Chris Fowler had seen enough. The ESPN broadcaster took to Instagram with a message defending his colleague Holly Rowe after a bizarre week that began when an Ohio State athlete ran over her in the postgame chaos, leading to an awkward interview that was later twisted into a fake AI video. It all started with an awkward postgame interview and somehow ended with an AI video showing Texas coach Steve Sarkisian attacking her. Fowler’s defense came after the AI-generated video fabricated violence against the ESPN broadcaster, separate from Sarkisian’s later apology.

“There is no one out there more dedicated or committed, no one who works harder in the TV sports business than Holly Rowe,” Chris Fowler said on Instagram. “She is a pro’s pro. She is deeply committed to all of the sports that she covers, and there’s a lot of them, and to those who participate in those sports. She has done so much for so many, you have no idea, and I am so proud to call her a colleague on ABC Saturday Night Football.”

Then he got to the part that bothered him most. Chris Fowler pointed out that someone had used AI to create a video depicting violence against a woman who is “so respected and so beloved.” What made it worse, he said, was seeing some reporters laugh about the fake video at a press conference.

“Apologies are useful. They’re important,” he said. “But as Matthew McConaughey, Texas legend, told me a long time ago, there’s a proverb that says, don’t just be sorry, be better. There is so much ugliness out there. When confronted with it, all of us, all of us can do better.”

That was his main message. But tucked in the comments was another detail that changed the picture of what actually happened after Texas’ wild win over Ohio State: an Ohio State offensive lineman had run over Holly Rowe on the field. Chris Fowler later responded to a social-media user who argued that ESPN owed her an apology because the network had not been ready for Steve Sarkisian’s interview. But according to him, that missed the bigger story.

“Whole chain of events, including Holly getting run over by an OL on OSU side that led to the interview issues,” Fowler commented, confirming the collision that set off the entire sequence. “But that’s not at all point. It’s a woman being slapped to the ground being treated as comedy. It’s the creator of it and reporters who laughed who owe Sark and Holly an apology.”

The collision was one of several production delays that preceded Sarkisian’s brief interview. That chain started after Texas erased a 23-3 deficit and stunned the No. 1 Buckeyes, 24-23. The field became a mess of players, coaches, media members, and cameras trying to find the right people at the right time. Holly Rowe was caught in the middle of it. The Ohio State offensive lineman collision was one part of the problem. Production delays were another.

Steve Sarkisian had already been through a delayed interview situation earlier in the game and then had to wait again after shaking hands with Ohio State coach Ryan Day. By the time Holly Rowe got him for the postgame interview, the Texas coach was ready to get back to his players. And as Rowe started her first question, he interrupted.

“Let’s go! Texas Fight! Hook ’em!”

He flashed the familiar horns-up gesture and walked toward his team. Holly Rowe turned toward the camera and disappeared from the shot. It was awkward and brief. And then the internet made it something else. An AI-generated video surfaced showing a completely fabricated version of the exchange, with Steve Sarkisian appearing to slap the ESPN reporter before running away.

Steve Sarkisian apologized for his own part in the original incident Thursday. He stressed his long relationship with Holly Rowe and his respect for ESPN.

“If hindsight’s 20/20, if I could do it all over again, I would have exuded more patience in that moment and sat through and waited for the interview with Holly,” he said.

Rowe, who has spent two decades at ESPN covering major college football, the WNBA, and women’s college sports, is no stranger to the physical chaos of sideline reporting, having previously navigated sideline collisions and harsh conditions. The chaos around the postgame moment was real but the AI edit was not. And Chris Fowler clearly didn’t want anyone disrespecting her.