Ohio State fans watching the Buckeyes face Northwestern on FOX at noon on November 14 will hear a different broadcast team than the one commonly associated with the network’s biggest college football games.
Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt will not call the matchup at Ohio Stadium. Instead, Connor Onion will handle play-by-play, Robert Griffin III will provide analysis, and Alexa Landestoy will report from the sideline.
Johnson, Klatt, and sideline reporter Jenny Taft are assigned to Utah’s game against Arizona in Tucson. The switch means FOX’s familiar lead crew will cover a primetime contest between two ranked Big 12 teams, while a different team takes the call for Ohio State and Northwestern. The Buckeyes’ kickoff time has not changed.
Johnson and Klatt are familiar voices for viewers of FOX’s most prominent college football broadcasts, making their absence from an Ohio State home game notable. Their assignment was initially scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. MT, but the Utah-Arizona kickoff was moved to 8:30 p.m. MT after travel problems prevented Utah from reaching Tucson as planned on Friday.
The Big 12 said it was evaluating possible changes to Saturday’s football schedule because a nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop was affecting team travel. The University of Utah confirmed that the delay to its game against Arizona resulted from the ground stop and related travel disruptions. FOX will still televise the game, with Johnson on play-by-play, Klatt as analyst, and Taft reporting from the sideline.
Utah entered the weekend unbeaten at 9-0, while Arizona stood at 7-2. The matchup carries significant importance for the Utes as they pursue a place in the playoffs.
## Ohio State and Northwestern both seek a response
Ohio State entered the weekend with a 6-3 record after consecutive losses to USC and Oregon. Northwestern was also 6-3, following a 24-10 defeat to Iowa.
The Buckeyes are looking to respond after giving up 71 points across their previous two games. Their offense, however, has continued to produce, averaging 35.7 points and nearly 468 yards per game.
Quarterback availability is a concern for both teams. Ohio State’s Julian Sayin is out, leaving freshman Luke Fahey to start again. Northwestern will also be without its expected quarterback, Aidan Chiles, with Nicco Marchiol expected to start.
While the teams prepare for their noon meeting, the broadcast change is one part of a wider weekend of disruption caused by the FAA ground stop.
## FAA ground stop disrupts college football travel
On Friday, the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop after a communications problem affected all 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers. Flights were grounded from 3:54 p.m. until 8:15 p.m. ET.
Although the order was lifted after a little more than four hours, teams lost valuable travel time. Programs scheduled to play on the road Saturday had limited opportunity to recover from missed or delayed flights, and several games were affected.
Ole Miss faced one of the most significant consequences. The Rebels could not fly out of Oxford on Friday, and their charter provider was unable to arrange a later departure. As a result, the game against Oklahoma was postponed until Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Oklahoma’s vice president, Roger Denny, said rescheduling had a significant effect, particularly on fans. He also said the university had objected to moving the game to Sunday before the conference commissioner made the decision.
Other teams had to change their travel plans or adjust kickoff times. Auburn abandoned its flight plans and traveled by bus to Mississippi State, pushing that game’s kickoff back to 4:15 p.m. ET. Utah’s matchup with Arizona was delayed by three hours.
Baylor-BYU, Arizona State-UCF, Washington-Michigan State, Tulane-Rice, and Florida Atlantic-Tulsa also had to adjust their schedules.
The travel problems extended beyond college football. NBA and NHL teams encountered delays, and college basketball programs also had to reconsider their travel arrangements.
For teams trying to reach road games on Saturday, the timing of the FAA disruption left little room to make up for lost travel hours. The Ohio State-Northwestern kickoff remains at noon, but the nationwide ground stop has changed the plans for several programs—and altered FOX’s broadcast lineup for the Buckeyes’ game.
