ESPN camera blocked by towel during critical play of CFB game

No. 17 Kansas State survived an upset bid on Saturday, defeating unranked Tulane. One of the potential biggest plays in the game came on a third down in the fourth quarter. And if you weren’t inside of Tulane’s Yulman Stadium, you probably didn’t see what happened.

With Tulane facing a third-and-nine, quarterback Darian Mensah fielded a snap. He stepped up to avoid the Kansas State rush, then began to move to his right. As Mensah began to throw the ball, play-by-play man Bob Wischusen said that Mensah was hit and the pass fell incomplete.

And while we have no reason to challenge Wischusen’s call of the play, we also can’t confirm it visually. Because as Mensah began to move to his right, what appeared to be a towel fell on the camera. It didn’t cover the entire camera — but enough that viewers couldn’t see what was happening.

One-score game down the stretch of Kansas State-Tulane on ESPN.

And this happens. 🏈📺😵‍💫 pic.twitter.com/4WifiHPoKV

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 7, 2024

This has been an odd trend during the early weeks of the college football season. An ABC affiliate in Iowa cut away from Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price’s 47-yard touchdown run mid-play for a random commercial while a Hawaii affiliate missed USC’s go-ahead touchdown and subsequent game-sealing touchdown when the local news began to air for a few minutes.

But while those gaffes were worse, a towel being blocked during a play isn’t a great look for the worldwide leader.

[Photo Credit: ESPN]