BYU-UConn game did relatively well in the TV ratings

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Friday's ESPN2 telecast of the BYU-Connecticut football game did surprisingly well in the ratings — it averaged 1.24 million viewers.

That made it the fourth-most watched show on cable that night, trailing only episodes of "Girl Meets World," "Bering Sea Gold" and "Black Jesus."

Really.

The most surprising number is that ESPN2's late game drew more viewers than its early game. Not that the Memphis-South Florida contest (1.155 million viewers; No. 17 on Friday's cable hit list) was a marquee matchup, but it kicked off at 7 p.m. ET. BYU game coverage didn't begin until 10:18 p.m. ET and ended after 1 a.m., when there are far fewer available viewers.

And the score — 7-7 at the half; 10-10 after three quarters — didn't exactly encourage viewers to stick around long enough to see that BYU ended up winning 30-13.