‘Fired up for these guys’

The feelings boiled over for Kirk Herbstreit after Ohio State gained the nationwide championship on Monday.

When requested concerning the Buckeyes’ 34-23 win over Notre Dame, the ESPN analyst, who additionally quarterbacked Ohio State from 1989-93 and has a son at the moment on the staff, turned emotional and wiped away tears throughout the community’s postgame present at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“Don’t start with me,” Herbstreit stated when Scott Van Pelt requested him a query. “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.”

Then, after Herbstreit’s reply, the community minimize away for a few clips from contained in the stadium whereas play-by-play broadcaster Chris Fowler answered the query earlier than ESPN in the reduction of to Fowler and Herbstreit — with the latter dabbing his eyes and face with what seemed to be a tissue or material.

Herbstreit’s son, Zak, is a senior tight finish on the roster, and his father, Jim, was a captain for the Buckeyes in 1960.

Although Herbstreit by no means gained a nationwide title with this system, he known as the sport Monday as Ohio State clinched the ninth championship in program historical past and first because 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 landing drive that lasted practically 10 minutes to start out the sport, to take management.

Then, they helped off a late comeback bid from the Preventing Irish, who scored a pair of touchdowns within the second half, earlier than a late Ohio State area objective put the sport out of attain.

And because the celebration started in Atlanta, within the seconds earlier than Ohio State head coach Ryan Day had Gatorade dumped on him and confetti fell towards the turf, Herbstreit defended Day and his program, which has beforehand struggled on massive phases and misplaced two video games this season — together with one to Michigan, its rival — earlier than successful 4 consecutive video games within the 12-team CFP to win the title.

“I hear the stories behind the curtain,” Herbstreit stated about Day on the published. “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.”