'Hit somebody! Maul somebody!' Kirk Herbstreit gushes over son getting in Ohio State game
Colin GayWith one minute to go in Ohio State football's 52-21 rout of Wisconsin, Kirk Herbstreit had the chance to watch one of his sons line up for the Buckeyes.
Zak Herbstreit, who joined the Ohio State football program in June 2021 as a preferred walk-on, lined up as the Buckeyes' tight end to the delight of his father, the former Ohio State quarterback who was finishing up his duties as color commentator for the TV broadcast.
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"What do you have for us 89?" Kirk Herbstreit said. "Hit somebody. Maul somebody."
Zak Herbstreit helped the Buckeyes offensive line create space for Ohio State running back Dallan Hayden, who carried the ball for three yards on the offense's final play of the game.
"Take the big fella and just keep moving him," Kirk Herbstreit said as he and play-by-play announcer broke down Zak's film.
Zak Herbstreit was an Ohio State walk-on in 2021
Zak Herbstreit played tight end at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, catching four touchdown passes and being named first-team all-region as a senior.
But as Zak Herbstreit left the field, Kirk Herbstreit was fixated on his son's mustache, something, he said, that reminded him of the pilots from "Top Gun: Maverick."
"I just don't know with the stache," Kirk Herbstreit said. "I don't know what's going on with that."
Zak Herbstreit's brother Chase, currently a 2025 quarterback at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, also visited his father in the broadcast booth during the game.
Ohio State football's 2022 schedule
- Week 1: Ohio State 21, Notre Dame 10
- Week 2: Ohio State 45, Arkansas State 12
- Week 3: Ohio State 77, Toledo 21
- Week 4: Ohio State vs. Wisconsin, Sept. 24, Columbus, Ohio
- Week 5: Ohio State vs. Rutgers, Oct. 1, Columbus Ohio
- Week 6:Ohio State vs. Michigan State, Oct. 8, East Lansing, Mich.
- Week 7:Ohio State vs. Iowa, Oct. 22, Columbus, Ohio
- Week 8:Ohio State vs. Penn State, Oct. 29, State College, Pa.
- Week 9: Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Nov. 5, Evanston, Ill.
- Week 10:Ohio State vs Indiana, Nov. 12, Columbus, Ohio
- Week 11: Ohio State vs. Maryland, Nov. 19, College Park, MD.
- Week 12: Ohio State vs. Michigan, at noon Nov. 26, Columbus, Ohio