Desmond Howard’s 2024 College GameDay season is shaping up to be one he’d probably like to forget. After enduring trolling from a team, a conference and now, a Broyles Award winner, the former Michigan Wolverines star’s ability to pick games this past season is facing some well-earned scrutiny.
Howard was baffled when GameDay chose to highlight Arizona State and Kansas State — mind you, both 7-2 teams at the time — and even more confused by the hype surrounding Notre Dame this past season. Despite the Fighting Irish’s 14 wins, not including a National Championship loss to Ohio State, Howard managed to pick against them six separate times.
Now, Notre Dame’s fans don’t feel all warm and fuzzy about the 1991 Heisman Trophy Winner, as seen below, but he gave them — and Al Golden some extra ammo this past season.
A mere two minutes into College GameDay, the Notre Dame crowd lets Desmond Howard know how they feel about him… pic.twitter.com/LN5djt8iBS
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 23, 2023
And Golden made sure to let him know about it.
Although the 2024 Broyles Award winner has since moved on to take the defensive coordinator position with the Cincinnati Bengals — the same post he held at Notre Dame — he couldn’t resist getting in one final jab at Howard’s expense.
“And Des, thank you for picking against us six times this year,” Golden said on Thursday. “We won 14 games, and he picked against us six times. It’s unbelievable.”
Al Golden keeps receipts
“And Des, thank you for picking against us six times this year. We won 14 games and he picked against us six times. It’s unbelievable.” pic.twitter.com/2t4iLDzRvE
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreeman05_) February 14, 2025
It truly was an unbelievable season for College GameDay, which set viewership records in the first season of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, in addition to welcoming Nick Saban into the fold.
As for Howard, his Notre Dame picks won’t be making the highlight reel, and perhaps neither will his Ryan Day takes.
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.