Tim Brando's commentary on Minnesota-Illinois is getting noticed

Longtime play-by-play broadcaster Tim Brando was all over the place on Saturday.

Feb 23, 2013; Syracuse, NY, USA; CBS broadcaster Tim Brando prior to the game between the Georgetown Hoyas and the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images / Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The Gophers football team's thrilling 25-17 win over No. 24 Illinois on Saturday in Champaign, Ill., was broadcast nationally on FS1. Longtime broadcaster Tim Brando was on the play-by-play duties, joined by former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner as the color commentator.

Now 68 years old, Brando has called hundreds of big-time college football and college basketball games for FOX and CBS, but Saturday he had a tough time.

National broadcasts have mispronounced the names of players since the beginning of time, but it was overwhelming how many times Brando struggled to know the names of many players and coaches on both teams. He called Minnesota's offensive coordinator Max Harbaugh, then corrected to Greg Harbaugh, but still never pronounced it right.

Coming out of halftime, Brando claimed that Illinois would start with the football, but it was the Gophers who began the half as the return team. It could easily be seen as a simple mistake, but shortly after, he mistakenly claimed that Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer nearly picked up a first down when he barely got back to the line of scrimmage.

Altmyer may have gotten the first down! - Tim Brando pic.twitter.com/K3GLLAl12y

— Noah Cowell (@cowell_noah) November 2, 2024

It might seem like nitpicking, but later in the game, Illinois defensive back Miles Scott hit Gophers wide receiver Elijah Spencer on what looked like a pretty clear targeting penalty, but Brando was claiming that the hit was led with his shoulder. Video evidence showed pretty blatant head-to-head contact.

According to FS1 announcer Tim Brando, this is cleanest of all football plays. pic.twitter.com/VSPdu3Dc3A

— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) November 2, 2024

Late in the fourth quarter, both Brando and Garder were claiming that a Gophers field goal that grew their lead to eight points would make it a two-score game, which is incorrect, and they never really corrected themselves.

Overall, it's pretty easy for a fan base to claim that an announcer has a bias against their team, but Brando was routinely getting factual evidence wrong throughout the entire game, and for both teams. He's had an incredibly successful broadcasting career for nearly 40 years, but Saturday was far from his best call.