Texas' game-winning kick to defeat Oklahoma resulted in an instant classic call from Fox' Gus Johnsongetty images
Fox' Gus Johnson "was in fine form" for Texas' 48-45 win against Oklahoma Saturday as he "spent much of the day throwing exclamation points on all his stanzas, and it was a joy to listen to," according to Nick Greene of SLATE. Johnson has a "knack for making exciting games even more electric, and Saturday’s Red River Showdown was one for his own personal highlight album." Each touchdown of Oklahoma’s "improbable late comeback was met with increased volume" until Oklahoma RB Trey Sermon’s game-tying run "sent Johnson straight to sonic Valhalla" (SLATE.com, 10/6). USA TODAY's Michelle Martinelli wrote Johnson "lost his mind calling Texas’ final play of the game." Texas K Cameron Dicker made a game-ending kick as time expired, and after the ball "floated through the uprights, Johnson amazingly yelled out: 'Earthquake! He hit it! Dicker, the kicker! 48-45 Texas!" (USATODAY.com, 10/6). WTOP.com's Dave Preston wrote Johnson is "known for high-energy calls of big plays in clutch situations." He might "not be everybody's cup of tea," but "nobody makes mundane plays more interesting and nobody makes the big plays more sublime" (WTOP.com, 10/7).
IN GUS WE TRUST: Johnson's commentary was mostly lauded on Twitter. The Ringer's Rodger Sherman: "Gus Johnson has never been happier than when he learned Texas had a kicker named Dicker." Barstool Sports' Dan Katz: "I love Gus Johnson just screaming natural disasters after big plays now. EARTHQUAKE!" ESPN's Chris Herring: "I don't even know that we need him for the first three quarters of games. But networks should radio him in the way they do w replay/officiating experts, for enormous moments." CBS' Melanie Collins: "Gus Johnson is an absolute treasure." The Athletic's David Ubben: "There's not much in CFB 2018 I love more than Marquise Brown earning the everpresent 'Hollywood' nickname just because Gus Johnson kept yelling it." Rivals.com's Mike Farrell: "What is Gus Johnson on?" But one odd on-air utterance by Johnson did raise some eyebrows. Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde: "For some unknown reason, Gus Johnson said Kyler 'needs to get out of bounds' about five yards into that 67-yard run. There's five minutes left and green grass ahead" (TWITTER.com, 10/6).
ON THE RISE: Fox led college football games in Week 6 with a 4.3 overnight rating for Texas-Oklahoma in the 12:00pm ET window. That figure is up from a 2.2 overnight on ESPN last year in the 3:30pm window. Two years ago, FS1 carried the Red River Shootout, drawing a 2.0 overnight. The game was last on broadcast TV in ’15, with ABC drawing a 3.8 in the noon window (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
