Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt Credit: Fox Sports
By Sean Keeley on

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Gus Johnson has a well-earned reputation for elevating big moments with his signature enthusiastic, energetic playcalling.

However, in recent years, as the voice of Fox’s Big Noon Saturday, it’s been hard not to notice that in certain games, Johnson seems a bit… low-energy.

That was certainly evident on Saturday during many of the biggest plays in Ohio State’s 59-3 demolition of Kent State.

While you might presume that he was simply worn down by what was largely a very boring affair, Johnson’s lack of excitement was there from the very beginning, calling Ja’Kobi Jackson’s game-opening score in a way that makes Al Michaels sound like Kevin Harlan.

His call of Note Roberts’ touchdown reception was largely indecipherable from an AI announcer.

Things continued on like that for the Buckeyes’ third and fourth touchdowns, as well as an interception deep in Golden Flashes territory.

Thankfully, Gus provided us with proof of life on Ohio State’s Hail Mary touchdown play right before halftime. Had he remained monotone, we would have presumed he’d been replaced by a robot.

Johnson returned to lackluster form on OSU’s sixth touchdown, which he couldn’t have been more bored to call.

The one that really caught our attention was his lackluster call of Chris Henry Jr.’s first OSU touchdown on the tail end of a 75-yard scamper.

Johnson couldn’t even get excited for a big man scoop-and-score, calling it as if he was watching traffic.

Somehow, Gus found some energy within himself as the game was nearing the end, notably whenever something was going well for Kent State.

So what’s going on here? This isn’t the first time Johnson has been oddly dull and dour on his big-play calls. When we look back at other times it’s been noticeable, it feels like it only happens when the game itself wasn’t expected to be competitive or, at the very least, the “game of the week.” That’s led some to speculate that Johnson is doing some form of protest for having to call a game he’d rather not be working. In this case, perhaps he wanted to travel to London for FS1’s broadcast of Arizona State-Kansas along with the Big Noon Kickoff crew.

We’re just speculating, of course. For all we know, he’s just not feeling well.  And we should note that there have been way more Big Noon Saturday games where he’s the Gus Johnson we all know and love.

All we know is, love him or hate him, Big Game Gus Johnson makes things more interesting, and when he’s lacking the energy or motivation to meet the moment, it makes things less so.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor 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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