Report: ESPN assigns announcers for Notre Dame vs. Ohio State showdown

Ohio State vs. Notre Dame is one of the highest-touted games on the Week 1 slate in September. The announcer crew will live up to the billing, too.

Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe will be on the call on ABC for the Sept. 3 showdown, according to Rudy Martzke on Twitter. The game is filled with storylines on both sides as former Buckeye Marcus Freeman gets ready for his first season as Notre Dame head coach and CJ Stroud tries to build on an impressive redshirt freshman season.

Stroud finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting last season and is part of an impressive crew of playmakers returning from last year’s group. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the Buckeyes in receiving yards in 2021 and running back TreVeyon Henderson led the group in rushing, and both are back for another go-round in 2022. Along with some additions on defense, headlined by new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, Ohio State could be in for a big year.

Notre Dame is in an interesting spot as Freeman takes over for Brian Kelly. On offense, the Fighting Irish have tight end Michael Mayer and running back Chris Tyree back, but are getting ready for a quarterback competition after Jack Coan graduated out. Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne took some snaps last season and are going to battle it out to be the starter in 2022, and the winner of that competition will be the starter for the showdown at The Horseshoe.

CJ Stroud previews upcoming matchup with Notre Dame

Ohio State’s primetime matchup vs. Notre Dame is one of the most anticipated games to open the season in the entire college football landscape. And in order for the Buckeyes to come out on top, they’ll rely on their star quarterback CJ Stroud, who talked about what he’s seen from the Irish defense.

“Notre Dame is a great team, they do a lot of great things, greatly coached, they do a great job on the defensive side, have some great dynamic players. They do a lot of different things up front, they like to twist, turn, some different fronts,” Stroud said. “And then on the back end, not too sure because I know they changed defensive coordinators, but at the same time I’m ready for everything. With a team like that you’ve just got to respect them and I think it’s gonna be a battle and it’s gonna be a great game.”