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College Football TV Ratings: Ohio State vs. Texas becomes most-watched Week 1 game in history

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz09/03/25NickSchultz_7
Ohio State QB Julian Sayin vs. Texas
© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One of the most anticipated games on the Week 1 slate lived up to the billing in a big way as Ohio State took on Texas. It also became a historic day for FOX.

The game averaged more than 16.6 million viewers to become the most-watched Week 1 college football game ever, FOX Sports announced Wednesday. It peaked at 18.6 million between 2 and 2:15 p.m. ET as the Buckeyes went on to put the finishing touches on their win over the Longhorns.

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Last week’s showdown was also FOX’s third most-watched regular season game ever. It trails only two rivalry games between Ohio State and Michigan. In 2023, The Game brought in 19.06 million viewers and averaged 17.14 million in 2022. For additional comparison, the 2024 national championship between Ohio State and Notre Dame averaged 22.1 million viewers on ESPN.

Ohio State vs. Texas led the charge in a jam-packed Week 1 slate to kick off a full day of college football. Miami’s win over Notre Dame also hit the 10-million viewer mark, averaging 10.4 million on ABC Sunday night, according to Programming Insider. LSU’s victory over Clemson just missed that figure, checking in at 9.79 million in Saturday’s primetime window. Full ratings numbers are expected soon.

Quarterbacks took center stage in Ohio State-Texas

Saturday’s affair saw two first-time starters go at it in Arch Manning and Julian Sayin. Manning drew plenty of attention as a preseason Heisman contender and had an up-and-down day, completing 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown and a pick.

Sayin, meanwhile, went 13 of 20 for 126 yards and a touchdown in his first collegiate start. His performance drew high praise from Ohio State coach Ryan Day, who said while there’s still plenty to work on, it was a strong debut for the redshirt freshman.

“I think the first thing is, when we have young quarterbacks, you ask them, ‘What did you see,’” Day said on The Herd. “And when they can come over and tell you what they saw, and then you watch the iPad after that drive, and it is exactly what he saw, that’s a heck of a great start. Like you said, I thought his feet moved well. I thought he was accurate with the ball. He made a couple off-schedule plays, and then he threw the ball away and took care of it when we needed to. All good starts. Long way to go, but we can work with that.”