Why Ohio State football moved up one of its Michigan week traditions

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Ohio State football coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes welcomed the school’s marching band to a practice during their recent idle week in order to make the days leading up to their rivalry game at Michigan on Nov. 29 as normal as possible.

The band’s traditional visit, which had previously been part of the leadup to The Game, took place on Oct. 22, according to photos the school shared on social media of the coaches, players and band members at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

“Certainly we appreciate the band and everything they do,” Day said. “It’s just an effort to make sure we can keep things as consistent as we possibly can, because that’s really what the focus is.”

Several years ago, the Buckeyes also moved the date for their Senior Tackle, a tradition in which seniors hit a blocking sled for the last time during a practice. It was pushed back from the last week of the regular season to the postseason.

Michigan has proven to be a major thorn in Ohio State’s side in recent years. OSU’s current four-game losing streak, which continued with a stunning upset defeat last November, is its longest in the series since 1988-91.

Day didn’t dwell on the skid as he addressed the change to tradition on Nov. 4. Four days before their visit to Purdue, he stressed that he was looking to keep game weeks consistent for his unbeaten team.

“That’s the same thing this week,” Day said. “It’s the process of coming in after the game on a Sunday, identifying the issues, calling out the champions, recognizing those, enhancing the things we’re doing well, fixing things and having a great week of practice, because it’s our routine that will allow us to play well down the stretch. We’re just going to do everything we can to keep that as normal as possible.”

While the Buckeyes have three games left on their schedule before The Game, the Wolverines have just two – a trip to Northwestern on Nov. 15 and one to Maryland on Nov. 22. They are 7-2 overall this year.  

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow along on Bluesky, Instagram and X for more.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Ohio State moved its marching band visit away from Michigan week

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