Chris Fowler to miss Week 5 college football game; ESPN reveals replacement
Chris Fowler won’t be calling college football in Week 5 in order to handle an international NFL game.
Fowler signed a new multi-year agreement with ESPN in August. The new deal features Fowler calling select NFL games in the 2023 season alongside Dan Orlovsky, Louis Riddick and Laura Rutledge.
Fowler’s first 2 NFL assignments of the season were Monday Night Football games on ESPN. His next assignment, however, is Sunday’s Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Atlanta Falcons game from Wembley Stadium in London, which will kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET on ESPN+.
With Fowler in London, ESPN is turning to Rece Davis for the ABC Saturday Night Football broadcast of No. 11 Notre Dame vs. No. 17 Duke. Davis will be joined by Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe on the call. Saturday’s showdown is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Davis and Herbstreit will already be in Durham for College GameDay. The traveling pregame show is making its first-ever trip to Duke. Mike Elko’s Blue Devils are off to a 4-0 start and ranked No. 17 in the county. Notre Dame is 3-1 after a last-second loss to Ohio State.
Fowler was the host of GameDay from 1990-to-2014. He and Herbstreit have been in the Saturday Night Football booth since 2014. Fowler maintains his college football responsibilities, including calling the College Football Playoff National Championship, under his new deal with ESPN.