Hawaii ABC affiliate missed game-deciding plays in USC’s win over LSU

Sunday night’s game between USC and LSU was a thriller that came down to the wire. Trojans running back Woody Marks scored the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds remaining, breaking a 20-20 tie. And if you were in Hawaii, you probably missed it.

With 13 seconds remaining, KITV, a Honolulu-based ABC affiliate, cut to a commercial break (H/T Josh Pacheco) and eventually, the evening news. Eventually, KITV returned to the game but by that point, it was fair to wonder why. The broadcast was away from the game for nearly four minutes. In that time, Marks put USC ahead with a 13-yard touchdown run, the Trojans kicked off and on the first play of the ensuing drive and USC linebacker Mason Cobb intercepted a pass from LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to seal the game.

When the KITV finally went back to game coverage, the Trojan defense was celebrating the interception.

Hawaii ABC affiliate KITV4 randomly went to commercial with the USC-LSU game tied 20-20 with 13 seconds remaining; the station then briefly went to Island News.

The game broadcast returned nearly four minutes later, after USC got a game-sealing INT with a 27-20 lead. 🏈📺😵‍💫 pic.twitter.com/4FaVHzANgi

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 2, 2024

The only play shown was USC taking one knee to run the final four seconds off.

If this sounds familiar to you, there’s probably a reason for it. This was the second time in as many days that an ABC affiliate randomly cut away from a college football game during a critical point. On Saturday, it was KCRG, an ABC affiliate in Eastern Iowa that, due to an ill-timed commercial, missed most of Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price’s 47-yard touchdown run against Texas A&M. That was particularly notable as, while the game was well into the third quarter, it was the first touchdown scored. Neither situation came because of a breaking news story. Both were nothing more than apparent glitches.

As bad as Saturday’s error, what happened on Sunday was much worse. Price’s touchdown run was a huge play. But it was the only play that was missed. KCRG returned to the game after only one commercial. And, while this of course was not known at the time, it was not the game-deciding sequence. It came in the third quarter, Texas A&M tied the game later and Notre Dame scored 10 points in the final two minutes to win the game. To the best of our knowledge, the KCRG feed had no issues while all of that was taking place.

Sunday’s glitch was much longer. It also came at the worst possible time of the game.