Most-Watched Week 1 CFB Game in History: Texas-OSU Has 16.6 Million Viewers

College football fans wasted no time ushering in the 2025 season.

The Week 1 matchup between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State set the record as the most-watched Week 1 college football game, reaching over 16.6 million viewers on FOX. It also went down in history as the third most-watched college football game on FOX.

In addition, viewership peaked at 18.6 million between 3:00 pm ET-3:15 pm ET. These numbers eclipsed and telecast on any network throughout all of last week.

The Buckeyes started out their title defense, winning a slugfest, 14-7. While the Longhorns outgained the Buckeyes by 133 yards on offense, the Buckeyes’ defense came up with crucial red zone stops that proved the difference. The Longhorns had a chance to drive for the game-tying score with 2:26 remaining, but the Buckeyes stopped them once more, sealing the game.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning had glimpses of brilliance, including a touchdown throw to Parker Livingstone, but only mustered 170 passing yards and threw an interception. The play of the game came when Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate made a catch in traffic for a 40-yard touchdown that gave the Buckeyes a 14-0 lead.

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