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Irish Breakdown

Jason Benetti, NBC Nail Dan Hicks Tributes During Notre Dame Game

On a tough day to work, the team at NBC did an admirable job in honoring Dan Hicks
Nick Shepkowski|
Nov 14, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo on the video board before facing the Boston College Eagles at Notre Dame Stadium.
Nov 14, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo on the video board before facing the Boston College Eagles at Notre Dame Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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In what had to have been an almost impossible week to manage for all of those at NBC Sports, a truly fantastic showing was put on display during Saturday's Notre Dame home win over Boston College.

Earlier in the week, longtime NBC commentator Dan Hicks died unexpectedly at just 64 years of age. He called several Notre Dame games over the years, most recently the October 10 win over Stanford.

Hicks, who leaves behind his wife Hannah Storm, a Notre Dame graduate herself, and three daughters, was honored in a big way during Saturday's broadcast, and all involved did a tremendous job.

Jason Benetti Steps in for Dan Hicks on Play-by-Play

The voice of Sunday Night Baseball on NBC, and veteran college football announcer Jason Benetti, stepped in for Hicks in this game and did an incredible job.

Benetti is star broadcaster in his own right, so him being up for the challenge isn't surprising, but the way he memorialized Hicks was commendable, as that started seconds before kickoff.

Benetti took it a step further and honored Hicks by reciting his iconic call from the 2008 US Open when CJ Carr found Micah Gilbert for the first touchdown of the game.

It's by no means the point of this post, nor is it really the least bit of importance at this point, but Benetti would be a fantastic choice to take over Notre Dame football telecasts on NBC next year.

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Jason Garrett's Vulnerability Was Appreciated

I get it. I'm a guy and as a whole, we tend to try and push our emotions down and not let many, if any, see us when we're struggling.

Props to Jason Garrett for pushing that tired way of thinking aside and simply being a human who was greiving his friend on Saturday, and props to Benetti for letting a few moments breath during the game, and being a great teammate to Garrett when he needed a couple times, as well.

Benetti signing off when Garrett was clearly getting emotional was strong as well, but as of posting, I was unable to find a video of it. If you can, I recommend either going back and watching again, or searching it out online.

Marcus Freeman Shares Thoughts on Dan Hicks After Win

I tend to be especially critical of television coverage around college football these days, but on a day that couldn't have been easy for anyone associated with that operation, the entire team from NBC Sports hit a grand slam.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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