Watch: Chris Fowler calls first down that’s nowhere near marker

Being ESPN’s top college football announcer, Chris Fowler is expected to prove that on every broadcast he does. Sure, he makes mistakes from time to time, just like every announcer does. It happens. But good grief, could he have been anymore incorrect on this call?

After Notre Dame’s Jayson Ademilola and Isaiah Foskey sacked USC’s Caleb Williams for a 10-yard loss, the Trojans were looking at third-and-20. On the next play, Williams escaped trouble a couple of times and made a 12-yard completion to Mario Williams. Do the math, and that’s fourth down. Somehow though, Fowler thought the play resulted in a conversion:

Look, we don’t expect our announcers to be absolutely perfect. But whatever caused Fowler to make this call is inexcusable. We get that it’s exciting to watch a Heisman Trophy candidate in Williams, but in the end, this still is only a football game, not a showcase. Fowler needs to check himself before his next broadcast so he doesn’t do this again.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Story originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire