ESPN's 1999 Thursday Night College Football Schedule

Thursday Night Shuffle
Corso, Herbstreit Join Tirico In Broadcast Booth

Thursday Night Schedule
Sept. 2	Oregon at Michigan State
Sept. 9	Washington at BYU
Sept. 16	Colorado State at BYU
Sept. 23	Clemson at Virginia Tech
Sept. 30	Maryland at Georgia Tech
Oct. 7	Syracuse at Pittsburgh
Oct. 28	Utah at Colorado State
Nov. 4	Kentucky at Miss. St.
Nov. 11	North Carolina St. vs. UNC (in Charlotte, N.C.)
Nov. 18	Air Force at Colorado St.
Nov. 25	Ole Miss at Miss. St. (Thanksgiving)

By George Stahl

NEW YORK (AQB)--ESPN will try its version of three men in the booth this fall when studio analysts Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit join Mike Tirico on the network's Thursday night games.

Mike Gottfried, who had shared Thursday analyst duties with Todd Blackledge, will appear in the studio with Chris Fowler on The Weekend Kickoff Show before each week's game.

Corso and Herbstreit will continue to team on ESPN's studio programming on Saturdays, as they have since 1996. Tirico, meanwhile, will return for his third year calling Thursday night games.

"It looks like I'll be spending my summer getting advice from my good friend Chris Fowler on how to get a word in edgewise," Tirico joked. "But seriously, I'm thrilled to be working with Lee and Kirk. I've spent a lot of time with them in the studio, so the transition will be easy. And they work so well together because they're such good friends. This will be a lot of fun."

While ESPN has utilized a three-man college football booth on occasion in the past, this will be the first regular three-man team in the network's 20-year history with the sport.

ESPN's Thursday night package will open with Oregon at Michigan State at 8 p.m. EDT Sept. 2. Two weeks later, ESPN will televise the first event in the history of the new Mountain West Conference, when Colorado State plays BYU in Provo, Utah.

The network will announce the rest of its 1999 college football schedule later this week.

Click here to see ABC's 1999 college football schedule
Click here to read ArmchairQB.com's interview with CBS' Todd Blackledge