On Saturday, America was still grappling with the fallout of a tragic week that included the gun violence death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, as well as a school shooting in Colorado in which two students were shot before the assailant turned the gun on himself.
While the week has been a barrage of emotions, tough conversations, and stark reminders, the weekend brought a brief respite in the form of America’s most soothing balm: football.
While that might have been subtext for many college football viewers on Saturday, Fox Sports’ Tim Brando made it text in the opening to his call of the Oregon State-Texas Tech game.
“In what has been a tumultuous week in our country, college football is here to save the day.” – Fox’s Tim Brando pic.twitter.com/QY4z9ca0jJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2025
“Today and tonight, 64 Division 1 stadiums will bring in millions of people with one common denominator: to root for their team,” said Brando. “In what has been a tumultuous week in our country, college football is here to save the day.”
Brando expounded on those thoughts in a video he recorded about an hour before the game, which went live on social media after it began.
College Football Saturdays are good for the soul.
Join @devingardnerXCI @JoshRSims and myself for @BeaverFootball at @TexasTechFB on @cfbonfox 🏈 pic.twitter.com/UmyI7YN746
— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) September 13, 2025
“24 years ago, after the tragedy of 9/11, I remember getting a call from CBS at the time saying, ‘Tim, we need you to do the Tennessee-Florida game, and we’re going to need you to drive because no one could fly anywhere.’ I was excited for one half of that thinking, ‘Oh, God, it’s Tennessee, Florida. It’s a major match-up, two top-five teams.’ Then I thought, ‘Do I really want to call a college football game in the aftermath of 9/11?’ The answer to that was no, I did not,” said Brando in a video he posted on X.
“Thankfully, as I was in a rental car about to head down to Gainesville, Florida, I was called off about an hour into my trip. The SEC had decided to follow the NFL and not play football that weekend.
“Here we are, 24 years later, a year away from being a quarter-century removed from one of the darkest days of a generation. We just had one of the most tumultuous weeks that I can remember having while on this Earth for 69 years. With so much separation in our country, with so much tumult and disagreement and death, and for reasons that really have no bearing on living your life to the fullest. And in some cases, just random killings, random violence. It’s good to know, and I really do feel this way today… earlier in the week, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to work on a Saturday. But now, just a little less than an hour away, I can’t wait for college football to begin.
“You know why? Because for the next three and a half hours, when we go on the air, at 2: 30 Central Time, it’s going to be a collection of well over 65,000 people all rooting for the same thing. And that’s happening in stadiums all across the country. College football, once again, is here to save the day.”
We might quibble and say that each college football stadium today has two distinct factions that want very different things that seem diametrically opposed to one another, but we see what Brando is saying.
The Oregon State Beavers, as always, are here to save the day.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.