Reusse: If you’re enjoying ESPN’s broadcast of a lesser bowl, Minnesota native Clay Matvick may be on the call

Matthew Coller had been working in the East when he was hired at ESPN-1500 to replace Andrew Krammer as the Vikings beat writer for the radio station’s website in 2016. Krammer had replaced Tom Pelissero, who went on to become one of the NFL’s scoop masters, and then Andrew headed for the Star Tribune.

In May 2020, the station went fully to the spoken word — SKORNorth is the website now — and Coller was “let go.” Sloane Martin, Coller’s wife, was on the way to making a name for herself in sports broadcasting. For Coller’s part, he started a paid outlet of Vikings coverage, Purple Insider, and has turned that into a success.

Coller is an energetic and unique character, and one of the more amusing items on his schedule is finding time in December to watch as many of the third-rate bowl games as possible.

Anyone can watch Alabama play Indiana in the new version of the Rose Bowl, a host for a College Football Playoff quarterfinal on New Year’s Day. But Delaware vs. Louisiana on Dec. 17, a Wednesday night in Mobile, Ala., in the 68 Ventures Bowl? Coller will be viewing, and he will find comfort in the fact that Clay Matvick, a redoubtable Central Minnesotan, will be there to do the play-by-play for ESPN.

Asked about this combination, a bowl game a week before Christmas and Matvick on the broadcast, Coller said:

“Snark all you want about bowl season, but there’s nothing like getting pulled into the drama and storylines of two teams that you knew nothing about before the game.

“If the broadcast is energetic and informative, as Clay’s are, you might just end up getting emotional as Delaware pulls off the upset.”

Yet, there I was, stopping in for a few minutes on this midweek night and getting a bit of a smile when hearing Matvick and his partner, Max Browne (whom did he play for?), describe Louisiana’s last-ditch drive to get a tie.

Or, might the Ragin’ Cajuns go for two for the win?

Coller was on the edge of his chair. I was watching, at least.

The Blue Hens broke up a pass and escaped with a 20-13 victory, giving them a 7-6 record. As for Louisiana, it drove from its 7-yard line to the goal line in the final minute, only to have a four-game winning streak end and finish 6-7.

The evening was cool, the crowd was small, and Matvick had to make sure to keep his voice down to dissuade potential smart alecks sitting a couple of sections away in Hancock Whitney Stadium from heckling.

Matvick laughed slightly and said: “Not close to 50. My first one for ESPN was the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth between Cal and Air Force. I’ve done roughly 30; usually, two a year.”

That will be the case for Clay again this December. He always has a pre-Christmas bowl, that being Mobile in this case, and he also will be in Shreveport, La., on Dec. 30, calling the Independence Bowl with Chase Daniel, the former Missouri and NFL quarterback.

The worthies meeting in this Independence Bowl are Coastal Carolina (6-6) and Louisiana Tech (7-5), which suffered a heartbreaking 25-24 loss to Delaware as the low point of its season.

“Here’s the deal — it might be a cool night and the stands aren’t full, but Delaware being in a bowl game in its first year in FBS … that’s a huge thing for the school," Matvick said. “And Louisiana, in a bowl game for an eighth straight year; another huge thing for a school.

“And then you have a game that comes down to the final play? That’s a good night.

“If you’re telecasting an Alabama game, the Crimson Tide fans watching know more about the team than you do. That’s not the case with Delaware and Louisiana.”

Matvick’s count includes three Liberty Bowls (Memphis), Famous Idaho Potato Bowls (Boise, Idaho) and New Mexico Bowls. He covered Dak Prescott’s last game for Mississippi State in the 2015 Belk Bowl and Khalil Mack’s last game for Buffalo in the 2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

“Dak passed for 380 yards and four touchdowns, and Khalil increased his total as college football’s all-time leading tackler,” Matvick said.

Matvick graduated from Princeton High. He lives in the St. Cloud area. He did the pregame and postgame TV shows for the Wild in their early years, then had a couple of gigs for ESPN. As Little League Baseball became a hit for the network, Matvick was there for regionals.

Put it this way: Clay knows his way around Warner Robins, Ga.

“An NCAA hockey game in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in March 2006,” Matvick said. “Holy Cross 4, top-rated Gophers 3, in overtime.”

Me: “For some reason, it seems that game for Gophers hockey fans is the equivalent of the loss to Atlanta in January 1999 NFC title game for Vikings fans.”