Bowl season is well underway, and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl was Monday’s main event.
Northern Illinois and Fresno State faced off on Boise State’s iconic blue turf field. And those watching the game were in for an unfortunate, if not fairly humorous error from the ESPN graphics department.
The full Fresno State Bulldongs experience pic.twitter.com/bOjQMt4sUv
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 23, 2024
Repeatedly throughout the game, ESPN referred to the Fresno State Bulldogs as the Fresno State “Bulldongs” in its graphics package. The error could be seen several times as part of a scorebug animation, and even when displaying the stats on a Fresno State scoring drive in the first quarter.
The mistake sparked plenty of attention on social media.
…Bulldongs? pic.twitter.com/EoYfzTkWZJ
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) December 23, 2024
NOT THE BULLDONGS 😭 pic.twitter.com/nL0NfLZ8Qz
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) December 23, 2024
Graphics errors happen every so often, but they typically aren’t as funny as this one. Earlier this season, for instance, ESPN suggested on its scorebug that Memphis had a 7-2 record overall, but a 3-3 conference record. That doesn’t make any sense. FS1 also had a couple notable errors in a broadcast of Troy-Iowa earlier this year where the network showed a picture of the wrong coach in a graphic, as well as referring to Iowa as “Iowa State” in another graphic.
Needless to say, these things happen. But when they do, it’s always better when it’s something we can all laugh about.
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About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.