The season-opening clash between Ohio State and Texas attracted 16.62 million viewers, the most ever to watch a Week 1 college football game, Fox Sports reported.
Ohio State, then ranked No. 3, defeated then-top-ranked Texas 14-7 in the debut of Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning as the team’s full-time starter.
Fox said the game peaked at 18.6 million viewers from 3-3:15 p.m. ET, adding it was the third most-watched college game ever in the regular season on Fox.
Even the pregame shows were a hit among viewers.
Fox reported that its “Big Noon Kickoff” drew 3.8 million people beginning at 11 a.m. ET, making it the most-watched edition of the show when Ohio State and Michigan weren’t following it.
ESPN said earlier this week that its “College GameDay” show, which featured the final appearance of the retiring analyst Lee Corso. ESPN averaged 3.5 million viewers during the show on Saturday, preliminary Nielsen ratings show. It was broadcast from Columbus, Ohio.
The ratings for the final 15 minutes of the show reached a record 5.1 million viewers, per ESPN. That’s the section of the show during which Corso famously made his prediction — who would win the game to be played in the city from which “College GameDay” was airing — by putting on headgear representing his predicted victor. On Saturday, he correctly chose the Buckeyes.