ESPN made a questionable production decision late in Thursday’s Sugar Bowl that has left a bad taste in the mouths of many.
Hours after Georgia walk-on Parker Jones was penalized for sideline interference when he contacted an official running down the white part of the sideline, ESPN decided to rehash the incident with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter of a two-score game.
— Vid Clip Hero (@VidClipHero) January 3, 2025
“The one play that should not be forgotten, will certainly be talked about in the postmortems, is the play at the beginning of the second quarter,” ESPN play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough said while the broadcast replayed the sideline interference penalty.
When the penalty occurred, Georgia was poised to continue its drive with a 1st and 10 from the Notre Dame 11-yard line during a scoreless game. Instead, the penalty backed Georgia up 15 yards to the 26-yard line. The Bulldogs ended up settling for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
Fast-forward to the final minute of the first half and the opening kickoff of the second half, and Notre Dame scores 17 points within one minute of game time to take a commanding 20-3 lead. Parker Jones’ penalty was well in the back of the minds of Georgia and Notre Dame fans alike.
By late in the fourth quarter, the Fighting Irish held a 23-10 lead. There are numerous moments to look back on as to why Georgia was in the position they were in. A strip-sack fumble inside their own red zone that lead to a Notre Dame touchdown to end the first half. Giving up a kickoff return for a touchdown to begin the second half. Being generally pedestrian on offense for the entire game.
Instead? ESPN chose to highlight a fifteen-yard penalty from the first half that didn’t even necessarily lead to Georgia leaving points on the board. It was a strange decision by ESPN’s producers.
Some took notice on social media, agreeing that the callback was weird.
Please stop showing that kid. I’m sure he’s already going to get death threats.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) January 3, 2025
it’s actually fucked that ESPN just focused in on Parker Jones two hours later like he was the reason Georgia lost. pic.twitter.com/GQ8uCkJFXI
— Ohio’s Tate (@BarstoolTate) January 3, 2025
“Hey, remember this fucking idiot from earlier in the game? What a fucking idiot. His name is Parker Jones, remember. Give us a minute and we will show you his number and address.” – ESPN, probably#SugarBowl #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/MnbzXjo2Mf
— The Bauceman (@TheBauceman) January 3, 2025
Given how many other things happened during the course of the game, it’s a mystery why ESPN chose to highlight this penalty in particular. Sure, it was a penalty you don’t see every game, but ultimately it had a pretty minor impact on the outcome.
Georgia ended up losing by two scores, so even if that drive had hypothetically ended in a touchdown rather than a field goal, the Bulldogs still would’ve come up short.
[ESPN]
