ESPN misses live play during Colorado-Houston broadcast, drawing fan outrage
Network stayed in commercial during the two-minute warning and returned to find a penalty had been thrown; Houston went on to beat Colorado 36-20
ESPN missed a live play late in the second quarter of Friday night’s game between the University of Colorado and the University of Houston after the broadcast remained in a commercial break through the two-minute warning.
The network cut to ads at the two-minute mark on the drive with Houston facing a 3rd-and-13. When the feed returned viewers saw referees and players milling on the field as if a play had already occurred. Houston quarterback Connor Wiegman was grabbed by his facemask as he threw, drawing a facemask penalty on Colorado and an intentional grounding call on Wiegman; the penalties offset and the down was replayed. Play-by-play announcer Anish Shroff had to describe the sequence to viewers after the broadcast resumed.
A video clip of the moment circulated on social media, where fans expressed frustration that the broadcast had not returned in time to show live action. One user on X posted, "Proves that the sole reason the two-minute timeout exists is for additional commercials." Another wrote, "The actual football in the college football broadcast is secondary to commercials." Barstool Sports commentator Jack Mac posted, "Did ESPN just straight up miss a play in Colorado-Houston?????"
The missed sequence did not directly change the immediate outcome of the drive; Houston failed to convert on 3rd down and later scored elsewhere on the drive as part of a game that ultimately ended 36-20 in Houston’s favor. The Cougars outlasted Colorado, coached by Deion Sanders, handing the Buffaloes their second loss of the season. Colorado is now 1-2 and is scheduled to host Wyoming next week.
Network executives and game producers regularly use the two-minute warning and short timeouts to accommodate commercial inventory and production transitions. In this instance, however, the broadcast delay drew significant attention because action on the field occurred while viewers were seeing advertisements. A clip of the incident was posted by the account Awful Announcing and shared widely on X.
Neither the university programs nor ESPN provided immediate public comment in the minutes after the game on the broadcast interruption. The incident sparked renewed discussion among viewers about live sports broadcasting practices and the timing of commercial breaks during critical moments of play.