Holly Rowe returns to LaVell Edwards Stadium for No. 8 BYU vs No. 2 Notre Dame
Holly Rowe is trending after ESPN tapped her as sideline reporter for Saturday's BYU-Notre Dame game, her first time back at LaVell Edwards Stadium since 2003.
Why Holly Rowe is trending
People are searching Holly Rowe because ESPN put her on the sideline for Saturday's game between No. 8 BYU and No. 2 Notre Dame at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. It is the first time she has worked that stadium since 2003, and she told the Deseret News this week the assignment has her feeling nostalgic.
Rowe said her love affair with college football started in that building. The stadium is named for LaVell Edwards, a coach she said meant a lot to her and was instrumental in her career. The game itself has not been played yet. It is scheduled for Saturday night.
How she got here
Rowe grew up a BYU fan before she ever carried a microphone. She studied at BYU for two years and worked as a news anchor at KBYU-TV before transferring to the University of Utah. After graduating, she spent time as the BYU football sideline reporter for the Blue and White Sports Network, 1993-97.
Her break into national TV came in 1995, when she noticed ABC did not have a sideline reporter lined up for a BYU-Utah game and called the producer herself to volunteer. After that game she asked where the crew was headed next, found out it was San Jose, California, and told the producer she happened to already have plans to be there. She did not. She made her way to San Jose anyway, got the gig, and ESPN hired her full time the following season.
The broadcast crew is also drawing noise
The sideline assignment has not been free of friction. Notre Dame reporter Bruce Straughan posted on X after ESPN announced the crew of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe, writing that he would be using his mute button heavily during the broadcast and asking whether no one else was available.
Straughan did not spell out his reasoning, but the post landed after a stretch of unrelated ESPN broadcast hiccups. During a North Carolina-TCU game, a hot mic led viewers to think Herbstreit called the Tar Heels bad. He said on X he was actually talking to his spotter, telling him you're bad, not commenting on the team. During a Texas-Tennessee game in late September, Herbstreit's audio reportedly turned staticky, and Fowler later apologized to viewers for the problems.
Rowe has also been in the news for separate reasons. On September 12, Texas came back from 20 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Ohio State 24-23.
What happens next
BYU and Notre Dame play Saturday, October 17 at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Nothing about the outcome is known yet since the game has not kicked off. What is confirmed is the broadcast team: Fowler on play by play, Herbstreit as analyst, and Rowe on the sideline, marking her return to the building where her broadcasting career first took root.
Facts per Deseret News, Yahoo Sports. Opinion is the taproom's.