The opening ceremony of the Michigan State vs. Ohio State game on Saturday Oct. 5 begins. Buckeye fans gather every week for the spectacle (courtesy of Nikki Ewen).
“Hey Herbstreit, O-H!” screamed the packed “Block O North” student section, hoping to gain the attention of former Buckeye quarterback and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, located more than 200 rows away in Ohio Stadium’s press box. Surprisingly enough, the former Buckeye heard the cheer and responded, as one does, by miming the customary “I-O” response with his arms above his head. This story, and Saturday’s wider Ohio State game experience, is representative of one of the nation’s most ravenous student fanbases, as well as the entire state, and even national community, that supports them. Ohio State football games are some of the most electric sporting events of the year and, in preparation for the upcoming hockey season, maybe the Geneseo community can take some notes.
On Saturday Oct. 5 more than 100,000 people packed into Ohio Stadium, affectionately known as “the Shoe,” to watch Ohio State’s Buckeyes take on the Michigan State Spartans. The game was a significant one: in perhaps their worst outing of the young season the Buckeyes were still able to handle the 25th-ranked Spartans, the Buckeyes’ toughest opponent yet. Easily winning 34-10, they proved they deserve to be in the conversation for the nation’s best college football team. Likewise, the entire Ohio State community proved to me, an Ohio native, that they deserve to be in the conversation for the nation’s best fan base.
I attended the game with four OSU students, two California natives and two Villanova University students; what immediately stood out was how welcoming and accepting the Buckeyes’ fan base was to such a diverse group of people. Even more than the welcoming atmosphere, however, was the way that the members of my group who had only the mildest of connections to Ohio State and the Buckeye fandom were able to buy in and adopt the team as their own.
“The entire city of Columbus bleeds scarlet and grey, the environment and love for the school and the team is contagious … it’s an amazing environment,” Villanova University senior Victoria Dee said. “The spectacle that is Ohio State football was so easy to fall in love with and find myself losing my voice over. Oh, and the band is pretty awesome.”
The gameday experience truly began way before the 7:30 p.m. kickoff as students, locals and really just anyone in the city began tailgating and getting into the gameday spirit as early as noon that day (though I wouldn’t be shocked to learn festivities began even earlier elsewhere).
The atmosphere pervaded the entire city—one notable bar put “[Ohio State Quarterback] Justin Fields is daddy” on a marquee, and you couldn’t make it even one block without seeing some kind of Buckeye paraphernalia. “O-H” calls could be heard with “I-O” responses all around the city, games of cornhole ran rampant and a song about local distaste for the whole state of Michigan was sung almost constantly.
An entire day of pre-game festivities culminated when immense masses of humanity converged on the Shoe, everyone decked out in black Ohio State gear to comply with the mandated “black out” dress code. The legendary Ohio State marching band kicked things off with their iconic Script Ohio pregame routine and what followed was three and a half hours of absolute unity. It was wild; a mic’d up student led cheers and the mascot—Brutus the Buckeye—crowd surfed all the way up the stands. Touchdowns were scored and strangers celebrated with strangers—it didn’t matter who you were. As long as you were a Buckeye fan, you were part of the community and in Columbus on Saturday everyone, even an Ohioan who defected to Buffalo, was welcome to join in on the fun.