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Texas and Tennessee is kicking of Saturday's action with a huge SEC matchup, but the broadcast had serious audio issues early in the game.
Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, who were on the call in an early afternoon game for the first time this year, had trouble with their microphones as the game began in Knoxville. The issues were only heightened by President Donald Trump making an appearance, as his attendance in games sometimes leads to communication issues.
With so many eyes on this game, the audio issues were not only apparent but became the main character in the early going. Eventually, ABC figured out the issue, but not before Herbstreit was taken off the broadcast in the meantime.
Here's what happened on ABC's broadcast of Texas-Tennessee.
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Texas-Tennessee audio issues
In the first quarter of the Texas-Tennessee game on ABC, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit had issues with their microphones. The broadcast duo sounded muffled as their audio came out with static for a few minutes.
Ironically, this occurred as Laura Rutledge was reporting on audio issues in games that President Donald Trump attends. Rutledge explained that, in the past, coaches would have their headsets shut down when Trump moved in the stadium, but the secret service worked with the coaches to ensure that wouldn't happen this time around.
Fowler, who's mic cleared up before Herbstreit's, said the issue came from the production truck. It's unclear if Trump's presence played a role in the audio issues as well.
Right as Laura Rutledge explains Donald Trump's presence leading to communication issues for Texas and Tennessee, the ABC audio becomes a mess.
Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit try to deliver the play-by-play in a painful listen for ABC viewers. 🏈🎙️😵💫 pic.twitter.com/DAESHVhS7u
Rutledge spoke about electromagnetic deconfliction, which is a coordinated process to make sure two radio signals don't interfere with each other. Fans immediately noticed the irony of Rutledge's report coming as ABC dealt with communication issues of its own.
Texas with 3 straight plays out of Empty there. Not great with their OTs getting off the ball late.
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 26, 2026The ABC audio feed confirms that POTUS went to the bathroom.
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 26, 2026Isn't it ironic that the moment they talked about Donald Trump being at the game and the communication between the players and the coaches, the ESPN audio and ABC starts to mess up?
This is not just on my side, because we turned to the Colorado-Baylor game, and the audio is…
Is ABC messing with us? They're talking about communications with the Secret Service while *having audio problems*
— Heather Burnside (@HeatherRadio) September 26, 2026
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