I have worked on Saturdays for the better part of the past two decades. It doesn’t matter the job or the schedule, I’ve worked about 90 percent of the Saturdays since 2003.

As someone who grew up as a huge fan of the sport, this puts a serious dent in my college football viewing habits. I mean, what’s better than sitting down on a Saturday afternoon and watching a slate of college football games? It’s like watching the NFL on Sunday afternoons but with more options.

Anyway, as you might imagine, my current job forces me to miss a lot of college football; that’s why I was pleasantly surprised when I was given this past Saturday off as part of a three-day weekend. What did I first want to do with my bonus day off? You guessed it: I wanted to sit around and watch college football. The game I really wanted to view was the Ohio State/Penn State showdown at Happy Valley, which was set to kick off at noon on Fox. The No. 4 Buckeyes going on the road to take on the No. 3 Nittany Lions for Big Ten supremacy and a leg-up on positioning in the first-ever 12-team national championship playoff? 111,000 fans tucked into Beaver Stadium, most of them dressed in white (it was a white-out) to see if Penn State could finally exorcise the demon that is its inability to defeat top-five teams and/or Michigan and/or Ohio State?

I couldn’t wait. I woke up, did a little writing and then sat in my recliner and didn’t move for three hours.

As you might expect, the Nittany Lions didn’t win. Instead, Ohio State triumphed by a score of 20-13.

As a Pitt fan, I was happy with the result, but as a college football fanatic (at least I used to be before work beat it out of me), I was thrilled that I was able to watch it.

I thought everything about the game was everything right with college football. It was a beautiful fall afternoon. The atmosphere at Beaver Stadium was electric. The crowd was into it. The players and coaches were intense. There was something at stake.

What more could you want?

For the game to be played in primetime, at least that’s what so many fellow college football fans said before, during and after the game.

“This Ohio State vs. Penn State game being played at Noon is a travesty.”

That was posted on Twitter (currently known as X) during the big game, and it didn’t come from some random schmoe or just any talking head. That was J.J. Watt, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and future Hall of Fame defensive lineman. Many of the replies agreed with Watt, while many did not. Watt was one of countless folks who had similar interactions on social media, podcasts and talk radio.

I’m sorry, J.J., but noon is the perfect time for a huge college football game. Not every big game has to be at 7:30 or in primetime. Heck, it was a Saturday. What are people doing with their Saturdays that they can’t sit around and watch a huge football game in the early afternoon? I get it, a lot of folks work on Saturdays (I’m obviously one of them). But this isn’t just about that. This is about ratings, tailgating and hours of pre-game studio-show hype.

You can’t put every big game on in primetime. Besides, it was November 2. It wasn’t for all the marbles. The third-ranked school in the nation took on the fourth-ranked school. We still have a month to go in the season. Despite the result, both programs still have an excellent chance of making the 12-team playoff.

There will be plenty of time for primetime showdowns from now until the end of the season. Hell, Penn State and Ohio State may even meet at night for the right to stay alive in (or even win) the 12-team college football playoff.

In the meantime, stop throwing shade on big college football games that start at noon.