Volner@ESPN.com and @DerekVolner
-
-
-
-
-
