Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022 | The Lantern | 7 thelantern.com @TheLantern 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.” FOLLOW US @THELANTERNOSU