ABC has set its broadcast crew for Sunday night’s marquee opener at Hard Rock Stadium. Sean McDonough (play-by-play) and Greg McElroy (analyst) will call No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 10 Miami alongside sideline reporters Molly McGrath and Taylor McGregor.
ABC/ESPN decided to assign No. 2 team McDonough/Greg McElroy to UM-Notre Dame next Sunday night on ABC and lead team Fowler/Herbstreit to LSU-Clemson next Saturday night on ABC.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) August 24, 2025
The reveal sparked a bit of celebration from some fans on X. The night before, ABC’s flagship Saturday Night Football game — LSU at Clemson — lands Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe, ESPN’s top trio. So, while Fowler/Herbstreit/Rowe remain the No. 1 crew for ESPN, one of the biggest games of the early part of the season will not feature them. It appears as though they decided not to make the No. 1 crew go back-to-back nights on call.
McDonough and McElroy are superb and have worked multiple top-25 matchups and College Football Playoff rounds in the last year. But does it actually matter for Miami fans with an opinion on this? Probably not.
It's all about what happens on the field at this point. How can Miami put their best foot forward and win the opening game of the season against a talented team led by a first-time starter? Will Carson Beck be his old self again? What does the Miami defense look like? Those are the main questions and topics that are defining the discussion now.
The platform is elite
ABC primetime on Labor Day weekend is a recruiting commercial, and Miami’s athletic department has leaned into it, urging fans to flood Hard Rock in orange. A raucous crowd on network TV can do more for Miami’s national perception and recruiting than anything else could.
How to watch
- Matchup: Notre Dame at Miami
- When: Sunday, Aug. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET
- TV: ABC
- Announcers: Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy with Molly McGrath and Taylor McGregor on the sidelines.