In 1965 Brutus Buckeye hit the scene when student Ray Bourhis, along with other members of the student organization Ohio Staters Inc., convinced the OSU athletic council of the idea of a Buckeye as Ohio State’s mascot. At the time, other schools used animals for their mascots and actually had the animals present at the games. Bourhis thought the only animal fitting for Ohio was the buck deer, but bringing an actual buck to games would have been virtually impossible. He therefore chose a buckeye to serve as the Ohio State mascot. The buckeye was later named Brutus in an all-campus naming contest and began his career as a large fiber glass shell which weighed forty pounds. Since then, Brutus has gone through several updates, and today is a much more lightweight and active part of Ohio State sporting and spirit events.
Ohio State’s official school colors since 1878, Scarlet and Gray were chosen by a group of three students in a lecture room in University Hall because “it was a pleasing combination…and had not been adopted by any other college,” noted selection committee member Alice Townshend Wing.
The design of the Ohio State Buckeye leaf was originally drawn in 1950 by alumnus and comic strip artist Milton Caniff and was intended to represent the buckeye tree as a symbol for strength and sturdiness of all Ohio State students. The first Buckeye leaf decal appeared on the helmets of the 1967 OSU football team and are still given to players today for execution of an exceptional play on the field.
Although not a game that changed the season for a player, the game against the University of Michigan in 1934 placed new coach Francis Schmidt into the hearts of Buckeye fans. Ohio State won the game 34-0, its largest margin of victory in the series to that point. Coach Schmidt changed Buckeye lore forever when, before the season, he was asked about beating Michigan. Schmidt commented that he didn’t see the problem. After all, the University of Michigan football players “put their pants on one leg at a time same as everybody else.” This comment created the “The Gold Pants Club,” a group of businessmen who award a miniature gold football pants charm to all players who participate in a win over the Wolverines. The charms are engraved with each player’s initials, the date of the game, and the final score.
“The Best Damn Band In The Land’ is the 225-member, all-brass Ohio State Marching Band that formed in 1879 as a military band. Also known as “The Pride of the Buckeyes,” the band perhaps is best known for the incomparable Script Ohio. Another band tradition of note is the “skull session,” a warmup concert/pep rally in St. John Arena, open to the public before every home football game
The signature formation of the Ohio State Marching Band performed before, during halftime or after home football games. Each time the formation drill is performed, a different fourth-or fifth-year sousaphone player has the privilege of standing as the dot in the “i” of “Ohio.” At exactly 16 measures from the end of “Le Regiment,” the drum major struts out toward the top of the “i,” with a senior sousaphone player high-stepping a couple of paces behind. As the crowd’s cheering crescendos, the drum major stops and dramatically points to the spot, and the sousaphone player assumes the post of honor, doffs his or her hat and bows deeply to both sides of the stadium. Woody Hayes and Bob Hope are among the select few non-band members who have had the honor of dotting the “i.”
School Songs:
Ohio State proudly boasts an alma mater (Carmen Ohio) and two fight songs (Across the Field and Buckeye Battle Cry).
Buckeye Battle Cry!
Across the Field
Carmen Ohio
Ohio State Marching Band WebsiteMore Buckeye Traditions and Music Links