Mark Jones & Louis Riddick Credit: ESPN
College FootballESPNBy Sean Keeley on

Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes were the stars heading into Saturday night’s rivalry showdown against the Colorado State Rams.

However, it was ESPN play-by-play announcer Mark Jones who stole the show with some of the things he said and his calls during the back-and-forth contest that ended with Deion’s team coming back to win in double overtime, 43-35.

Jones, who called the game alongside Louis Riddick, got things going by comparing the extremely hyped college football game to the BET Awards.

“The energy here at Folsom Field has been very unique,” said Jones. “It’s a combination of the BET Awards, when you look at the luminaries on the sidelines, and a football game.”

Sure enough, there were plenty of stars out in Boulder on Saturday night.

While Shilo Sanders ran a pick-six interception into the endzone, Jones made sure to drop some Lil Wayne lyrics while Lil Wayne looked on from the sidelines.

And there were more hip-hop lyrics and references to come…

After sideline reporter Quint Kessenich interviewed hip-hop star Offset, during which Colorado recovered a fumble, Jones even worked that into his repertoire.

“They literally offset,” said Jones, “just like the guy that Q just interviewed.”

Jones also tried to work a lot of alliteration and lyrical discussions into his banter throughout the evening, with mixed results.

It wasn’t all goofiness. Jones and Riddick also had a thoughtful discussion about Jay Norvell’s comments earlier in the week that seemed to be a shot at Deion Sanders, and how they somewhat marred the fact that this was a matchup of two Black head coaches.

Jones also showed up when he needed to for the biggest plays of the game, including Colorado’s game-tying touchdown in the 4th quarter.

Jones’ antics and anecdotes garnered a lot of reactions from fans and viewers all night long.

Not everyone was a fan of Jones’ schtick, but even if they weren’t having a good time listening to him, he seemed to be having a whole lot of fun talking.

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About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director 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.

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