Lee Corso was absent from ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday due to an undisclosed illness, host Rece Davis announced at the beginning of the broadcast.

Corso did not make the trip to the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., for Saturday’s show due to “doctor’s orders,” analyst Kirk Herbstreit added. Corso also missed last week’s broadcast at Clemson due to the same illness, Davis said.

“Lee Corso not with us this week,” Davis said. “As those of you who are with us every week know, (Corso) didn’t feel great last week at Clemson. He’s feeling much better, spoke to him yesterday. Still another week to recuperate, but we hope to get ‘LC’ back in the chair with us coming up pretty soon.”

In addition to Davis and Herbstreit, analysts Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and David Pollack began Saturday’s broadcast at the main desk. Pollack typically “rotates in” after the opening segment to give Corso periodic breaks during the three-hour show.

“I think it’s very strange for everybody watching, and those of us on the set of course, not to have Lee here,” said Herbstreit, who has worked alongside Corso on “GameDay” for more than 25 years. “But you (Davis) spoke with him, I had a chance to speak with him, I’m sure Desmond did as well, he does sound better. But I think by doctor’s orders, he wasn’t expected to be able to travel this week. But news is good with the tests he’s been receiving (that) next week he’ll be with us, wherever GameDay is, LC will be back here with us where he belongs.”

The 87-year-old Corso has been a fixture on College GameDay since its beginnings in the early 1990s, and his on-set antics and show-ending “headgear” picks have made him an icon within the college football world. He suffered a stroke in 2009, but has continued to work despite difficulties speaking at times.

Corso did not travel with GameDay in 2020 due to COVID restrictions, making his appearances remotely from a specially constructed set at his Florida home. He also appeared remotely for the first 2022 edition of GameDay — which originated from the ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn. — but has traveled with the show each week since.

Corso traveled to Clemson last week, but did not appear on the broadcast. ESPN announced at the time he was feeling “under the weather.”

It was unclear if Corso would make a remote appearance on Saturday’s GameDay broadcast, or how the show-ending picks segment would be handled. The picks segment typically begins at around 9:40 a.m. Central.