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ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, Ryan Leaf Exchange Barbs Over Lee Corso Comment

Leaf took offense to the “College GameDay” analyst’s comments about his alma mater, Washington State.

Madison Williams

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, Ryan Leaf Exchange Barbs Over Lee Corso Comment
ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, Ryan Leaf Exchange Barbs Over Lee Corso Comment /
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ESPN analysts Kirk Herbstreit and Ryan Leaf engaged in a verbal scuffle on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday, a day after College GameDay’s Lee Corso made a pointed comment about the Oregon State–Washington State matchup.

Leaf played at Washington State from 1995-97, and he seemed to take offense when Corso called the OSU-WSU game the “No One Watches Us Bowl.” Corso likely was referencing the fact that the Beavers and Cougars don’t have a conference to call home after this season, but the comment also is open to interpretation. 

Leaf, the No. 2 pick in the 1998 NFL draft, reposted a viral video of Washington State coach Jake Dickert’s postgame press conference in which he called out ESPN for Corso’s comments and added his own thoughts to the situation.

“And @CollegeGameDay is supposed to be a celebration of #CFB,” Leaf wrote. “Instead, they choose to make it a big joke, and everyone on the panel enables it. Just a bunch of wind socks. #CougsvsEverybody”

Herbstreit, who sat right next to Corso as he made the comment, responded to Leaf to defend his longtime colleague. 

“Huh? Is this a real tweet??? You must have been hacked Ryan,” Herbstreit wrote. “Lee’s point OBVIOUSLY was-it is 2 teams that have been left out-that haven’t found a home yet-NOT the ‘no one watches Bowl’. Know you’re excited your boys won but DAMN!”

Leaf didn’t seem too pleased with Herbstreit’s response, as he replied, “Looks like the wind is blowing again. Attitude reflects leadership, captain.”

Herbstreit then capped the tense exchange with a disarming final message to Leaf.

“Gotcha. All the best bro,” Herbstreit wrote.

To Leaf’s joy, Washington State moved to 4–0 with a 38–35 win over Oregon State, and the Cougars moved up five spots to No. 16 in the latest AP Top 25 poll.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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