Ohio State vs. Oregon is officially set for primetime.
The Buckeyes’ highly anticipated road game against the Ducks next week was officially announced Monday as a 7:30 p.m. game on NBC.
The primetime kickoff had been anticipated for months and became an open secret last month when Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt revealed during an appearance on The Herd that NBC had the rights to broadcast the game. It had not been formally confirmed by NBC, the Big Ten or either school until Monday.
While the first half will be played in daylight in Eugene, where sunset will arrive at 6:32 p.m. with a 4:30 p.m. local kickoff at Autzen Stadium, it will be the third 7:30 start time of the season for Ohio State fans in Columbus. The Buckeyes’ home game against Western Michigan on Sept. 7 and this past weekend’s road game at Michigan State were also 7:30 games, though the Oregon game will be Ohio State’s first appearance this season on NBC’s broadcast network.
It’ll be the fourth national network broadcast of the season for Ohio State. This week’s home game against Iowa will join the season opener against Akron as the Buckeyes’ second 3:30 CBS game of the year while the Buckeyes’ non-conference finale against Marshall was a noon game on FOX.
Ohio State vs. Oregon is poised to be a matchup between two top-10 teams as long as both teams take care of business in their second Big Ten games of the year this week. Both teams currently have 4-0 records; Ohio State is ranked third in the AP poll entering its game against Iowa this Saturday, while Oregon is ranked sixth as it prepares to host Michigan State this Friday.
The Oct. 12 trip to Eugene will be just Ohio State’s second-ever road trip to Oregon. The Buckeyes earned a 30-0 win over Oregon in their only previous trip to Eugene in 1967, Autzen Stadium’s inaugural season.
