An early kick and other factors should make the trip to Ohio State better for Texas fans than in 2005

College football fans who saw that Fox will air Texas’ trip to Columbus, Ohio to face the Ohio State Buckeyes on August 30 may have been upset by the announcement considering it likely entails Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, and Jenny Taft will present the network’s Big Noon Saturday at 11 a.m. Central. Ohio State fans, who were subjected to six consecutive 12 p.m. Eastern kickoffs to end the Buckeyes’ 2024 regular season, were also more than displeased based off their reactions on social media and elsewhere.

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But for Texas fans who plan to make the trip, the noon kick comes as some relief, especially if they were in Columbus in 2005 when the Longhorns visited Ohio Stadium for a game that kicked at 8 p.m. local time.

For the burnt orange portion of the 105,565 that were in the Horseshoe in 2005, that experience is spoken about with a level of terror that stands without comparison. Even with road trips to Lubbock, Morgantown, and, oddly enough, Ames in recent years that did not result in Texas fans bringing back positive returns, Columbus is not just a boogeyman. It was a real experience as opposed to some made up figment of Bevo’s imagination.

Ohio State and Texas take the field in The Horseshoe (2005) pic.twitter.com/LpGjSTv5Y1

— 2StripesCPD (@2StripesCPD) May 12, 2025

There are a number of reasons why the trip to Ohio State created one of the more hostile environments the Longhorns have ever had to travel to on September 10, 2005. And accordingly, there are a number of reasons why there is a decent likelihood that the trip to Ohio’s capital will feel more like the trip to Ann Arbor in 2024 than the last venture to Columbus in 2005.

The first obvious reason is the kick time. Back in 2005, No. 2 Texas and No. 4 Ohio State played under the temporary lights on ABC with an 8 p.m. start. That contest was just the sixth night game played in Ohio Stadium. Ohio State didn’t have permanent lights installed until 2014, so noon kicks and 3:30 p.m. start times were common in Columbus.

When the night games did take place, the Buckeyes were nearly unstoppable. Ohio State was undefeated in the five prior late kicks in Ohio Stadium history, including wins over Pitt in 1985, No. 12 Washington in 1993, No. 14 UCLA in 1999, No. 14 Northwestern in 2001, and No. 17 Washington in 2003. Texas was also the first top five team to travel to Columbus since No. 4 Penn State lost in a 3:30 kick at Ohio State in 1996.

Nine years of pent-up excitement for a top-five home matchup, two years of anticipation for a night game, and a yearning to see star players like Troy Smith, Ted Ginn, Santonio Holmes, Antonio Pittman, AJ Hawk, Donte Whitner, Bobby Carpenter, Ashton Youboty, and Malcolm Jenkins in a primetime game between two blue blood programs supercharged the Columbus area. Like Texas, Ohio State attracts a significant number of fans whose allegiance to the school is not due to a degree. The chance to see that type of atmosphere flooded the campus with scarlet and gray and Buckeye bravado. Those fans had a lot of time — a lot of time — to prepare for the night kick.

And in an extraordinarily rare occasion, Ohio State was the David figure in this scenario although they were a 1.0-point favorite. For the line to be that small in favor of Ohio State for a home game was uncommon. The Buckeyes — this century — have been home underdogs only six times. They’ve never been involved in a pick-em game in Columbus in the 2000s. The one-point spread is the smallest in favor of Ohio State this millennia.

To be David to Texas’ Goliath was not a position Ohio State faithful often found themselves in. Rarely has that chip been placed on a Buckeye’s shoulder. The chance to knock Vince Young and a team that had national title aspirations off track in week two, and possibly replace them as contenders, was not a normal position for those fans. Add in hours of… preparation… and it created one of the most hostile environments ever experienced by the Longhorns. The lack of opportunity to build up to an 8 p.m. kickoff will dampen the boisterousness of the 105,000 in the Horseshoe and the thousands more on the Ohio State campus.

Plus, at this juncture, Ohio State is a 3.5-point favorite over the Longhorns. The underdog play is hard to call for Ryan Day, especially considering what else is slated to happen prior to the game. Mack Brown isn’t likely to give Day bulletin board material like Lou Holtz did before Ohio State played Notre Dame in 2023.

In addition, Ohio State won the national championship in 2024. As is typical in the first regular season home game following a title win, the Buckeyes will reveal a ninth year on the facade of Ohio Stadium honoring the efforts of the OSU team that won the first 12-team College Football Playoff. That’s the type of environment that is conducive to joyful celebration, not angry beratement. Plus, unlike in 2005, there’s familiarity with the Longhorns, at least more than there was 20 years ago. Ohio State had to defeat Texas in January to reach the championship game. And these teams will see each other again in Austin in 2026.

The time, the mood, and the addition of almost 500,000 people to the Columbus metropolitan area since 2005 should foster a different, and likely less hostile, Buckeye experience for those making the trip.

There’s one factor that could fly in the face of all these others, and it’s the quarterback for the Longhorns.

There may not be a more hyped-up quarterback in college football in 2025 than Arch Manning. Various outlets may rank other quarterbacks like Penn State’s Drew Allar and Florida’s DJ Lagway ahead of Manning, but no one but No. 16 in burnt orange carries anything close to the presumed level of play and attention-industrial complex into this season. 106,005 packed into the Horseshoe for the Buckeyes’ loss to Michigan. 102,819 returned on December 21 for the first-round CFP win over Tennessee. Another large crowd made up of The Ohio State University fanatics will have the chance to do their part to stop that hype in its tracks. Just as Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium erupts when Manning takes the field, the same could hold true in Columbus but with a more vicious tone.

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With that stated, there are far more reasons in 2025 for Ohio Stadium to be less hostile than it was in 2005. That won’t prevent pockets of nastiness from fans voracious to deliver back-to-back losses to Texas. It is 100,000 people after all. It is the defending national champions after all. It is Ohio State football after all.

But the early kick and several other factors exist that should make Texas fans visiting experience a small bit better compared to the trip 20 years ago apart from what happens between the white lines.