Desmond Howard didn’t exactly hide where he stood on Ohio State, and Kirk Herbstreit had the perfect reaction ready.
On ESPN’s College GameDay, the former Michigan star said the Buckeyes are a team "that I'm selling right now." Herbstreit, an Ohio State alum, fired back with a laughing, "What a shock," before the two briefly went into mock swordfight mode with the long pointer sticks the analysts carry.
Howard backed up his view by pointing to what he sees as a shaky run ahead for Ohio State. "Notable results-- blew a three-touchdown lead the last ten minutes [against Texas]," said Howard.
"This is going to be a big one for them today [at Iowa]. If they struggle, they've still got at Indiana, at USC.
Oregon is getting better. And this [the annual game with Michigan] is always a toss-up."
The Buckeyes are still No. 2 in ESPN’s FPI ratings, but they’re slightly behind Indiana in the race to make the College Football Playoff, with Indiana at 70.9% and Ohio State at 69.5%. Even so, the road is anything but smooth, with four ranked opponents in five games.
The exchange fit the longtime dynamic between two of college football’s most familiar voices. Herbstreit played at Ohio State from 1988 to 1992 and was the starting quarterback in 1992, when he threw for 1,904 yards and four touchdowns as the Buckeyes finished 8-3-1. He has since spent more than 30 years at ESPN and become one of the sport’s most recognizable broadcasters, long known as the calmer half of the pairing with Lee Corso.
Howard’s connection to Michigan runs just as deep. Though he grew up in Cleveland, he chose the Wolverines and played there from 1988 to 1991.
He won the 1991 Heisman Trophy, a season capped by his punt return touchdown against Ohio State and the famous Heisman pose. After his NFL career from 1992 to 2002, he joined Herbstreit on College GameDay and has been there for more than two decades.
For all the rivalry jabs, this is still a working relationship built to withstand a little teasing. Between Herbstreit and Howard, the swordfighting is about as serious as it gets.
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