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A look back at Ohio State’s uniforms from 
‘The GamE’

REID MURRAY

Lantern Sports Reporter

ALEXA MAVROGIANIS | LANTERN FILE PHOTO 

Ohio State redshirt freshman Mike Weber (25) scores the Buckeyes’ first offensive touchdown of the day during the second half of the 
Buckeyes’ 30-27 overtime win against Michigan Nov. 26, 2016.

From a 1954 national championship 

throwback in 2009 to a wolf-inspired 
away uniform in 2017, “The Game” has 
seen a wide variety of Ohio State uni-
forms in the last 13 years.

However, in the Buckeyes’ last three 

matchups with Michigan, they have only 
worn their default home and away uni-
forms, and fans shouldn’t expect to see 
unique looks when playing against the 
Wolverines any time soon.

Ohio State director of football equip-

ment services Kevin Ries said this trend 
is no coincidence, and tradition is a ma-
jor factor behind it.

“We’re at a different spot here where I 

think there’s a lot of tradition and a lot of 
traditionalists that are paying attention 
to what we’re wearing, so we’re cognizant 
of that and not trying to get outside the 
boundaries of our traditional look,” Ries 
said. “I think all of us here enjoy seeing 
the traditional scarlet and gray uniforms 
versus the maize and blue, so that has 
been a factor.”

Among those traditionalists is head 

coach Ryan Day.

“I like the traditional uniforms,” Day 

said. “I love that part of college football. 
I think that some of our players and re-
cruits like to see a different style and a 
different swag and look to the uniforms, 
and that’s great, but I’m more of a tradi-
tionalist.”

Since 2009, Ohio State has worn alter-

nate uniforms against Michigan seven 
times.

The first two of these alternates were 

throwbacks. The 2009 uniform was a 
white jersey with gray pants and a white 
helmet that paid homage to the 1954 na-
tional champion Buckeye team, and the 
2010 uniform was inspired by the 1942 
national champion team and featured a 
scarlet helmet and jersey with gray pants.

While Ohio State has worn four throw-

back jerseys against Michigan and two 
more in non-Michigan games, Ries said 
coming up with throwback designs in the 
future would be challenging.

“We were looking into throwbacks, 

and obviously we did the championship 
years for most of the throwbacks,” Ries 
said. “There’s not a lot in our theories 
and thoughts that we haven’t touched.”

The 2012 and 2013 alternates were 

part of a uniform set that was worn eight 
times from 2012 to 2014. In 2012, Ohio 
State played Michigan at home and de-
buted the scarlet version that featured a 
chrome helmet, gray numbers and en-
larged stripes on the helmet, jersey and 
pants. In 2013, Ohio State wore the away 
version, which used the same helmet and 
Buckeyes look to maintain ’competitive stamina’ 
to round out the season

STEVEN KISHPAUGH

Lantern Asst. Sports Editor

The No. 2 Ohio State football team 

went into the 2022 season with a lot of 
questions surrounding talent, toughness 
and gameplanning. After a 42-27 loss to 
Michigan at the end of last season — its 
first since 2011 — the Buckeyes missed 
out on both the Big Ten Championship 
game and a spot in the College Football 
Playoff.

Head coach Ryan Day made it clear 

he was dissatisfied with last season’s re-
sults during Big Ten Media Days in July. 
During the offseason, Day placed a focus 
on game preparation while ensuring the 
Buckeyes maintain “competitive stami-
na” through the season.

“You have to continue to do what 

you’re doing and get better every week,” 
Day said. “We want to play at a high 
level. That’s the goal here, so again, re-
ally shouldn’t matter who we’re playing 
against. And the competitive stamina is

exactly what we talked about at the be-
ginning of the season, and we’ll continue 
to reiterate that.”

The Buckeyes new focus on maintain-

ing competitive stamina comes after an 
offseason full of turnover on both sides 
of the ball. Ohio State lost offensive 
weapons in former wide receivers Gar-
rett Wilson and Chris Olave to the NFL, 
and Day brought in defensive coordina-
tor Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State 
— alongside a slew of transfers — to over-
haul a defense that ranked in the bottom

half of the Big Ten in 2021.

Through nine games this season, the 

defense has vastly improved from a year 
ago. Ohio State ranks in the top 10 in the 
Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring and 
total defense, averaging 15.6 points and 
271.5 yards per game allowed.

Third-year safety Lathan Ransom said 

the team focuses on that competitive 
stamina and getting better each practice 
is ingrained in the culture.

 CONTINUES ON PAGE 8

an all-white jersey and pants combina-
tion.

In the 2014 season, in which Ohio State 

won the inaugural College Football Play-
off national championship, the Buckeyes 
stayed with their traditional home uni-
form and beat the Wolverines 42-28. 

The 2015 and 2016 games saw throw-

backs to the 1968 national championship 
team, which has been worn in each of 
Ohio State’s four CFP appearances since. 
In the 2015 game, Ohio State wore the 
same away combination from its 42-35 
2015 Allstate Sugar Bowl win against Al-
abama. 

The 2016 game saw a slight change to 

the playoff uniform, as the classic silver 
helmet was swapped for the “cannonball” 
gray option that was worn earlier in the 
season in a 62-3 home win over Nebras-
ka. Ries said this uniform was the least 
planned of any Ohio State alternate, and 
it was not discussed leading up to the sea-
son.

“That was a player-driven push on that 

year,” Ries said. “With the black numbers, 
they liked the cannonball helmet, so it 
was black-ish in a sense. We obviously 
ran it through multiple administrations 
and obviously coaches and the leader-
ship team, and everyone kind of agreed 

and signed off that it would be a good 
look.”

In 2017, Ohio State wore an all-white 

uniform with a dark gray pattern inside 
the jersey numbers, on the helmet and 
on the jersey and pants’ stripes. Ries said 
this uniform — and its gray counterpart 
worn in a 39-38 home win against Penn 
State — was originally pitched by Nike to 
embody a “wolf theme” that was present 
in the Ohio State football facility begin-
ning in the 2015 offseason.

While Ohio State has rolled out these 

unique looks against Michigan in the 
past, Buckeye fans should not expect 
such uniforms to hit the field against the 
Wolverines any time soon. 

“I think for the foreseeable future, 

we’ll probably stay in our traditional 
scarlet and gray against team up north,” 
Ries said.

Like any college football program, 

Ohio State’s process of putting together 
uniforms is a collaboration between the 
team and its uniform supplier. Ries said 
Ohio State’s change in philosophy re-
garding uniforms in “The Game” comes 
from a larger change in Ohio State’s rela-
tionship with Nike.

“I think early on, it was just kind of 

that trend where Nike was more of a 

driving factor in the alternate uniforms,” 
Ries said. “They were providing it for 
X amount of schools a year, so from a 
standpoint of getting the most eyeballs 
on something different, they’re going to 
look at the marquee matchups. Nike has 
kind of backed off and allowed the teams 
to be more hands on.”

Considering Day’s views on tradition, 

the future of Ohio State football uni-
forms will likely have an emphasis on 
preserving familiar appearances. 

“I love the look that’s been in college 

football for a long time, certainly at Ohio 
State, in the jerseys that we’ve worn,” 
Day said. “But even just across the coun-
try, and all the different uniforms over 
the years, it’s just something about that 
that I like.”

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