Oct. 19, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An entirely scarlet Ohio Stadium – call it a “Scarlet Out” – will be one of the numerous promotions and activities at what will be a packed and rocking Ohio Stadium Saturday, Oct. 29, when the Ohio State Buckeyes host the No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers in an 8 p.m. kickoff.

While things may turn black and blue on the field when these two heavyweights collide in a key Big Ten Conference Leaders Division matchup, the color of choice in the stands will be the prominent school color scarlet. The Ohio State Department of Athletics is encouraging all fans to dress warm, but to dress scarlet to show your pride for the team and to display a unity that only 100,000-plus fans clad in scarlet can accomplish.

It’s Homecoming

The Ohio State vs. Wisconsin game is the 2011 Ohio State Homecoming Game. This year’s game will mark the 90th Homecoming in school history.

Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!

Eddie George, the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner, will be honored at halftime of the contest for his pending induction into the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. George, whose name is one of only six so honored in the north end zone of Ohio Stadium, will become the 23rd Ohio State player to enter college football’s Hall of Fame when he is enshrined this summer in South Bend, Ind.

Paying Homage to the 1961 Team

A scarlet stadium won’t be the only fashion statement in Ohio Stadium for the game against Wisconsin. The Buckeyes, who are coming off a win over previously undefeated and 16th-ranked Illinois, will take the field for a game for the third consecutive year in Nike Pro Combat-style uniforms that honor a past Ohio State team.

This year the Buckeyes will be honoring the 1961 football team that finished 8-0-1, defeated Michigan, 50-20, won the Big Ten championship and was named national champion by the Football Writers. The distinctive uniforms feature a steel-gray helmet with a deep scarlet stripe that is wide at the front and tapers off at the back of the helmet. Player numbers will be on the side of the helmet. Jersey’s will be scarlet with distinctive white lettering and the pants and socks will be dark gray. Matching base layer, arm sleeves and gloves feature a print reminiscent of a Buckeye tree. These pieces were designed after Buckeye Grove, home to a collection of buckeye trees planted in honor of each first team All-American, like Bob Ferguson, the 1961 Heisman Trophy runner-up who was a leader of the team.

In 2009 Ohio State honored its 1954 national championship team with specially designed Nike uniforms for the Michigan game, a 21-10 win in Ann Arbor. And last year the team honored the 1942 national championship team for the home game against Michigan, a 37-7 Ohio State win.