Article published November 18, 2009
Buckeyes sport retro look of 1954
New threads have militant touch
When Ohio State takes to the field at the Big House Saturday, players will wear a touch of old. The new uniforms resemble those worn in 1954, when OSU won the national championship.
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By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
COLUMBUS - Ohio State won't change quarterbacks when it faces rival Michigan on Saturday. The Buckeyes won't change their offense, won't change their conservative, field-position strategy, and won't change their propensity to run the ball inside, even when it looks like everyone expects that.
But in a surprising departure from tradition in a game so heavily steeped in that element, the Buckeyes will undergo an eleventh hour wardrobe change. Ohio State likely will still punt from the opposition's 36 yard line, but the Buckeyes will do so in uniforms that only AARP members will recognize.
Sports apparel giant Nike is supplying the threads and the Buckeyes will be clad in the same sartorial splendor that Ohio State's 1954 national championship team wore in that season more than half a century ago.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said the throw-back uniforms will just add to the spectacle of an Ohio State-Michigan game.
"It seems to be the kind of thing that's done all over the place now," Tressel said. "I'm a little old school, but even I'm trying to mature a little bit and embrace things like that.
"To me, it's an awesome responsibility to play in the Ohio State-Michigan game and it adds a little bit more when all of a sudden you're wearing what the people did that were extraordinary in another given year."Beginning last year, Nike collaborated with Ohio State players and personnel on the concept, and what resulted is a Buckeyes' edition from the Nike Pro Combat uniform line.
The outfits are 37 percent lighter than regular uniforms, and use a four-way stretch material that is designed to not hold sweat or water. The Buckeyes will wear all-white helmets with the new uniforms.
Senior linebacker Austin Spitler said the Ohio State players are excited about the uniforms, and unveiling them in what is traditionally the biggest game of the season.
"I'm all for it. Those new uniforms are awesome. I can't wait to strap up," Spitler said.
"It's so different. I like the white helmets, all white with the numbers on the side. Everything is different, the cleats - the whole outfit."
OSU senior defensive lineman Doug Worthington said he likes the notion of recognizing a championship team from Ohio State's rich football history.
"It is great representing the 1954 team," he said. "We're interested in wearing them because it represents a great team that deserves the recognition. This might go on from year-to-year now - changing throwbacks and wearing different jerseys for the Michigan game."
Senior defensive back Kurt Coleman said the 1954 team accomplished a lot of what this season's Buckeyes had targeted - winning a Big Ten title and a national championship.
"That's kind of what we were looking at … as a blueprint of what we wanted to do," Coleman said. "We liked the uniforms, the way they looked back then, and we wanted to bring them back in style. I love them. I think it's a great look. I kind of wish this was our alternate uniform, maybe now and again."
Senior offensive lineman Jim Cordle said that despite the buzz about the uniform swap, he does not expect it to detract from the Buckeyes' preparation.
"They're pretty cool. They're throwbacks, but they're kind of, like, new. I guess they have new fabrics and stuff," Cordle said. "To me, they don't really seem throwback. They seem space age. It'll be cool, but I don't think it'll be any distraction at all."
Spitler said the Buckeyes will quickly be back to the business of preparing for Michigan once the initial fuss over the uniform swap subsides.
"It's just a uniform. It's not going to make us play any better or worse," Spitler said. "We can't let it
affect us."
Contact Matt Markey at
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.
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