Ohio State will be in primetime when it visits USC on Oct. 31.
The Big Ten has announced the Halloween game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and air on NBC, the first at night for the Buckeyes since their trip to Texas last month.
None of the Buckeyes’ last five games has begun later than 4:15 p.m., including three that were at noon.
The Buckeyes’ road trip to USC is its first since the Trojans were one of four former Pac-12 schools to join the Big Ten in 2024 as part of the league’s expansion to 18 members.
They made previous West Coast visits for conference games at Oregon in 2024 and Washington in 2025.
The Buckeyes have not played at USC since 2008 when they were at the Los Angeles Coliseum to start a home-and-home series with the Trojans. They suffered
a 35-3 loss in the last start made by quarterback Todd Boeckman, who was replaced Terrelle Pryor.
Ohio State is idle this week following a 19-15 win at Indiana that moved it to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten, while USC is at Wisconsin on Oct. 24.
It could be a top-15 matchup with the Buckeyes at No. 2 and USC at No. 15 in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Kickoff time, TV network set for Ohio State football game at USC
