Holly Rowe is one of the best sideline reporters in the game.
But even she couldn’t control the chaos of her postgame interview with Jack Sawyer following Ohio State’s 28-14 semifinal win over Texas.
Nothing nefarious happened, but there’s one word for it — an adventure. You can’t really blame young kids for being young kids, but even Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day got in on the action, interrupting the interview after wrapping up with Rowe’s colleague, Laura Rutledge.
The first interruption came just six seconds in, as Sawyer’s teammate Caleb Downs crowned him with the SportsCenter Top 10 chain in the middle of the ESPN segment.
Fitting, right?
As Downs shouted, “Top 10, man!” Sawyer turned to dap up the Alabama transfer, nearly knocking Rowe’s mic out of her hand in the process.
But Rowe’s a pro’s pro — that mic wasn’t going anywhere.
Then, Day moseyed into the frame, imploring his senior defensive end to hug his wife, Nina. They exchanged an embrace, and as Rowe expertly placed the microphone near them, you could make out Sawyer saying, “I love you, too; appreciate it.”
After 20-plus seconds of mayhem, Rowe pulled Sawyer back for 30 uninterrupted seconds.
They picked up where they left off, with Sawyer describing his 83-yard scoop-and-score play — the turning point of the game.
“Yeah, I mean, I was just put in a good position by the coaches, and I saw the ball pop out right to me after I tackled [Texas QB Quinn Ewers],” said Sawyer. “I was just thinking, ‘I got to keep staying on my feet,’ because, like I said, I almost blacked out when I scooped it and saw nothing but green grass ahead of me.”
Sawyer and Ewers, former roommates at Ohio State, crossed paths postgame, and Rowe asked if they’d spoken.
“Yeah, I did,” Sawyer replied. “You know, he was walking off and said, ‘Screw you,’ and started laughing. You know, that’s my boy. Obviously, we were roommates when he was here. [I] got a lot of respect for him and the Texas team. I mean, that’s a great team that took us four quarters, and they had a great season. Shoutout to them, too.”
Rowe handled the chaos the best she could, proving why she’s one of the best to ever do it.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.