Texas says ESPN’s technical difficulties are why Steve Sarkisian blew off Holly Rowe

A Texas spokesperson told The Athletic’s Christopher Kamrani that ESPN’s technical difficulties resurfaced on the field after the game, which factored into Steve Sarkisian’s demeanor toward Holly Rowe following Texas’s 24-23 win over Ohio State on Saturday.

According to a Texas spokesperson, ESPN’s technical difficulties arose once again on the field postgame, which played a role in Sarkisian’s demeanor with Rowe.

Texas trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter before erupting for 21 unanswered points, sealing the comeback on a Hollywood Smothers touchdown with 25 seconds remaining after Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin was intercepted on a desperate final Hail Mary attempt.

ESPN’s Chris Fowler threw the broadcast down to Rowe, who was standing next to Sarkisian on the field. Sarkisian spoke over Rowe as she began her first question, said what sounded like “That’s called Texas fight!” twice, threw up the “Hook ’em Horns” sign, and walked toward his team. Rowe, for her part, kept the microphone raised and followed him a step before stopping, rolling her eyes at the camera, and walking off in the other direction.

The Steve Sarkisian postgame interview with Holly Rowe was quite brief. https://t.co/TWV6JrA9Ro pic.twitter.com/xo0z8oidMN

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2026

As Awful Announcing’s Megan Armstrong noted, it marked the second instance in the broadcast in which Sarkisian and the ESPN on ABC crew had failed to connect. Sideline reporter Laura Rutledge lost track of Sarkisian at halftime while attempting to intercept him near the tunnel, with Texas trailing 20-3 at the time. Emerging from the break, Rutledge informed viewers that Sarkisian had “been very patient with some technical issues that we had,” clarifying that the network, not Sarkisian, bore responsibility for the delay.

“Alright, we actually just lost Sark because he had to go. I’m sorry about that, you guys. He waited for a long time. Credit to him for waiting. We’ll try to get him on the way out of the half.” – Laura Rutledge on Texas HC Steve Sarkisian pic.twitter.com/pacpABhvZh

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2026

Laura Rutledge: “I do want to make sure we clear something up. [Steve Sarkisian] did decline the interview at the half. He had waited a long time, been very patient with some technical issues that we had. He apologized to us. We should be apologizing to him, which we did.” https://t.co/y9o6lXgNhx pic.twitter.com/yE08r5BNpD

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2026

Tyler Lauletta compiled reaction to the postgame interview separately for Awful Announcing, citing Sports Business Journal’s Richard Deitsch, who deemed the moment especially notable given how much latitude ESPN’s broadcasts customarily extend to college coaches, alongside a torrent of fan backlash on social media that skewed overwhelmingly critical of Sarkisian. Though he did note a more forgiving read was possible:

If you want to give a more generous reading, maybe ESPN experienced technical issues again, and Sarkisian, having already dealt with it, simply decided he didn’t feel like waiting again and got out of there. He wouldn’t have known about ESPN’s on-air apology earlier in the game, and in the heat of the moment, maybe he just didn’t want to waste his time again.

ESPN has issued no statement on the postgame interview, nor has it confirmed whether its equipment malfunctioned on the field a second time that night.