{"id":432723,"date":"2026-09-11T10:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T10:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/432723\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T10:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T10:52:11","slug":"texas-fans-brace-for-packed-tailgates-incredible-atmosphere-as-texas-hosts-ohio-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/432723\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas fans brace for packed tailgates, incredible atmosphere as Texas hosts Ohio State"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin is bracing for a full-on football takeover<\/a> as No. 4 Texas prepares to host No. 1 Ohio State in one of the season\u2019s marquee matchups. Traffic is expected to pour into the area around the Forty Acres.<\/p>\n

With tailgates<\/a> expected to be packed, fans are planning to make a full day of it Saturday ahead of an evening kickoff. The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start, giving tailgaters hours to settle in, soak up the atmosphere and, hopefully, dodge the worst of the heat before heading into DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.<\/p>\n

One of the groups gearing up for a big day is Horns Up Tailgate, a local club of friends and family that has been running its game-day setup for about six years. Darrick Price said the group sets up at the corner of MLK and Colorado and expects the energy to spill well beyond their assigned space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be prepared with all the music, all the food, and all the vibes to make sure that we\u2019re supplying all the, you know, the passerbyers, the folks that are going to be attending the game, the folks just want to be in the mix. But yeah, I fully expect it to bleed out into the streets,\u201d Price said.<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/p>\n

Austin is bracing for a full-on football takeover as No. 4 Texas prepares to host No. 1 Ohio State in one of the season\u2019s marquee matchups. Traffic is expected to pour into the area around the Forty Acres. (Photo: CBS Austin)<\/p>\n

POLL | Which team do you think will win tomorrow? Longhorns or Buckeyes?<\/a><\/p>\n

Price said his group plans to get out \u201cpretty bright and early\u201d Saturday morning, aiming to set up quickly so he can \u201csneak away and go check out game day.\u201d He also expects a major showing from Buckeye fans, pointing to the number of Midwest transplants now living in Austin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of Midwest transplants in Austin nowadays, and so I expect the turnout to be massive,\u201d Price said, adding that he has two neighbors from Columbus.<\/p>\n

Even with the heat in the forecast, Price said Horns Up Tailgate is preparing to keep people cool with water, sports drinks and extra equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all the water, Gatorade, electrolytes. This year I\u2019m actually going to be setting up like a misting system on the outside of the tent,\u201d Price said. \u201cSo we\u2019ll have like a cooling zone for our tailgate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas alumnus Charlie Dunn also expects the heat to turn up inside the stadium Saturday night, calling it the biggest home game since Georgia came to Austin in 2024.<\/p>\n

Dunn attended the Texas-Ohio State game last year in Columbus and said he\u2019s hoping for a different outcome this time with the Longhorns back on their home field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of hope that Texas gets it done this year. You know, the last two meetings have been kind of rough, but just like right there,” said Dunn. “And so I\u2019m thinking with the home field advantage, that puts us over the top.”<\/p>\n

Dunn said last year\u2019s trip to Ohio Stadium had a \u201cweird atmosphere\u201d because it was the first game of the season, a noon kickoff, and Ohio State was coming off a national championship. Now, with the matchup shifting to Austin and the kickoff under the lights, he expects the stadium experience to shine.<\/p>\n

He said some fans view DKR as \u201ca little bit of a subdued atmosphere,\u201d but he believes that\u2019s changed in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think DKR is actually a pretty formidable place to play now,\u201d Dunn said.<\/p>\n

He credits the crowd energy along with the athletic department\u2019s in-game production, including the drone shows and the fireworks.<\/p>\n

Beyond the stadium, Dunn said the entire city feels the buzz when a game like this comes to town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the whole city kind of comes alive when you have big games like this in town,\u201d Dunn said.<\/p>\n

The matchup is expected to be one of the biggest games on the schedule this weekend, with ticket prices running high and a top-five showdown on paper. Fans will also be watching a star-studded lineup on the field, including Arch Manning, Cam Coleman and Colin Simmons for Texas, and Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith and Bo Jackson for Ohio State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin is bracing for a full-on football takeover as No. 4 Texas prepares to host No. 1 Ohio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-432723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}