"I think OSU fans would like to make themselves be heard": RJ Young makes his thoughts clear on Arch Manning's Texas rejecting night game offer

The Texas Longhorns vs. Ohio State Buckeyes game will be one of the most intriguing matchups in Week 1 of college football. Both teams are among the favorites to win it all this season and their rosters are stacked with four and five-star talents at almost every position. As such, it will be a crowd puller contest in Columbus, Ohio.

So the Buckeyes made an offer to starting quarterback Arch Manning's Longhorns to play on Sunday night instead of Saturday under the lights of a raucous Ohio Stadium. However, the Longhorns have reportedly declined the offer as it affects their preparation for next week.

College football analyst RJ Young didn’t hold back, calling the decision "interesting" and shedding light on what the change would have meant for the Buckeyes’ home-field advantage. Young said (6:00 onwards):

“I think Ohio State fans would like to make themselves be heard in the dark of night as Arch Manning is trying to get them off this third-and-long. The crowd at Ohio State can influence the game. We’re talking about 100,000 people that are ready and willing to give Arch Manning the what-for and the how-now.”

Young also suggested that there's more than meets the eye behind the reason for Longhorns rejecting a night affair.

A night game at Ohio Stadium isn’t just any game — it’s a battle in the lion’s den.

“Ask Tennessee how that goes,” Young said. “It’s not fun. It’s not fun if you’re an opponent. But it is one of the better home-field advantages in all of sports.”

RJ Young reads between the lines why Ohio State made such offer in the first place

The offer in itself suggests that Ohio State, who generally hold noon kickoffs at home, is under pressure from its broadcast partner to utilize this matchup to the fullest. The network partners might want to utilize this prime time matchup for the Sunday night slot to capture maximum viewership. Young added:

"But them declining the offer was interesting — and also more interesting was Ohio State making the offer, which means that the networks — in this case, Fox — were like, 'Hey, here's what we can do.' Right? And if they don't want to do it, then they don't want to do it."

At the moment, it seems the matchup is now leaning toward a traditional noon kickoff.