COLUMBUS — When Nike approached Ohio State two years ago with mockups of all-black alternate football uniforms, Urban Meyer shook his head.
Try selling that one to the traditionalist crowd.
“My first reaction was no way,” the Buckeyes coach said. “No chance.”
Once his surprise faded, however, Meyer reminded himself the demographic he most coveted was not 51-year-old men like himself. It was 16-year-old recruits.
And so, for one night, Ohio State decided to flip off the lights on tradition and go dark.
On what the team is billing as “Dark Night in the Shoe,” the top-ranked Buckeyes will roll out their boldest entry into the new age for Saturday’s primetime visit from Penn State. Players will wear black jerseys with scarlet numbers, black pants, and black helmets with a red stripe outlined in white.
Meyer’s thoughts now? “Whoa,” he said, “pretty sharp.”
For Ohio State, the pitch-black threads represent the middle ground in the search for a balance between honoring the past and appealing to the changing tastes of teen-aged prospects.
At a school that reveres its tradition and history like few others, OSU athletic director Gene Smith said, “there are certain things that become untouchable.” Script Ohio, “Hang on Sloopy,” and the Buckeyes playing Michigan on the last Saturday of the regular season fall into that category.
Continue Reading: OSU unveils black uniforms
