Texas’ comeback win over Ohio State drew more viewers to ESPN than any regular-season college football game in a decade. Fourteen million viewers tuned in on Saturday to see Arch Manning lead the Longhorns’ 20-point comeback in the fourth quarter. Peaking at 16.8 million viewers, it was ESPN’s top-rated regular-season game in 10 years, going back to a 2016 rivalry matchup between Ohio State and Michigan. It’s also the most-viewed regular-season primetime game since 2012, and the most-watched Week 2 game for any network on record. It more than doubled Oklahoma’s loss to Michigan, which averaged 8.221 million viewers on Fox’s Big Noon Saturday. Texas has since been voted the No. 1 team in college football after the win, and Manning and the Longhorns will play undefeated UTSA in Austin this weekend. ESPN PR said 14M viewers tuned in to ABC for Ohio State and Texas on September 15, 2026.
