Tag: todd blackledge

The broadcast crew for Notre Dame vs. Army has been announced

Two familiar voices for this weekends Shamrock Series game

Many have been wondering who will call the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Shamrock Series game against the Army Black Knight and we now know.

[autotag]Noah Eagle[/autotag] will handle the play-by-play, while [autotag]Todd Blackledge[/autotag] will give us the color commentary according to a report by The Athletic’s Pete Sampson.

Eagle has risen up the ranks fairly quickly, at the age of 27, he’s already called football and basketball games for the Big Ten, in the NFL and recently the Summer Olympic Games. He’s also done some work for the Tennis Channel along with Brooklyn Nets.

As for Blacklege, he’s a veteran at the position, having called games since 1994 after a short stint in the NFL. He’s mainly been part of broadcasts on ESPN, CBS and now NBC.

The game this weekend has plenty riding for both teams, as each of them are trying to secure themselves a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Irish are firm in at the moment, while Army is on the outside-looking in, but would rise with a win on Saturday.

Aug 10, 2024; Paris, France; Dwayne Wade and Noah Eagle during men’s basketball bronze medal game between Serbia and Germany during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

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Todd Blackledge: Notre Dame must win out for College Football Playoff

Will the Irish do it?

As the color analyst for NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night coverage, Todd Blackledge doesn’t get to call Notre Dame games. But that doesn’t mean he’s not keeping tabs on the Irish. After all, he wouldn’t have the gig he has if he wasn’t paying attention to all of college football.

In an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show”, Blackedge was asked by the host about the Irish’s chances at making the College Football Playoff. Blackedge made it clear that the Irish’s remaining schedule is a detriment in that there aren’t a lot of big games left if any at all.

With Florida State at 1-5 and USC below .500 in Big Ten play, Blackege said the Irish don’t have a lot of margin for error. That means they’ll have to win out in order to have even a shot at the playoff. It’s further proof that the loss to Northern Illinois continues to hang over the team like a cloud.

We’ll continue to have this debate for the rest of the season or at least until the Irish lose another game. Better get used to it if you aren’t already, Irish fans.

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NBC reveals Peacock broadcast team for Eagles-Packers matchup in Brazil

Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Todd Blackledge (analyst) and Kaylee Hartung (sideline reporter) will call the Green Bay Packers-Philadelphia Eagles game in primetime on Peacock on Friday, Sept. 6 in São Paulo,Brazil.

The Eagles will host the Packers in primetime on Peacock on Friday, Sept. 6, in São Paulo. Peacock will be the exclusive national home of the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Brazil.

NBC just announced that Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Todd Blackledge (analyst), and Kaylee Hartung (sideline reporter) will be on the call in São Paulo for the season opener for both clubs.

Eagle, who earlier this year won a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Personality/Emerging On Air, and Blackledge, NBC Sports’ Big Ten Saturday Night commentary team, called last season’s AFC Wild Card matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans, as well as a Cincinnati Bengals-Pittsburgh Steelers matchup in late December. Hartung was the sideline reporter for Peacock’s exclusive presentation of the Dolphins-Chiefs AFC Wild Card game in January 2024, and is the sideline reporter for Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football.

The Peacock exclusive NFL game from São Paulo on Friday night will follow the Thursday night (Sept. 5) NFL Kickoff game on NBC and Peacock, between the Super Bowl champion Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.

The network also announced that in early September, Peacock will feature four consecutive nights of primetime football:

· Thurs., Sept. 5 — NFL Kickoff Game: Ravens at Chiefs (NBC, Peacock)
· Fri., Sept. 6 — Peacock Exclusive NFL Game from São Paulo, Brazil
· Sat., Sept. 7 – Big Ten Saturday Night: Colorado at Nebraska (NBC, Peacock)
· Sun., Sept. 8 – Season Debut of Primetime’s #1 Show: Sunday Night Football: Rams at Lions (NBC, Peacock)

This will be the Eagles’ second International Series Game in the regular season. They played in London during the 2018 campaign and defeated Jacksonville, 24-18, at Wembley Stadium. The Eagles played preseason games in Mexico City in 1978, London in 1989 and ’91, and Tokyo in 1993.

Home to the Brazilian soccer team SC Corinthians, the stadium was an official venue for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.

Jordan Love is a star, and two years ago at Lincoln Financial Field, he made a huge impression on the Eagles and cornerback Darius Slay.

Green Bay is loaded and coming off a playoff appearance, and the matchup would feature elite playmakers at quarterback, wide receiver, RB, CB, and pass rusher.

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Noah Eagle’s sharp announcing during Texans-Browns drew rave reviews from NFL fans

It was a joy listening to Noah Eagle call the Texans’ playoff win.

In the absence of the legendary Al Michaels, we heard a relatively new voice call the Houston Texans’ resounding 45-14 win over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday afternoon. It was young play-by-play commentator Noah Eagle — son of Ian, CBS’s No. 2 NFL announcer — who got the booth with partner Todd Blackledge.

And in the aftermath, the general consensus seems to be that Eagle did quite well while setting up a fantastic moment for the city of Houston.

For one, there was this excellent call after a second Texans’ pick-six to ice the victory:

There was also this reference to Houston offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik as a “young man.” Note: Eagle is 26.

Eagle will be NBC’s No. 2 playoff announcer this postseason. Judging by the early returns, the network made a smart decision to give the mic to the rising announcer.

Top 10 Penn State bowl game passing performances

Top-10 Penn State bowl game passing performances

When looking at historic performances in Penn State bowl games, the quarterback performances are not as eye-popping compared to other yardage records but still offer some memorable moments.

Penn State’s bowl success seems more often than not centered around its defense and rushing attack rather than a dynamic passing game. Just take a look at the Nittany Lions’ top bowl game rushing performances and you can see how Penn State typically relies on a strong running game. Only twice as a Penn State quarterback completed more than 30 passes speaking to the typically run-dominant offense.

A general rule of thumb is that a 300+ yard day as a quarterback is a pretty good day at the office. Penn State has only had two players ever accomplish that feat in a bowl game. There are a few bowl game outings, including the two 300-yard games, from former Nittany Lion signal callers that most Penn State fans will undoubtedly remember.

With [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] being touted as one of the most talented quarterbacks in recent Penn State history, perhaps a new top-10 performance is on deck in this year’s Peach Bowl.

Was Kyle Brady a bigger NFL draft bust than Ki-Jana Carter?

Was Kyle Brady a bigger NFL draft bust than Ki-Jana Carter? USA TODAY Sports ranks them.

For years it seems the NFL draft world recognized the drafting of Penn State running back [autotag]Ki-Jana Carter[/autotag] by the Cincinnati Bengals with the first overall pick in the 1995 NFL draft as one of the biggest draft busts in draft history. And, with the benefit of hindsight, the selection by the Bengals may have been ill-advised for the franchise at the time, but labeling Carter a bust always felt weird. But what if another Penn State player taken in the top 10 of that same draft was an even bigger bust?

USA TODAY Sports ranked the top 50 NFL draft busts of the last 50 years. And, not surprisingly, Carter does find himself ranked among the top 50 biggest busts of the past 50 years. This particular ranking listed the Bengals’ draft pick of Carter at no. 44 on its list and noted the selection of Carter may be unfair due to Carter’s early injury before things ever really got started for him in the league.

Here is what USA TODAY Sports said about Carter and the Bengals;

In fairness, he ripped up his knee in his first preseason game and was never the same. Of note, it could have been much worse for Cincinnati. Expansion Carolina only charged the Bengals the fifth and 36th overall picks to move up for Carter, sweetheart terms by today’s standards. Yet it worked out OK for the Panthers, who took QB Kerry Collins.

Yes, the Panthers traded down and took Penn State quarterback [autotag]Kerry Collins[/autotag] with their first NFL draft pick in franchise history. Collins wasn’t a bust, but another of Collins’ and Carter’s teammates selected in that same draft in the top 10 was ranked as a bigger bust than Carter. That would be tight end [autotag]Kyle Brady[/autotag], who was selected with the ninth overall pick by a franchise synonymous with bad draft picks, the New York Jets.

The Jets drafting Brady with the ninth overall pick in 1995 was ranked no. 29 on USA TODAY Sports’ ranking of the top 50 NFL draft busts. Brady had a solid career in the NFL, but the biggest strike against Brady was who the Jets could have had instead. From USA TODAY Sports;

New York could have had Warren Sapp. Or Ty Law. Or Derrick Brooks. But in typical J-E-T-S fashion, they screwed it up royally. (And the availability of Law and Brooks didn’t deter the Jets from taking DE Hugh Douglas 16th overall, either.)

In fairness, the Jets weren’t the only team that whiffed on Warren Sapp. The Philadelphia Eagles did the same thing by drafting Mike Mamula, a move that also appears on this same list. Ironically, the Eagles eventually ended up with Hugh Douglas, who became a fixture on a team that went on a ride to its best stretch of success in the Andy Reid era.

Was Brady a bigger bust than Carter? Admittedly, this is not a comparison I ever gave much thought to until now. It still feels rough to call Carter a draft bust because of the injury in his first preseason, and labeling Brady a bust following a 13-year season also feels a bit off.

Of course, no ranking fo the top 50 NFL draft busts of the past 50 years is complete without mentioning the teams that didn’t draft a hall of fame quarterback in the famous 1983 NFL draft. Unfortunately for the Kansas City Chiefs, that included national championship quarterback at Penn State [autotag]Todd Blackledge[/autotag]. Drafting Blackledge when Dan Marino was on the board is certainly a mistake that cost the Chiefs. The Chiefs drafting Blackledge was packaged with the New England Patriots drafting Tony Eason out of Illinois and Ken O’Brien of UC Davis being drafted by the  — you guessed it — the Jets.

Blackledge stands out above the other two though because he was the second quarterback drafted (John Elway was taken no. 1 overall by the Baltimore Colts). Blackledge went before Jimy Kelly and Marino, two hall of fame quarterbacks. And at least O’Brien made the Pro Bowl during his career.

Which for these three was the biggest NFL draft bust out of Penn State? Honestly, the more you look at it, the more likely the answer could be Blackledge, who spent nine years in the NFL primarily as a backup.

Check out the full ranking of the top 50 NFL draft busts of the past 50 years from USA TODAY Sports.

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Penn State’s all-time first-round NFL draft picks

Every Penn State football player ever drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in school history.

In the history of the NFL draft, only a handful of schools have had more players drafted by NFL franchises than Penn State. The Nittany Lions have sent over 360 players through the NFL draft over the years, and that number continues to climb every year. And when it comes to first-round picks, Penn State has had a solid number of those as well, including some top draft picks.

Lenny Moore, arguably the best player in Penn State football history, is appropriately the first player in program history to be selected by an NFL franchise in the NFL draft. Since then, Penn State players have been selected in the first round numerous times through the decades with players like Shane Conlan, Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter, LaVar Arrington, Saquon Barkley, and Micah Parsons.

Here is a look at every first-round NFL draft pick in Penn State history, starting with the first.

ChatGPT ranks Penn State football’s top 10 players of all-time

ChatGPT ranks the top 10 players in Penn State history. Did it get it right?

The storied history of Penn State football is full of all-time great players not just in program history, but in the history of the sport of football. Coming up with a list of the top 10 players of all time is always an interesting exercise because the opinions you have on the subject may change by the day. Do you lean more toward the defensive standouts or give preference to some of the top offensive players of all time?

In an ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence and analytical analysis, what if you just let a computer do the ranking for you? It may not be a perfect science, but out of curiosity, I turned to ChatGPT, a language model trained by OpenAI, and asked the AI interface to rank the top 10 players in Penn State football history for me.

The results were not too bad, although I do have some different opinions on the ranking. But let’s take a look at how ChatGPT ranked the top 10 players in Penn State’s football history.

Former Penn State QB named part of NBC’s Big Ten broadcast team

Former Penn State QB highlights NBC’s new Big Ten football broadcast team

The 2023 college football season will break in a new era for the Big Ten’s media rights as the conference begins new partnerships with CBS and NBC in addition to continuing its broadcast partnership with FOX. As the preparations continue for the new season’s broadcast strategy, NBC has officially unveiled its broadcast team for its primetime Big Ten coverage, and a former Penn State quarterback will be a part of the team.

[autotag]Todd Blackledge[/autotag], who played quarterback for Penn State’s 1982 national championship team, will be the lead analyst for NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night Football. He will team up with play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle and will be joined by sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen, according to a press release from NBC Sports.

This season will mark Blackledge’s 30th year covering college football in a broadcast format. He joins the new NBC Sports team after a long career working for ABC, CBS, and ESPN. Blackledge took to Twitter to send appreciation to his former colleagues at ESPN after the network wished him best of luck with his next role with NBC.

“Lots of great memories that I will never forget,” Blackledge said of his time with ESPN. “Many wonderful friends that will always be in my heart.”

NBC will feature a Big Ten game in primetime this season as part of the new media rights deal the Big Ten put into place for the 2023 season. FOX will continue to use its Big Noon Kickoff as its major time slot on the college football broadcast schedule. CBS, after the SEC left its relationship with the network to align with ESPN for its game of the week, will use the Big Ten as its marquee game of the week in the 3:30 p.m. ET time slot.

Big Ten games will also be airing on FS1 and Big Ten Network as usual, and NBC Sports will use its Peacock streaming platform to add to the Big Ten viewing experience as well.

It’s a brand new era for Big Ten football coverage, and it will be good to see Blackledge be a part of the experience.

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No love from this ESPN broadcast trio

Clemson isn’t getting much love from this ESPN broadcast team. During the Michigan-Michigan State game Saturday night on ABC, play-by-play man Sean McDonough, color commentator Todd Blackledge and sideline reporter Molly McGrath all gave who they …

Clemson isn’t getting much love from this ESPN broadcast team.

During the Michigan-Michigan State game Saturday night on ABC, play-by-play man Sean McDonough, color commentator Todd Blackledge and sideline reporter Molly McGrath all gave who they see as the top six teams in college football right now.

Both McDonough and McGrath have Clemson (8-0, 6-0 ACC) at No. 6, while Blackledge is slightly higher on the Tigers, putting them at No. 5.

All three have Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio State and Michigan in their top fours in some order, with each pegging the Bulldogs as the nation’s top team.

You can see each of their top six teams below:

Todd Blackledge  

  1. Georgia
  2. Tennessee
  3. Ohio State
  4. Michigan

First 2 Out

5. Clemson

6. Alabama

Sean McDonough  

  1. Georgia
  2. Tennessee
  3. Michigan
  4. Ohio State

First 2 Out

5. TCU

6. Clemson

Molly McGrath  

  1. Georgia
  2. Ohio State
  3. Tennessee
  4. Michigan

First 2 Out

5. Alabama

6. Clemson

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN).

Following its open date Saturday, Clemson will return to action when it takes on Notre Dame in South Bend this coming Saturday (7:30 p.m., NBC).

Dear Old Clemson has added the Tiger Sack Pack to our online store.  Save by getting the Two Pack of signed cards from two of the nation’s top defensive ends, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes.