Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol: Virginia Tech vs. No. 17 Tennessee from Bristol Motor Speedway on ABC’s Saturday Night Football Highlights ESPN/ABC’s Week 2 Schedule
- Rece Davis Fills in for Chris Fowler on Saturday Night Football, Joins Kirk Herbstreit, Samantha Ponder, Dr. Jerry Punch and Marty Smith for Historic Game in Front of More than 150,000 Fans
- Grammy Award-Winning Superstar Sibling Trio The Band Perry Performs at Halftime of the Battle at Bristol
- Nation’s Top 6 Teams and 16 Ranked Teams in Action; More than 35 Games
College football history will be made when the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol game featuring Virginia Tech and No. 17 Tennessee from Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., on ABC’s Saturday Night Football (September 10 at 8 p.m.) is played in front of a crowd of more than 150,000 people, the largest college football crowd in United States history.
Rece Davis will call the Battle at Bristol, filling in for Chris Fowler who is working the US Open. Joining Davis will be lead analyst Kirk Herbstreit and reporter Samantha Ponder. Additionally, Marty Smith and Dr. Jerry Punch, both with extensive NASCAR backgrounds, will be a part of the telecast.
On Saturday morning, College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will be live from the Speedway.
Additional Week 2 ESPN/ABC College Football Highlights:
- Top Teams, 16 Ranked Teams: ESPN/ABC’s schedule has the top 6 teams in the nation, led by No. 1 Alabama in its home opener vs. Western Kentucky (3:30 p.m. on ESPN2). Overall, 16 ranked teams play on ESPN’s networks this weekend.
- Friday Night Lights: 13 Louisville travels to Syracuse (8 p.m. on ESPN2) on Friday, September 9 to begin week 2.
- Rivalry Renewed: Penn State and Pittsburgh renew their rivalry for the first time in 16 years (Noon on ESPN), having last played on September 16, 2000 when the Panthers won 12-0. Overall, this will be the two teams’ 97th meeting with the Nittany Lions leading the all-time series 50-42-1.
- Football Returns to Baton Rouge: LSU will host Jacksonville State in the Tigers’ home opener (7:30 p.m. on ESPNU). Baton Rouge native Kaylee Hartung will work the game, as she helps document the return of football to the city as the area continues to heal from severe flood waters this summer.
- College Networks: SEC Network and SEC Network Alternate will each air triple headers on Saturday (Noon, 4 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.) and the Longhorn Network will televise No. 11 Texas hosting UTEP (7 p.m.)
All games are Saturday, Sept. 10, unless noted
The Band Perry at Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol
ESPN will feature The Band Perry performing “Comeback Kid” from the Honda Ridgeline stage during halftime of the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol. Additionally, ESPN will be featuring the song throughout the college football season. Later this season, an additional song titled “In This Together” from the band will also be used on ESPN’s college football coverage. The band’s fiddle player, Jason Fitz, recently joined ESPNU as a commentator on College Football Daily each Monday.
Week 2
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Fri, Sept. 9 | 8 p.m. | No. 13 Louisville at Syracuse Adam Amin, Mack Brown, Molly McGrath |
ESPN2 |
| Sat, Sept. 10 | Noon | Central Florida at No. 5 Michigan Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay |
ABC |
| Penn State at Pittsburgh Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, Allison Williams |
ESPN | ||
| Wyoming at Nebraska Anish Shroff, Kelly Stouffer, Paul Carcaterra |
ESPN2 | ||
| NC State at East Carolina Dave Lamont, Tom Ramsey |
ESPNU | ||
| Nicholls at No. 9 Georgia David Neal, Matt Stinchcomb, Olivia Harlan |
SEC Network | ||
| Prairie View A&M at No. 20 Texas A&M Roy Philpott, Clint Stoerner, Kevin Weidl |
SEC Network Alternate | ||
| Indiana State at Minnesota Mike Couzens, Dan Hawkins |
ESPNEWS | ||
| Lamar at No. 6 Houston | ESPN3 | ||
| Boston College at Massachusetts | ESPN3 | ||
| Baker at William Penn | ESPN3 | ||
| Slippery Rock at Westchester | ESPN3 | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | Troy at No. 2 Clemson | ACC Network Extra | |
| Charleston Southern at No. 3 Florida State | ACC Network Extra | ||
| 1 p.m. | Stony Brook at Temple Doug Sherman, Matt Chatham |
ESPN3* | |
| 1:30 p.m. | Shaw at Wingate | ESPN3* | |
| 3 p.m. | Weber State at South Dakota | ESPN3 | |
| Mercer at Georgia Tech Matt Stewart, Al Groh |
ACC Network Extra* | ||
| Clarion at Bloomsburg | ESPN3 | ||
| 3:30 p.m. | Tulsa at No. 4 Ohio State Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy, Tom Luginbill |
ABC | |
| Western Kentucky at No. 1 Alabama Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman |
ESPN2 | ||
| Wake Forest at Duke Eamon McAnaney, John Congemi |
ESPNU | ||
| North Dakota at Bowling Green | ESPN3 | ||
| Eastern Illinois at Miami (Ohio) Jim Barber, John Gregory |
ESPN3* | ||
| Old Dominion at Appalachian State | ESPN3 | ||
| Eastern Washington at North Dakota State | ESPN3 | ||
| Kentucky at Florida Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Ian Fitzsimmons |
ESPN Radio | ||
| 4 p.m. | Wofford at No. 19 Ole Miss Tom Hart, Andre Ware, Cole Cubelic |
SEC Network | |
| Middle Tennessee at Vanderbilt Mike Morgan, Jordan Rodgers, Tiffany Greene |
SEC Network Alternate | ||
| Ball State at Indiana Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia |
ESPNEWS | ||
| Northern Arizona at Western Illinois | ESPN3 | ||
| 5 p.m. | Montana at Northern Iowa | ESPN3 | |
| 6 p.m. | Florida Atlantic at No. 25 Miami (Fla.) Drew Fellios, Forrest Conoly |
ACC Network Extra* | |
| North Carolina A&T at Kent State Michael Reghi, Jerod Cherry |
ESPN3* | ||
| Furman at The Citadel | ESPN3* | ||
| IUPUI at East Stroudsburg | ESPN3 | ||
| 7 p.m. | Arkansas at No. 15 TCU Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe |
ESPN | |
| South Carolina at Mississippi State Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, Laura Rutledge |
ESPN2 | ||
| UTEP at No. 11 Texas Lowell Galindo, Ahmad Brooks, Keith Moreland, Dawn Davenport |
Longhorn Network | ||
| Maine at Toledo Dave Weekley, Dustin Fox |
ESPN3* | ||
| North Carolina Central at Western Michigan Dan Gutowsky, Marcus Ray |
ESPN3* | ||
| Alabama State at Alcorn State Eric Clemons, Jay Walker |
ESPN3* | ||
| West Alabama at Stephen F. Austin | ESPN3* | ||
| Georgia Southern at South Alabama | ESPN3 | ||
| McNeese at Louisiana-Lafayette | ESPN3 | ||
| Jacksonville at Liberty | ESPN3 | ||
| Warner at Stetson | ESPN3 | ||
| Drake at South Dakota State | ESPN3 | ||
| SW Minnesota State at Northern State | ESPN3* | ||
| 7:30 p.m. | Jacksonville State at No. 21 LSU Clay Matvick, Dusty Dvoracek, Kaylee Hartung |
ESPNU | |
| Arkansas State at Auburn Brent Musburger, Jesse Palmer, Jeannine Edwards |
SEC Network | ||
| Eastern Michigan at Missouri Mark Neely, Ray Bentley, Alex Corddry |
SEC Network Alternate | ||
| 8 p.m. | Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol: Virginia Tech vs. No. 17 Tennessee from Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn. Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Samantha Ponder, Dr. Jerry Punch, Marty Smith |
ABC | |
| Southern at Tulane Joel Meyers, Brian Kinchen |
ESPN3* | ||
| New Mexico at New Mexico State | ESPN3 | ||
| 10:15 p.m. | Washington State at Boise State Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich |
ESPN2 | |
| 10:30 p.m. | Virginia at No. 24 Oregon Allen Bestwick, Mike Bellotti, Kris Budden |
ESPN |
*ESPN3 or ACC Network Extra Exclusive
About The Band Perry
Grammy®Award winning superstar sibling trio The Band Perry are an unstoppable presence in music. On their 2010 self-titled debut, they delivered five hit singles: the sextuple-platinum chart-topper “If I Die Young” (whose video is now Vevo-certified for reaching 100 million plays), the platinum-selling “You Lie” and “All Your Life” (a #1 single), “Hip to My Heart,” and the gold-certified “Postcard from Paris.” For their gold-certified 2013 follow-up “Pioneer,” The Band Perry offered up the platinum-selling #1 singles “Better Dig Two” and “DONE.” (a first for Reid and Neil as songwriters), as well as smash hits “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” and “Chainsaw.” In February 2015, The Band Perry won their first Grammy®Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance and have also earned multiple awards from the likes of The Country Music Association, CMT Music Awards, the American Country Awards, and the Academy of Country Music. Recently named ambassadors for Teen Cancer America (a charity founded by The Who’s Roger Daltrey), The Band Perry recently launched a million-dollar fundraising campaign with the nonprofit to benefit Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital to expand the Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer program in Nashville. They recently signed a new recording contract, a joint venture with Interscope Records and Mercury Nashville. Their single “Live Forever” was the official song of Team USA at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. On August 1st The Band Perry released their highly anticipated single “Comeback Kid” which they performed live for the first time on the Today Show live from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. They are currently putting the finishing touches on their third studio album. For tour dates and more on TBP, visit thebandperry.com.
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner
