Joe Tessitore goes absolutely wild on a big-man TD call

Few, if any college football play-by-play announcers bring more energetic commentary than ESPN’s Joe Tessitore, and he put that on full display with his wild call of a thrilling big-man touchdown on Saturday.

In the second quarter of Saturday night’s SEC game between Mississippi State and No. 11 Texas in Austin, the Longhorns’ Maraad Watson picked up a fumble from Bulldogs quarterback AJ Swann and ran it back for a 61-yard touchdown.

Watson is a 333-pound defensive tackle, making the touchdown that much more impressive. And Tessitore made the most of the moment with his electric call on the ESPN broadcast.

“BALL IS OUT! THE BALL IS OUT! AND IT’S IN THE HANDS OF WATSON! 333-POUND MARAAD WATSON! LIKE A TRACTOR TRAILER GOING THROUGH THE TEXAS NIGHT… GET THAT GUY SOME OXYGEN!”

Joe Tessitore went absolutely wild for a big man TD on the Mississippi State-Texas ESPN broadcast.

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— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 1, 2026

“BALL IS OUT! THE BALL IS OUT!” Tessitore exclaimed. “AND IT’S IN THE HANDS OF WATSON! 333-POUND MARAAD WATSON! LIKE A TRACTOR TRAILER GOING THROUGH THE TEXAS NIGHT!”

Tessitore added, “GET THAT GUY SOME OXYGEN!”

That’s an incredible call on the fly for such an unexpected touchdown. Tessitore was the perfect person to have the play-by-play duties for that one.

And it’s not hard to see why Tessitore is an excellent wrestling announcer in addition to his longtime work calling football games.

Tessitore and broadcast partner Jesse Palmer came in at No. 7 in the 2025 Awful Announcing college football announcer rankings, as voted by our readers.

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