CBS analyst Gary Danielson provided a mea culpa early in the SEC Championship game that proved prophetic.
Danielson had earlier said that Missouri would need to score 30 points to win the game. It quickly became apparent he needed to revise his estimate.
“When I said 30, I was way low,” he said in the first quarter of Auburn’s 59-42 victory over Missouri on Saturday.
This was Missouri’s first appearance on the network this year, but the broadcast was similar to what fans saw every Saturday this fall.
Danielson provided strong analysis at times, but was lambasted on social media for what users thought was a pro-Auburn bias. Play-by-play man Verne Lundquist followed the action with his usual assortment of exclamations.
Here are the highs and lows:
Good points
- Danielson showed great timing early in the first quarter. He had just finished saying, "When you're close to the red zone is when the height of these wide receivers become a factor," when Missouri's James Franklin hit 6-foot-6 receiver Dorial Green-Beckham on 28-yard touchdown pass.
- CBS showed nice camera work with a replay that showed Green-Beckham might have lost possession when he hit the ground on the catch. The play wasn't reviewed, and the score counted.
- Danielson later talked about how Franklin needed to use his feet to move the ball. Franklin promptly scrambled for a near first down and then ran from the pocket for one on the Tigers' final first-half drive.
- Lundquist brought up a nice point about Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall having played at the Georgia Dome when he was at Wilcox County High.
- Reporter Tracy Wolfson was quick to report on Missouri running back Henry Josey's back injury after he was pushed into a cart on the sidelines.
- There were excellent shots of Auburn coach Gus Malzahn celebrating on the sideline after the Tigers' final score.
Low points
- CBS was behind other media outlets when it came to reporting injuries to Green-Beckham and Auburn cornerback Chris Davis. Green-Beckham left after his first-quarter touchdown catch, but later returned, as did Davis.
- Danielson missed the point when he had a stream-of-consciousness debate with himself on two plays. He went on about whether a Missouri player touched the ball on Auburn's onside kick when it appeared the ball went the necessary 10 yards. Later, Danielson also failed to notice that Missouri's Bud Sasser caught a pass in the end zone, continuing to talk about how he dropped the ball, when the issue was that Sasser landed out of bounds.
- Lundquist acknowledged mispronouncing the name of Auburn tight end C.J. Uzomah for most of the game.
- It wouldn't be a CBS telecast of an Auburn game without the gratuitous Bo Jackson shots.
- Danielson stated the obvious after Auburn's first score: "Missouri understands now that they're going to have to score points in this football game."
Sound bite
Tre Mason was shown on the sideline after his first touchdown, leading Lundquist to say: “His dad, I don’t have him on my iPod, but he is a member of a rap group called De La Soul.”
Lundquist was referring to Vincent Mason.
Sound bite II
Malzahn on what his team needed to do in the second half: “Run the ball more.”
Auburn threw six passes in the first half.
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