Texas’ comeback over Ohio State scores ESPN/ABC record ratings

Field Level Media

Texas’ comeback victory over Ohio State on Saturday was ratings gold as it became the most-watched Week 2 game on record, Front Office Sports reported Wednesday.

The 24-23 Texas home victory over then-No. 1 Ohio State not only averaged nearly 14 million viewers for the ESPN-produced game that aired on ABC, it peaked at 16.4 million in a game where the Longhorns erased a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

According to the report, it was the biggest audience for a regular-season college football game produced by ESPN in 10 years.

Last year’s 14-7 home victory for Ohio State against Texas drew 16.6 million viewers with a peak of 18.6 million. That game aired on the Fox Network and occurred during the much-anticipated Week 1 of the regular season.

Earlier Saturday, Michigan’s 17-10 home victory over Oklahoma drew 8.2 million viewers on Fox, but that was down from last year’s matchup between the teams, which drew 9.7 million viewers on ABC.

Texas (2-0) rose from No. 4 to No. 1 while Ohio State (1-1) fell from No. 1 to No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.