Alabama-Texas most watched regular season ESPN game since 2015

Texas handed Alabama its first double-digit home loss of the Nick Saban era this past Saturday night but the matchup delivered in TV ratings.

The top-15 showdown produced 8.8 million viewers between ESPN and ESPN2, according to a release from ESPN. The Longhorns’ 34-24 win delivered the most-watch game of the weekend across all networks. It’s also the most-watched regular season game on ESPN since 2015.

The game peaked at 10.7 million viewers between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m. ET, just in time for the fourth quarter. An encouraging sign for ESPN, the Pat McAfee alternative cast produced strong numbers. With 799,000 viewers, it was the most-watched McAfee cast yet. The Alabama-Texas game was also the top college football alternative cast since the 2018 national championship.

Texas’ win launched the Longhorns to No. 4 in the AP Top 25 poll, up seven spots from last week. Now considered a real challenger for a College Football Playoff berth, they’re coming off their first road win versus an AP top-three team since 1969.

Quinn Ewers was convincing in the win, too. The former Five-Star Plus+ quarterback finished 24 of 38 for 349 yards with three touchdowns. He showed off his arm strength, too, airing it out and finding his top target Xavier Worthy for a 44-yard touchdown pass. He may have answered plenty of NFL scouts’ questions in the process, too.

How Alabama responds remains to be seen. The Tide could easily bounce back and run the table to the SEC title game. Plenty of questions remain on the offensive side of the ball, however, including the quarterback position.

The Alabama-Texas showdown is not the highest-watched game of the season, though. Florida State and LSU delivered on ABC during Labor Day weekend with 9.17 million viewers. FOX was in Boulder for Colorado–Nebraska this past weekend; viewership ratings from that matchup have not been released.

Both Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff and ESPN’s College GameDay will be out in Colorado this weekend.

This is a breaking news story and will be developed.