Texas football and ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe will cross paths again on Saturday, and the university is signaling that there will be no repeat of the viral awkwardness that turned a postgame moment earlier this month into a days-long news cycle.
Inside the Texas athletic department, the belief is that there will be “no issues here” if and when Rowe seeks interviews with head coach Steve Sarkisian or quarterback Arch Manning before or after the top-ranked Longhorns’ game at Tennessee, according to John Bianco, Texas Senior Associate Athletics Director for Communications. Asked directly whether he expected both Sarkisian and Manning to participate in Rowe’s interviews, Bianco told Sport & State, which is published by the Daily Wire, simply: “Yes.”
Bianco added that the customary production meetings between the broadcast crew and Texas staff are proceeding as they normally would, an indication that the network and the program are treating Saturday’s assignment as business as usual.
An Uncomfortable Postgame Moment in September
The scrutiny traces back to Sept. 12, when Texas completed a 20-point fourth-quarter comeback against Ohio State. As Rowe moved in for the standard postgame interview, Sarkisian delivered a quick “Texas fight! Hook ’em!” to the camera and walked away, leaving Rowe visibly frustrated on the broadcast. A clip of the exchange spread rapidly online, and Rowe’s reaction became its own talking point.
The story did not fade the following week. During a Monday press conference, Evan Vieth of Inside Texas asked Manning whether he had seen TikTok edits of his postgame celebration. Manning pivoted to an AI-generated clip depicting Sarkisian slapping Rowe and remarked on it to the room, drawing laughter from reporters.
The clip and Manning’s comments drew widespread backlash, with much of the online response siding with Rowe. Some sports media figures, including Sport & State founder Clay Travis, argued that Manning had not done anything wrong and that the criticism should instead fall on Rowe for how she reacted to Sarkisian sidestepping the interview. But the prevailing reaction ran the other way.
Apologies and a Public Resolution
Manning issued a statement on Instagram, apologizing to Rowe “for what she personally had to deal with because of my comments,” adding that he needed “to do better” and would be “more thoughtful going forward.” Sarkisian addressed the episode as well, saying, “Nowhere do we condone domestic violence or violence against women.”
Rowe acknowledged and accepted the apology on social media, writing, “We move forward with respect and kindness for one another.”
ESPN declined to comment to Sport & State about Rowe’s assignment for Saturday’s Tennessee-Texas game. Rowe will work alongside play-by-play caller Chris Fowler and analyst Kirk Herbstreit on ABC, a rare noon ET kickoff featuring what the network considers its top college football broadcast team.
For Texas, the game itself carries plenty of weight: the Longhorns enter as the nation’s top-ranked team and are on the road at Neyland Stadium, one of the sport’s most demanding environments. How the broadcast handles any Rowe-Sarkisian or Rowe-Manning interaction will be watched closely given the events of the last two weeks, though Texas officials are publicly projecting calm.
The game airs Saturday at noon ET on ABC.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-expects-no-issues-ahead-of-reunion-with-espns-holly-rowe-for-longhorns-vols