New theme announced for upcoming OSU football season
COVER PHOTO: Army Rangers hang high in the sky above Ohio Stadium before landing on the field prior to Ohio State's contest versus Army on Sept. 16, 2017 for OSU's "Military Appreciation Day" themed game. Photo by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.
Ohio State's athletics department announced on Monday their featured themes for all eight home games of the upcoming football season.
The themes and sponsors for each game are as follows:
Aug. 31 vs. Akron – Archie Griffin 50th Anniversary Heisman Celebration and Faculty & Staff Appreciation
More info on 50th Anniversary Celebration: http://go.osu.edu/Archie50
Game Sponsor: Encova
Sept. 7 vs. Western Michigan – Alumni Band Day
Game Sponsor: Buckeyes Care
Sept. 21 vs. Marshall – Scarlet & Gray Game
Oct. 5 vs. Iowa – Hall of Fame
Team will wear alternate Gray uniforms
Game Sponsor: Safelite
Oct. 26 vs. Nebraska – Homecoming & Scarlet the Shoe
Game Sponsor: Coca-Cola
Nov. 9 vs. Purdue – Military Appreciation
Game Sponsor: Union Home Mortgage
Nov. 23 vs. Indiana – First Responders Appreciation (new in 2024)
Game Sponsor: Huntington
Nov. 30 vs. Michigan – Senior Day
Most of these themes aren’t new. Homecoming and Senior Day have (almost literally) been around forever. However, what will be new is First Responders Appreciation Day, where the Buckeyes will hold a ceremony at some point in the game with first responders from varying central Ohio units.
Also new will be the season-opener against Akron that will honor faculty and staff members as well as former running back Archie Griffin, who played from 1972 - ‘75 and was the only two-time winner of the prestigious Heisman Trophy in 1974 and ‘75.
According to the school’s official website, Homecoming was officially started in 1912 by OSU professor and alumnus George Rightmire. First called “Ohio State Day”, Rightmire floated an idea for alumni to return to their alma mater in an assortment of commencement programs created for alumni gatherings.
Although there isn’t a specifically documented instance of when Senior Day began, the tradition of introducing seniors who are playing their last home game in their school’s jersey can at the very least go back to former head coach Jim Tressel’s days, if not possibly before.
Military Appreciation Day is something that can go back to at least 2017 when former head coach Urban Meyer had a full-blown event before their game against Army, complete with an Army Ranger parachuting into the stadium and landing on the field.
Alumni Band Day has gone on for years as has the alternate uniforms, which can be traced back to the first time the Buckeyes wore “alternate” unis when head coach Woody Hayes decided to change up the look of their jerseys in 1968 with black colored stripes on the sleeves, the scarlet stripe down the middle of the helmet as well as the now trademark buckeye leaves adorning the sides of the helmet. Tressel also started a near-yearly trend of wearing a different style of jersey when his No. 1 Buckeyes wore the 1968 jersey against No. 2 Michigan in 2006.