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The emotions boiled over for Kirk Herbstreit after Ohio State won the national championship on Monday.
When asked about the Buckeyes’ 34-23 win over Notre Dame, the ESPN analyst, who also quarterbacked Ohio State from 1989-93 and has a son currently on the team, became emotional and wiped away tears during the network’s postgame show at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Don’t start with me,” Herbstreit said when Scott Van Pelt asked him a question. “I’m a little emotional. I’m just fired up for these guys. When I call these games I’m incredibly objective. I love all of these Ohio State teams, but this team because of what they went through to get to this point, you’re just happy.”
Kirk Herbstreit gets emotional on the postgame show.”When I call these games I’m incredibly objective. I love all of these Ohio State teams, but this team because of what they went through to get to this point, you’re just happy.” pic.twitter.com/BylD7WBQ3N— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 21, 2025
Then, after Herbstreit’s answer, the network cut away for a couple of clips from inside the stadium while play-by-play broadcaster Chris Fowler answered the question before ESPN cut back to Fowler and Herbstreit — with the latter dabbing his eyes and face with what appeared to be a tissue or cloth.
Herbstreit’s son, Zak, is a senior tight end on the roster, and his father, Jim, was a captain for the Buckeyes in 1960.
Though Herbstreit never won a national title while with the program, he called the game Monday as Ohio State clinched the ninth title in program history and first since the 2014 season.
The Buckeyes erupted for touchdowns on all three first-half drives behind a stellar half from quarterback Will Howard, overcoming Notre Dame’s 18-play touchdown drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes to start the game, to take control.
Then, they helped off a late comeback bid from the Fighting Irish, who scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half, before a late Ohio State field goal put the game out of reach.
And as the celebration began in Atlanta, in the seconds before Ohio State head coach Ryan Day had Gatorade dumped on him and confetti fell toward the turf, Herbstreit defended Day and his program, which has previously struggled on big stages and lost two games this season — including one to Michigan, its rival — before winning four consecutive games in the 12-team CFP to win the title.
“I hear the stories behind the curtain,” Herbstreit said about Day on the broadcast. “I know what he and his wife and his family go through. It’s really, it’s tough. It’s tough to be a coach at a premium school where you’re expected to win every game. He handled it with such class.”
