Did you miss the opening drive of the Rose Bowl? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.
Since the Peach Bowl between Arizona State and Texas went into overtime, ESPN couldn’t shift over to its Rose Bowl coverage. Many fans assumed the network would simply delay the Rose Bowl’s kickoff time to ensure that everyone would get to see the opening possession between Oregon and Ohio State. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Instead, the Rose Bowl kicked off on ESPN2.
By the time ESPN started televising the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes had an early 7-0 lead over the Ducks. Will Howard capped off the opening drive with a 45-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
As you’d expect, countless people ripped ESPN and the Rose Bowl for refusing to delay the game’s start time.
“ESPN paid $7.8 billion to have literally no one watch the first quarter of the Rose Bowl,” David Ubben of The Athletic said. “Delay the game, guys.”
Ralph Michaels said, “Why in the heck would they not delay the Rose Bowl start until after the OT?”
“Why wouldn’t they delay kickoff of the Rose Bowl??? There’s not even a late game anymore,” RedditCFB wrote.
“No reason the Rose Bowl should be playing now. This game is epic. Game times are moved back all the time. Both are on ESPN,” another person commented. “Unfair to the fans and frankly ESPN should have required it for their audience. Crazy.”
“They postponed a whole game and they couldn’t move the Rose Bowl back 15 minutes,” an angry social media user pointed out.
Hopefully, Rose Bowl officials will provide an explanation in the next few hours. On the bright side, there’s still plenty of football left in the Rose Bowl.
Oregon defeated Ohio State earlier this season when they met at Autzen Stadium. We’ll see if the Buckeyes can get revenge in “The Granddaddy of Them All.”
The winner of the Rose Bowl will face Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Related: Ohio State Cheerleader Turning Heads Before Rose Bowl Kickoff