5 things to know when attending a football game at Ohio State

There are few things in sports… strike that, few things in life that I enjoy more than watching my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes play a game in the cathedral of college football known as Ohio Stadium. There are obviously newer, louder, more comfortable, more modern stadiums across the country, but as a born-and-bred Buckeye who grew up in Central Ohio, the son of two OSU alums and graduated from The Ohio State University, there is nothing more electric or emotional for me than seeing the Scarlet and Gray take the field on a fall Saturday.

So, I fully admit that I am insanely and irreparably biased when it comes to The Horseshoe and to Ohio State’s campus in general, but there is just nothing like a crisp, fall gameday in Columbus. From walking across campus (which looks markedly different from when I was a student) and witnessing the buzz building to approaching The Shoe and seeing the rotunda in the distance, to watching the band parade from St. John Arena to the stadium, and eventually squeezing yourself into a tiny metal bench alongside 100,000 of your closest friends, there is nothing in my life that approaches a religious experience.

Advertisement

However, if you have never been to a game at The Horseshoe, there are some things that are probably worth knowing before you arrive, because attending an Ohio State game is not simply a matter of showing up at kickoff, scanning your ticket, and sitting down. Of course, technically you can do that, but any college football fan who does would be doing themselves a massive disservice.

So, whether you are coming to Columbus for your first Buckeye game or bringing someone who has never experienced a Saturday in The Shoe before, here are five things I think you absolutely have to know.

1. Get to campus way earlier than you think you need to

If kickoff is at 12 noon ET (which unfortunately, far too many of them will likely be again this season), do not make the mistake of thinking that means you should arrive around 11:15 a.m.

Advertisement

Ohio State game day traffic is essentially Columbus’ version of a natural disaster. Tens of thousands of people are simultaneously trying to get onto campus, find parking, walk to the stadium, meet friends, get something to eat, buy some merch, and figure out why the road they have driven on 300 times is suddenly closed. Columbus, in general, is in a constant state of road construction, and the delays and annoyances that bring on a normal workday are only exacerbated on a Buckeye gameday, so do yourself a favor and give yourself as much time as possible.

My preference is always to get to campus ridiculously early; not reasonably early, but ridiculously early. But, as a Buckeye devotee, that’s as much about soaking up the atmosphere as it is about avoiding gameday inconveniences.

Like on many campuses across the country, there is an overwhelming number of things to see and do before the game; whether that means tailgating, walking around campus, visiting the Skull Session (more on that momentarily), checking out the team arrival, or simply enjoying the atmosphere around the stadium. Even if you don’t have a specific pregame itinerary, being on campus several hours before kickoff is infinitely better than sitting in traffic staring at the clock praying to Woody Hayes above that you will get there in time for kickoff.

You can always find something to do with extra time on an Ohio State game day; you cannot make 315 move faster through the power of positive thinking.

2. The Skull Session is a can’t-miss experience

If you are coming to your first Ohio State game, I hereby require you to make the Skull Session part of the experience.

Advertisement

Held at St. John Arena 2 hours and 20 minutes before home games, the Skull Session is essentially Ohio State’s enormous pregame pep rally. The Best Damn Band in the Land performs, the football team makes an appearance — complete with a little rah-rah speech from a player and/or coach —and you get a concentrated dose of all of the tradition and pageantry that makes attending a college football game at Ohio State different not only from going to an NFL game, but from nearly every other school across the country.

Thousands of people cram into a decrepit old arena without any meaningful heating or cooling to watch the band — in all its nerdy glory — warm up.

Sure, if you have been going to Ohio State games your entire life, you might eventually reach the point where you decide you would rather spend that time tailgating. That’s fair, but for somebody experiencing their first Saturday in Columbus, it is almost mandatory. But, as I mentioned above, don’t think that you can just saunter up to St. John a few minutes before it starts, because even though the iconic venue holds 13,276 people, seating will be tough to come by. Apparently getting there early is going to be a theme in this article.

Ohio State football has built up an inordinate number of traditions over the decades that it can sometimes be overwhelming, and now that athletic director Ross Bjork is trying to invent new ones out of whole cloth, some of them can be a bit tedious. However, the Skull Session is one of the gameday traditions that is uniquely authentic and an integral part of any Ohio State gameday.

3. Be in your seat for ‘Script Ohio’

Speaking of The Pride of the Buckeyes, the Ohio State University Marching Band, there are certain traditions in sports that you appreciate because you understand their history, and then there are traditions that are just undeniably cool the first time you see them. “Script Ohio” is both.

Advertisement

Every college football fan has probably seen it hundreds of times on TV and the internet, but watching TBDBITL perform this masterful example of intricacy and musicality inside Ohio Stadium is completely different. As soon as the first notes of “Les Regiments” begin, the energy in the stadium is ratcheted up a couple million degrees.

Starting in a Block O (or four if you are there on Alumni Day), the anticipation is palpable as the band unfurls the iconic script. My favorite game is always to identify the random sousaphone player mixed in amongst other instruments, immediately behind a trumpet, and follow them through the progression. Then, when he or she gives the drum major a low-five and finally runs out to dot the “i,” while every other person in attendance loses their absolute fricking minds, I am generally silently trying to wipe my eyes so my tears don’t prevent me from seeing the rest of the drill.

That is one of my favorite things about college football.

We all know exactly what is going to happen. We desperately want it to happen anyway.

Advertisement

If this is your first game, do not be standing in a concession line because you suddenly decided you needed nachos when TBDBITL takes the field. Plan ahead and be in your seat for the band’s Ramp Entrance (which also makes me cry every time), which usually happens 20 minutes before kickoff. You can get nachos later; they will be there during the first timeout. “Script Ohio” will not be.

At Ohio State, the pregame show is not just a distraction or a way to pass the time until the team takes the field; it is an essential part of the gameday pageantry that has to be experienced to be fully understood. So, take out your headphones, put down your phone (there are better videos online anyway), and experience why the Ohio State Marching Band is the Pride of the Buckeyes and the Best Damn Band in the Land.

4. Ohio Stadium is historic, which is a polite way of saying ‘old’

I love The Horseshoe. My freshman year at OSU, I lived in Lincoln Tower, just to the south side of the stadium, and I would regularly look out my dorm-room window and marvel at the fact that I was living a stone’s throw from this place that I grew up revering.

Advertisement

And while Ohio Stadium remains one of the most glorious sports palaces in all of the United States, it’s also 104 years old and beginning to show its age.

Ohio Stadium opened in 1922, and while there have obviously been countless renovations and improvements over the past century (I was in school when the south stands were made permanent), nobody is going to confuse The Shoe with one of the modern NFL stadiums filled with enormous concourses, comfortable recliners, and 400 different artisanal food options.

The seating is tight. The concourses are crowded. The men’s bathrooms still have troughs. Depending on where your seats are, you might develop vertigo getting to them. Some of the ramps seem inspired by M. C. Escher.

And the bleachers? Let’s just say that Ohio State has not changed the seating configuration as the average size of an American football fan has changed over the past century. So, if you happen to find yourself in between a couple of strangers, congratulations, by law, you are now family in the state of Ohio.

Advertisement

None of this is really a complaint, because the age and architecture are part of what makes the stadium special. Maybe not special in the same way that comfortable seating, easily accessible concessions, and short lines at the bathroom would feel, but special nonetheless. But that is part of The Horseshoe’s… charm…

Again, I love Ohio Stadium, but first-time visitors should be prepared for the reality that sometimes “historic” comes with limited elbow room and inconvenient architecture.

5. Don’t rush out the second the clock hits zero

Obviously, circumstances matter here. If Ohio State is beating Ball State 63-3 and you have a four-hour drive home, I am not going to judge you for beginning your escape plan sometime in the third quarter. I believe deeply that fans have the right to come and go from games whenever they want, even if I wouldn’t recommend it.

Advertisement

However, if this is your first game, give yourself a chance to experience the entire thing. Win or lose, you should stay for the singing of “Carmen Ohio.” The entire team — players, coaches, staff, etc. — gather in front of the student section to sing the school’s alma mater. Now, I am sad that OSU moved the band back to its former home on the northside of the stadium, mitigating a bit of the impact of this tradition, but it is still special regardless of where the music is coming from.

Take this oddly quiet and poignant moment in an otherwise cacophonous afternoon to look around The Horseshoe and take in what has hopefully been both a singular sporting experience as well as an Ohio State victory.

For four quarters, Ohio Stadium is deafening. There are 100,000 people yelling, the band is playing, music is blasting, and everybody is collectively living and dying with whatever happens on the field.

Then it starts emptying out, and suddenly you get a chance to appreciate where you are. Depending on the opponent, there might be bigger games on a given college football Saturday. There might be louder, more intimidating stadiums. There are probably places where you can comfortably fit both butt cheeks onto your assigned seat. But there aren’t many experiences in sports quite like a Saturday in The Horseshoe.

Advertisement

If you are making your first trip, don’t treat it like you are simply attending a football game; give yourself the whole day. Get there early, walk around campus, watch the band, eat something quintessentially Midwestern (i.e., unhealthy), complain about your seat, yell “O-H” at a complete stranger, and put your arm around your neighbor (and newfound cousin) and sway to “Carmen Ohio.”

Even if you come into Ohio Stadium as a neutral college football observer, for the three to four hours you are there, you are a Buckeye, and I hope that you will give yourself over to the uniquely Scarlet and Gray environment and embrace all of the traditions, idiosyncrasies, and pageantry that make Ohio State football games a one-of-a-kind experience.