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Jack Kizer and Jason Crowder call the Texas Tech @ Cincinnati match on 24 October 2026
The headline NCAA Division I FBS matchup of the 2026 season opener lands on Saturday, 24 October 2026, when the Texas Tech (5-1, 1-1 FBS) take on the Cincinnati (6-0, 1-0 FBS), with the game time set for 17:00 UK time. As always, the action is broadcast over the airwaves on two very different platforms: the television-style feed on FOX One (Fox Sports 1) in the United States, and the radio-only Gridiron Radio network that stations across both countries can tune in to.
The FOX broadcast is head and shoulders the more familiar sight for viewers who have followed college football on screen all season, with Jack Kizer back in the play-by-play booth and Mark Helfrich as his analyst. Gridiron Radio, by contrast, is the long-established radio circuit that brings the same games to a different audience, with Jason Crowder standing in as presenter this week alongside the play-by-play of Noah Britt and the colour analyst work of Jon Reynolds, plus a sideline reporter to keep the field notes flowing.
The FOX One call
Jack Kizer is the play-by-play announcer for FOX College Football this season, and he has been in the booth since the season opener. The two teams that kicked things off earlier this year, the Marshall Thundering Herd and the No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions, already had Jack Kizer and his partner delivering the commentary on 5 September. That Week 1 matchup is one the network has revisited in its highlights reel, so viewers will know the pair well before they ever hear the words Texas Tech.
Mark Helfrich takes over as the analyst in this booth, a change that the 2026 FOX broadcasting roster made deliberately. He is an American football coach who serves as an analyst for Fox Sports, and he was the head coach for the University of Oregon from 2013 to 2016 before most recently serving as the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears. His partnership with Jack Kizer is a new one for 2026, with Helfrich effectively taking over the booth that another team vacated earlier in the season.
The Gridiron Radio call
For those who prefer the radio format, Gridiron Radio carries the Texas Tech @ Cincinnati matchup with its usual lineup. Noah Britt serves as the play-by-play announcer for the network, working alongside the colour analyst Jon Reynolds. Both have been part of the Gridiron roster since it opened its slate of games in 2023, when the network announced eleven games available to radio stations beginning with its first broadcast on 23 September.
This week, Jason Crowder steps in as the presenter for the show. The network has been running a steady roster of analysts and reporters through the season, and Jason Crowder joins the broadcast as the face (and voice) guiding listeners through the matchup. A sideline reporter, Bob Marshall, rounds out the FOX-side reporting for the week.
Where to watch
The television-style commentary is available on FOX One (Fox Sports 1), the United States college football feed, while the radio call is on Gridiron Radio. Both networks are part of the same college football ecosystem, and either will give a full account of the 17:00 UK game on Saturday. The official FOX highlights from earlier this season, including the Week 1 Marshall versus Penn State matchup called by Jack Kizer and Mark Helfrich, remain available to watch on the Fox Sports site.
Whether you follow the game over the airwaves on radio or on the FOX screen, 24 October 2026 is the first real test of the season, and both calls are ready to deliver it.
Article generated: 24 October 2026, 17:27 GMT