Mark Ingram II wears a Mountaineer costume to "Big Noon Kickoff" at WVU. Mark Ingram II wears a Mountaineer costume to “Big Noon Kickoff” at WVU. (Awful Announcing on X/Twitter.)
By Andrew Bucholtz on

Mark Ingram II is entering his second season on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff, and he’s become quite known for his entrances there. Last year, in his debut at the TCU-Colorado game, Ingram rode in on horseback. In his season debut this year, in the show’s first-ever trip to Morgantown, West Virginia ahead of the Mountaineers hosting No. 8 Penn State in the Big Noon Saturday game on Fox, Ingram came in dressed as a Mountaineer (complete with musket):

That led to some panel discussion, with host Rob Stone asking Ingram “How much buckskin do you have in your closet?” and Ingram responding “I woke up like this”:

Ingram eventually changed into a more normal suit, but that didn’t stop his on-set fun. He even went crowdsurfing (a long-running thing for him on this show), after (unsuccessfully) trying to convince Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark to join him:

Ingram has become quite the Big Noon Kickoff personality since replacing Reggie Bush (which he also did in the NFL) last year. Some of his other highlights last year included truck-sticking YouTuber Deestroying and taking a big hit of his own from St. Elmo’s cocktail sauce. Kennington Smith III profiled him for The Athletic Friday, and got some good lines from him and his family:

“We just started laughing because we’re like, ‘This dude is crazy,’” his mom, Shonda Ingram, said. “That’s so him, you know? As he would say, if you’re gonna do it, you gotta do it right. That’s typical him.”

…“Just being someone that people can relate to,” Ingram said this week of his new career, “someone that people would say, ‘Man, I’d like to hang out and watch the game with him.’”

…“I didn’t always like the media, didn’t always trust it,” Ingram said. “You kind of have to learn. I’ve had some good interviews but some bad ones, some interviews where somebody may have taken a quote (out of context). You just kind of learn and grow; with experience, you get better with it.

“I think just the personality that people that are close to me see, now other people have been able to see it.”

That personality has certainly been on display on Big Noon Kickoff. And it definitely was Saturday.

[Awful Announcing on X/Twitter]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz